Nuance Communications recently conducted a survey via Twitter to explore how consumers use social media to make complaints or express their concerns about their customer service experiences. According to the Twitter poll Nuance found that companies large and small should begin looking at ways to integrate social media into their customer service strategies in order to capture some of these concens.  The online survey found that 100 percent of respondents said  that a negative comment about customer service on a friend’s social media site would most likely  impact their decision to do business with that particular company.

Other key findings include:
• 50 percent of respondents said that they have posted a negative comment on Facebook or other social media sites after a bad phone experience with a customer service agent, while another 22 percent said that they hadn’t, but would in the future.
• While 83 percent of consumers believe that companies monitor social media outlets for customer comments, more than 60 percent claim that they never received a response from a company after they posted a negative comment about that company. 
• Yet, 89 percent of respondents said that they would be impressed and would continue to do business with a company that responded to their negative comment as they would feel their business was valued.

According to Dena Skrbina, Sr. Director of  Solutions Marketing at Nuance, “The numbers speak for themselves. Social networking has moved beyond being an online mingling service for consumers and into the realm of being a bona fide resource for people to gather information and exchange experiences with others regarding companies with which they wish to engage. Based on our findings, those companies that are ready to serve their customers through social media – whether proactive or reactive – stand to gain more success in terms of brand reputation, customer satisfaction and sales than those who are not.”