Wordweb Dictionary: (informal) an assistant or companion to another (often superior or more dominant) person
A lot has been happening on OkadaBooks lately: Over a thousand users register on the platform every week, a ton of cool features are being deployed (like the new referral system), increasing queries on how to publish and other questions that have the answers staring you in the face… This question is simple, simply click on that and that’s it!” I would think to myself. It’s not always like this – I’m getting older (talk about beards) and how much i don’t like a couple of things that used to be fun.
Still, the team has managed to adapt, work together and put up with all of these things.
I woke up to a new message from a customer this Sunday morning. It was from Hannah (not her real name) Hannah and i have been talking for the past 24 hours. If she wants to delete a book, she sends a message. If she wants to change her password, she sends a message. A message came in at about 7 :56am. There is nothing wrong with the time the message is coming in; it’s a 24/7 customer service. What she was asking about was how she could change her book cover. I know what you might think. There is nothing wrong with the question. But it is really easy.
For 50 seconds i kept thinking, “This is really easy. Just click on that cover section to change it. Are you (insert an-annoying-but-not-too-insultive language)” but i did not respond with that. I simply told her to how do it, step by step. Then she rated my reply (Awesome) almost immediately.
I was not scared of what would happen if i replied with something else. Nope. There is something i have seen happen a lot of times on social media; Twitter to be specific.
A customer sends your company a message via support. Customer does not get a response probably because the question’s answer is staring them right in the face or [insert another reason.] You don’t reply them. Suddenly, customer is on social media and oh dear, your Company’s name is right before the word “Sucks d*ck” or something less worse…
Let’s come back to Hannah’s case and what i’m trying to point out.
The same customer that asks really simple, annoying questions every now and then; the same person that you ignored and assumed could easily change a cover (at the click of a button) on the publish page. That customer that keeps coming back. That customer that is always online on the internet. That one customer that keeps coming back for clarity is the one customer that could easily leave reviews about your business on the internet. How you treat him or her determines the kind of review they leave about your business.
And you would notice that when a customer is pissed about your business on the internet. Some random user that sees their review would conform to the same action to further vilify your business. It is like an open court where everyone is allowed to speak their minds with all kinds of evidence. It gets worse when you have pissed a lot of customers off in the past.
Musicians have fans.
Businesses have customers.
Customers are like sidekicks. They should be. We may or may not want them to be but with one cool response or assistance, they will help your business grow.
