As I take control of my future, I think about communication with others. Now, most (not all) of the articles I’ve read deal with the inability of corporations to understand social media. I am going to tell you something – we could learn from corporations – Eventually I hope corporations can learn something here too.
Large corporations deal with millions of customers. I currently work for a company with 15 million clients and counting. With a vast number of people at the doorstep, communication and connection is difficult. It’s not impossible, but it presents a scaling challenge. I am going to present something to the small business owner, the sole-proprietor, the blogger, and the individual. Take a look at a large company and think about how you communicate with those looking to communicate with you.
I came up with this post to share from my own issues. I realized something about myself that needs to change. I need to change the way I continue communication with those trying to get in touch with me.
I received a voice message maybe a month ago about my photoblog that shows off my City of London Ontario: 1 Love London. I have never been a guy that loves to make phone calls – I know, I work in a call centre…WTF. I listened to the message and was excited but I never called back. I kept putting it off. And Off. I feel bad about it and it sits in my conscience. Ugh.
I know I’m not the only one to have ever done such a thing. That doesn’t give me a reason to continue such actions though. This lead me to my own frustrations on social media accounts. I though about karma due to the phone message, but I also wondered if we might be missing something when it comes to communication and actually using social media to better our lives.
WTF am I talking about? What corporations try to do – slowly at that – is that they try to provide multiple channels for their customers to use. People have different ways in which they feel most comfortable doing business and communicating. Most major corporations will give you 3 options:
- Brick & Mortar – In Person
- Telephone – Call Centers
- Web – Online Billing/Account Login & E-mail Response
If I choose to go somewhere in person, they won’t tell me to please just login and you’ll be able to e-mail our help desk. If I choose to use the telephone channel, I expect that someone will respond via the phone. It might not solve my issue, but someone will answer and respond to my request to communicate. Someone will respond to my request to communicate.
Someone will respond to my request to communicate. They are listening to their channels.
Social Media is a bunch of channels within a new channel. You, your business, or the company you work for, can’t just say you’re on the Internet and everything is done. The Internet is the platform and there are many ways for someone to communicate and talk to you through it. You can’t ignore this.
I am honestly confused some days as to how friends communicate. I realized that a lot of my messages get little response. In today’s age, we can’t say “If it’s important, they’ll call back.” Yea, if it’s really important I’ll probably pick up the phone. We’re talking wild emergency.
If I am trying to keep in contact with people, I might e-mail or send a message on facebook, or use twitter to respond, say hi, or ask a question. Choosing to ignore this reach is the problem. You need to listen and respond. Putting the ball back in their court is what some of the best people do.
From a personal level, you’re ignoring the channel the persons used to try to talk to you. If you’re most comfortable channel for communication or service is telephone, you still cannot brush off the friends, family or customers that want to connect via a different channel. Like I said, put the ball back in their court. Do this with a quick response:
“Hey got your message – I don’t have time but give me a call Sunday – 555-5555.”
You’ve acknowledged the connection and. If you’re not going to respond, you need to take your profile down or make it clear that this is only for broadcast. Broadcast only is not a huge help, but atleast you’ve taken initiative to say that this is not a way to contact you as of yet.
We are all busy. We are all inundated with so much noise! Unfortunately, none of us are seriously too busy to do what we love. If you are, you might want to stop and think for a few hours. I surely will not ignore a phone message again. I will respond on Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, Flickr, Linked-in, and anywhere you choose to reach out. Corporations could show initiative by hiring and opening up positions for a social media department. It might not be “secure” but it’s not always about providing confidential information. The game is about humanism, connection, and gratitude.
While the corporate world still has a lot to learn when it comes to social media, so do the rest of us. Please consider this and share all of this with anyone you feel could benefit. Realize that social media sites are channels for communication and if they are available, people are going to use them. If you don’t use them, people are going to make assumptions.
If the guy that called me about 1 Love London is reading this, please feel free to contact me again and I will call you back if I don’t get the call initially. I’m sorry.
