Go To Where Your Customers Are

There are many times when your customers will not come to you when they have a problem with your business. They may have the impression that you are too busy to address their concerns, or they were not as interested in your product as they originally thought. However, they will most likely tell their friends about their experiences with your business, whether in person or online.

As a business owner, you need to be aware of what is being said about your company. There could be easily fixed problems that you would never know about, because none of your customers thought to tell you directly. In person, there is not too much you can do, besides reading the letters to the editor section of your newspaper, or listening to the conversations your customers are having within your store walls.

However, online communications can give you a bit of an edge. You can set up searches for your business name, so whenever someone talks about your business, you will be notified. Google search notifications are a good place to start. These will appear in your inbox daily, letting you know what word of mouth press your company is receiving.

You can also use the search function on Twitter, to see if anyone is addressing your company. Surprisingly, many people tweet about a company, just to see if they will get a response. Use this to your advantage, and respond as soon as possible to any customer concerns.

There is another great service available for business owners who want to keep track of their public image. Social Mention is a search engine that tracks your business name on blogs, microblogs, comments, and even video. This tool could prove to be very valuable for your business.

Using the online tools available to you to address customer concerns is an excellent way to build customer loyalty. Once they know that you are listening, and are ready to address their needs, they will come to you with any additional concerns they may have. This technique will build your business, and soon you will only be hearing good word of mouth advertising from here on out.