With the rising number of health professionals on Twitter today, it begs the question how many among them are really managing their Twitter status updates effectively and nurturing those relationships with their customers. It is more difficult to attract a new customer than to nurture the relationship you have with a current customer so health professionals need look after them as and when they come calling.
As health professionals, we are pretty new to the Twittersphere and are not the most adept at managing our feeds. It is very common to come across Twitter feeds that have been left dormant or where customer queries have been left unanswered more often than not.
The speed that you respond to them is a major factor in the perception people have of your practice (customers and non-customer alike).
If you answer someones tweet quickly you achieve two things.
1. You can publicly fix someones problem (or at least let them know you are on the case) which more often than not turns a negative comment into a positive live discussion thread. In fact handling a tricky situation will speak volumes. Not only because it gives your practice the chance to show whats its truly made of but alos because it will normally be the type of content that ends up going viral and having lots of shares and retweets.
2. Show people that you are real and attentive to their needs. Your customers like to feel wanted so make them feel special.
The key thing is to keep a real time search for your brand name open in Twitter. This is a great way to be a rapid responder, but is everyone doing this? Or is no-one bothering at all.
The key thing is to keep a real time search for your brand name open in Twitter. This is a great way to be a rapid responder, but is everyone doing this? Or is no-one bothering at all.
In one survey, a number of big brands are analysed for their ability to get back to their customers or fans - and the results range from great to completely shocking.
So really it does'nt really matter how big the brand is, the way some them treat their customers and their complaints or queries is not very good. So a small physiotherapy practice for example really should be able to manage their Twitter feeds effectively and not pass up the opportunity. The quicker and better you respond to your customers, the better. Remember your customers are your most valuable asset.
- McDonalds average Tweet response rate was 34 hours
- Coca Colas response rate was 30%, whereas Pepsis rate was 15%
- Gillettes average Twitter response was 34 hours, Colgates was 9 hours
- Starbucks, Visa and Apples did not respond to any of the 280 tweets sent their way.
So really it does'nt really matter how big the brand is, the way some them treat their customers and their complaints or queries is not very good. So a small physiotherapy practice for example really should be able to manage their Twitter feeds effectively and not pass up the opportunity. The quicker and better you respond to your customers, the better. Remember your customers are your most valuable asset.
