Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Every customer expects and deserves outstanding service.  Prospects too look for evidence of great service before they will buy from a company.

For businesses, this means being readily available and accessible to respond to relevant inquiries.  One of the most expedient ways to accomplish this is through online conversations via the social networks.

Whether you think of it as marketing, sales, or customer service, being available on the social networks to answer questions from prospects and customers alike is now a business responsibility. According to small business social media consultant Jeff Korhan, "Consumers today have a voice and they are using it to be heard - predominantly on the social networks."

To be accessible online for your customers is to effectively communicate that you care about keeping them as customers.  It's a new responsibility for all businesses - large and small.

"If you do not take this responsibility seriously, it will only be a matter of time until one of your competitors does," Korhan adds.

Jeff Korhan simplifies social media and Internet technology for mainstream small businesses to make it practical and useful. His New Media and Small Business Marketing blog was recently ranked a Top 100 Small Business blog by Technorati, and a Top 42 Content Marketing blog by Junta42.