We have been helping a large telecoms company manage their online reputation using Twitter and blogging. Even though most of their customers are really happy with their service, there is also a disgruntled lot who are making their opinions known, loud and clear, on Twitter. Sure, some of these customers are only followed by a small group of people. But others are followed by hundreds, even thousands of people, so these people are often highly influential individuals. And in this age of user generated reviews, other people's opinions matter - a lot!
By setting up a new, fresh Twitter account that is dedicated to addressing customers' complaints, comments and questions we are slowly but surely improving the reputation of the company.

It's really quite simple. By searching regularly for brand, product and service names, we can see what people are saying about our client. Then, we can respond accordingly, expressing disappointment if they say they are unhappy - and more importantly, seeing how we can help. If we notice that one topic or theme is occurring, then we respond in more detail on the blog.

We've had an amazing response. People are thrilled that this company, after seemingly ignoring them for quite some time, is now listening intently to what they think about their products and services.

For every customer that we convert back into a happy, smiling one from an aggrieved, angry one, we are not only managing the reputation of the company, but we are also saving them money as some of these customers would undoubtedly have moved elsewhere in the long term, such was their complaint.

Social media engagement with customers can be very impactful and meaningful, and we are confident we have helped this company retain lots of customers through managing their reputation on Twitter.