{"id":23475,"date":"2016-01-07T17:59:40","date_gmt":"2016-01-07T21:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/?p=23475"},"modified":"2023-03-11T18:44:28","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T22:44:28","slug":"protect-your-business-from-next-gen-customers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andysowards.com\/blog\/2016\/protect-your-business-from-next-gen-customers\/","title":{"rendered":"Protect Your Business from Next-Gen Customers"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a shift in the power dynamic between business and customer. What was once a relationship is now a dictatorship, and it\u2019s the customer who sits on the throne.<\/p>\n

If this sounds a bit dramatic, rest assured it\u2019s no exaggeration. Today\u2019s customer, commonly called the iGeneration in the industry, can incinerate a company\u2019s reputation with a single tweet or post that\u2019s eventually shared by thousands. We\u2019ve all seen that tweet\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cOMG I just had the WORST service at [restaurant]. Food was gross and I\u2019ll never go back!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Ten years ago, an upset customer at a restaurant was a one-on-one interaction. The customer tells a manager he or she didn\u2019t enjoy the meal and the manager did what was in his or her power to rectify the situation. It was much easier back then, but not so much today. Now, with social media, the interaction is one-on-everyone. A manager has to put out the fire before it spreads to the Internet, and many business owners don\u2019t know how to do that, leaving their businesses vulnerable to scathing reviews and negative publicity.<\/p>\n

Protect your reputation and prepare for the iGeneration with these tips, tools and methods:<\/p>\n

Visual Signals<\/h2>\n

\"visual-signs-customer-behavior-ecommerce-next-generation\"<\/a>
\n5 Ways You Can Influence Consumer Purchasing Decisions: New Research<\/em><\/p>\n

The biggest challenge with the iGeneration is they rarely voice concerns to a manager or business owner. Instead, they leave without saying a word (sometimes even appearing perfectly happy) and go straight to Twitter with a complaint. By then, it\u2019s often too late for damage control.<\/p>\n

Part of this is because millennials, anyone born between the 80s and early 2000s, prefer not to deal in confrontation. So because you don\u2019t have the luxury of being called out for a complaint (and yes, that is now a luxury), it\u2019s important to read the nonverbal cues of frustration before a customer leaves the business and see what you can do to solve the problem.<\/p>\n

Digital Asset Management<\/h2>\n

\"Pay-Attention-To-The-Competition-amazon-strategy-ecommerce\"
\n3 Lessons Ecommerce Companies Can Learn from Amazon<\/em><\/p>\n

While the iGeneration avoids face-to-face confrontation, they embrace digital interaction like messaging and live chat. But you only have one chance to hear the complaint and follow up with a solution, so you need to make it count. Digital asset management, as the name suggests, is software to manage all of your digital files, from pictures and videos to customers and their feedback. The latter is important in this case, so you don’t lose feedback when a follow-up is needed. Think the customer is unhappy now? The iGeneration will leave an extra nasty tweet if their existing complaint receives no response.<\/p>\n

Social Media Customer Service<\/h2>\n

\"next-generation-social-media-customer-service\"
\n3 Steps for Creating a Next-Generation Customer Service Experience<\/em><\/p>\n

Social media isn\u2019t this strange landscape in which business owners aren\u2019t allowed to venture. If all the complaining is happening on social media, that\u2019s where a large portion of customer service should live too. There is a light at the end of this digital tunnel, because these complaints are easy to find.<\/p>\n

Does your business have a Twitter account? It should. Almost everyone who complains about your establishment online will tag it in their tweet. Use software like Hootsuite to sift through the complaints and address them head on. Not only can you squash a fire before it spreads, but everyone following your account can see just how you do business. It\u2019s a level of transparency that only works in your favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a shift in the power dynamic between business and customer. What was once a relationship is now a dictatorship, and it\u2019s the customer who sits on the throne. If<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[537,109,5695,199,1,107],"tags":[5905,5891,796,988,167,5015,2282,177,1205,5879,5890],"yoast_head":"\nProtect Your Business from Next-Gen Customers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"There\u2019s a shift in the power dynamic between business and customer. 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