Responding personally to feedback on social media is always a good idea.
Reply quickly with some thoughtful comments and the results can be stunning.
And if you want an example of how it should be done, look no further than Morrisons.
A Facebook user wrote some glowing and thoroughly deserved praise on Saturday about a member of its staff who worked at its Basingstoke branch.
She had helped a customer, a mother with two children who are autistic and blind, calming her daughter by allowing her to scan the shopping on the till. A simple but greatly appreciated gesture.
The shopper posted her thanks on the supermarket company’s Facebook page saying: “It melts my heart to come across people that are prepared to go the extra mile, and little acts of kindness make a massive difference to my world.”
The post has at the time of writing received more than 540,000 likes, 101,000 shares and 14,000 comments. Great engagement and superb publicity.
The responses from the Morrisons teams followed quickly – I say ‘teams’ because it was more than just the people who look after the social media accounts. We quickly heard from the store manager) as well as the team behind the company’s corporate account.
From these well aligned and carefully written response we learnt the name of the kind-hearted cashier (Lin); we understood the company values the good service provided by its employees; and we saw, through a photograph posted by the manager, that employees who go beyond their normal duties are rewarded – Lin received flowers and a present.
It all helped to create the impression of a company that really cares about its customers and those who worked in its stores.
Take a look at the language used in a post from the main account:
“Well, I don’t know where to start with this one, just reading the story has brought a tear to my eye.
“What an amazing lady (Lin) is and what a credit she is to our company, we are very proud to say she works for Morrisons.”
Nothing corporate or sales orientated, just empathy and a personal touch.
Similarly, this is what the store manager wrote:
“Because of your kindness in sharing, I was able to respond very quickly in thanking Lin with a quick gathering with some of our team. Reading to Lin why she was receiving flowers and a gift was really hard as I was getting genuinely choked up while doing so. Thanks Lin for this and all the other amazing things you do.”
Again, thoughtful and emotive words that added to the story and the reputation of the company.
Everyone loves a good story, so it is no surprise that the good deed has been picked up by the mainstream media with coverage in The Telegraph, The Sun, Daily Mail and Metro. This in turn moved the story on to Twitter.
So well done Lin and well done Morrisons – a great example of turning a positive post into an impactful and engaging story which has generated fantastic coverage.
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 30 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers. Click here to find out more about our highly practical social media courses.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn for more hints, tips and blogs.
