Two recent changes in social media world had me thinking, “Did you even ask your customers?”
Don’t Tick Off 3-Day Walkers
The first took place on Facebook. I am participating in my 7th Susan G. Komen, 3-Day, 60-mile Walk for Breast Cancer.
I have to raise at least $2,300 to qualify to walk. I added the Donate widget (like the one on this site) on my Facebook profile.
About a week ago, there was a post from the 3-Day that Facebook had removed all the Donate widgets from our profiles. They told us we could add a Susan G. Komen tab.
There was quite the outcry from Facebook customers. For me, raising the funds this year has been very difficult. I received quite a few through the Donate widget on my profile.
Customers Heard?
The good news – Facebook must have heard the customers’ complaints. The Donate widgets returned to the profiles with no fanfare at all. Pop-they appeared.
Kudos for responding (albeit silently) to their customers. Hopefully, the lesson learned is ask your customers before you change something like that.
Jury of its Peers
The next big change occurred at LinkedIn®. For those of you who are not members of LinkedIn®, one of its features is its Groups.
The Groups feature allows individuals to create a group on any topic or specialty and invite others to join. It provides a platform for asking questions and sharing ideas.
I won’t bore you with all the details, but LinkedIn® made a significant change to the formatting of the Groups feature.
In a “how do you like it” question posted by a member, sentiment was running 24 to 4 against the new format (4 comments took a “wait and see” approach).
Change Before Customer?
I don’t know the reasons behind the changes. One assumes there were reasons.
With so many customers, obtaining consensus is challenging. But, wouldn’t you think they would at least ask their customers?
At a minimum, advanced communication might have helped. It’s probably because of what I do for a living, but I think communication has the power to change outcomes.
Most of us like to control our own destiny. When companies make change without communication, they invite complaints.
I would love to hear your thoughts.
iStock Photo credit: iquoncept
I’m also a huge communication proponent. I think any change at all, even a negative one, is better received if it is explained in advance. A why would be nice, but even without this, a notification helps. That goes withone of my mantras in life, I can handle anything as long as I know what it is I’m dealing with. Not informing customers of change in advance is a huge mistake in my book. It feels sneaky and makes me think I should keep my eye out for stuff going on behind the scenes.
And making a change and then changing it back without comment or explanation just makes me wonder what they were trying to get away with.
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Exactly, Jen. It’s amazing how a little communication can defuse a negative reaction. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.