This mystery shopping survey conducted on Twitter found some prominent British brands could do much better when dealing with customer tweets

How well are British brands handling tweeted customer queries? BDRC Continental’s Twitter mystery shopping report – Twystery® – has found that less than one in five of the brands that British consumers regularly encounter respond to all the tweeted queries they receive. In the Twystery results, only 17 of the top 100 high street brands took the trouble to answer 100% of customer queries sent via Twitter.

Poor Twitter response rates

The majority of the brands didn’t respond to all the queries, and in fact some ignored virtually all of them. Four brands answered less than one in four - French Connection UK (24%), Starbucks (20%), Waterstones (20%), and J D Wetherspoon (just 4%).

Slowest Twitter response speeds

Britain’s well-known brands generally did much better with their speed of response. 17 responded in less than one hour, with Virgin Trains taking first place with an average response time of just 4 mins 25 secs, Nationwide in second place at 6 mins and 26 secs, and Paddy Power coming in third at 7 mins 17 secs.

But some brands clearly don’t have social media capabilities that stretch to dealing with customers quickly. The three worst performers for response time were French Connection UK, which took over 39 hours on average to respond, The Co-op supermarket, which took almost 34 hours, and fashion retailer Gap at over 32 hours. Five more took over 24 hours to respond.

French Connection UK is the only brand with the dubious accolade of appearing in both the Twystery worst response rates and the slowest response speeds.

 

The brands achieving a 100% response rate include Virgin Atlantic, Boots, O2, and the all the main high street banks.

Twitter now in its second decade

I led our Twystery® mystery shopping programme and was surprised at the findings. Twitter was 10 years old in March so companies have had plenty of time to learn how to use it effectively to handle customer queries. Moreover, consumers are increasingly using it as their first option when trying to contact a company. Gone are the days when most would pick up the phone or fire off an email.

There were some sterling performances, yes. But some brands were slow and some were lazy. One brand managed to be both. Does this make sense? When a brand or business chooses to be on Twitter, it needs to buy into the speed and immediacy that social media offers. It should reply to EVERY query it receives – not just pick and choose. The best brands have set the bar high by responding quickly and inclusively on Twitter. That response quality then becomes the expectation consumers have of all companies. The British brands that are failing on Twitter need to be careful that they aren’t being left behind by their competitors, or their customers may go elsewhere.

Twystery®: six rules for responding to Twitter enquiries:

1: Always respond
The first rule of engaging on social media is ‘engage’.

2: Put some effort into it. Avoid a response that appears rushed or impatient. Show you value the enquirer.

3: Get the tone right
Ensure words, spacing and punctuation create an impression that is neither too casual or too informal.

4: Mind your manners
Be friendly. Phrases like “hope that helps” will give your customer a positive impression.

5: Think about links
Include a relevant URL or contact number so your customer can access further details easily.

6: Answer the question
Online responses often miss the point of the customer’s query. Try to provide the exact information a customer requests.

 

By Tim Barber, Director at BDRC Continental

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