TOMI Magazine November 2012

WWW. COST-EFFECTIVE RESOLUTION D AVE CARROLL

Keeping up with customer complaints is a fulltime job. Organizations like Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM are brand lead- ers in customer care management. Their soft- ware can make it easier for you to address consumer complaints, made via the web, in- stantly. This, of course, eliminates negative feedback that can result in the loss of new and existing customers. For a hefty price tag, these solutions can offer assistance. A large majority of new startups are lean or ‘downsized’ businesses. With minimal to zero spending dollars. Budgets aren’t nego- tiable. But this does not mean that small busi- ness doesn’t have the same needs as larger company’s. They need to find a cost-effective resolution. “Gripevine was born out of a shared frustration with my co-founder Richard Hue in resolving our poor customer service experiences” - says Dave Carroll, Consumer Advocate, Social Media Expert and Co-founder of Gripevine.com. The first online social media platform for consumer-complaint resolution. “ We began from the perspective of improving experiences for customers but Richard and I also understood that confrontation usually re- solves very little and a one sided relationship is ineffective. We agreed that for Gripevine to be effective there had to be an incentive for companies to participate and that it couldn’t simply be a place where consumers came to complain. Gripevine is all about resolving is- sues and companies are wise to engage with the system because we help alert them to complaints and manage them in an efficient and profitable manner. Like any successful re- lationship Gripevine facilitates a win-win for both sides and that’s why it works.” A resource for growing organizations. Gripevine.com takes customer service to the web. Which is where most people, via Face- book, Twitter, and others, take their com- ments, complaints and praises. Now with Gripevine.com businesses can track remarks about their product or service, provide excel- lent customer service that will increase brand awareness and their bottom line. “Our Enter- prise Dashboard allows companies to effec- tively manage large and small numbers of complaints as a complimentary tool to what they may already be using. Complaints are

funneled into process that filters by gripe type/category and allows a company adminis- trator to direct the gripe to the appropriate agent or follow it’s progress towards resolu- tion. As more and more people rely on social media to communicate with companies the number of online complaints is increasing ex- ponentially.” Social Media Marketing and Relation- ship programs are expensive and time- consuming. Connecting your social media ac- counts only places your customer service re- sponse at that particular level. The internet is vast. People don’t always use the same medi- ums to vent. The key to keeping your business running is by keeping the customer happy. Response time needs to be quick all across the board. “Not only does Gripevine shave minutes off the time needed to understand and act upon a complaint, which saves mon- ey,” - says Dave “our Dashboard gives compa- nies a fighting chance of managing the sheer number of complaints they will see in the coming years. Life and business favors the prepared, so companies that understand that even one angry customer can negatively affect your brand, are embracing a tool like Gripe- vine for it’s ability to handle the volumes and stay connected with their consumers.” “ We know our services will save com- panies money and we offer features to suit any size and requirement in order to help companies help people.” - Tonisha L. Johnson Dave Carroll Consumer Advocate and Social Media Expert Co-founder, Gripevine.com WWW.GRiPEVINE.COM

NOVEMBER 2012 WWW.TOMIMAGAZINE.COM 48