Jat Mann answers the 'Why should a franchisor and his franchisees care about social media?' question on LinkedIn:
'Having listened to Nick Strong and Paul Tansey talk about the new acronym SMO (Social Media Optimisation) this week, one is left in absolutely no doubt that the digital media element of business is growing at a phenomenal rate.
In the standard advertising model, the company has full control over the image it wants to portray to the audience and often spends thousands of pounds developing it. However, the internet has created a more balanced relationship between businesses and their customers & partners, although some may argue that now the customer has far more influence over the image a company can portray to the public.
My father once said to me that a reputation takes a lifetime to build, but can take only a moment to destroy. This is absolutely true on internet, where it has allowed dis-satisfied customer to voice their opinions and experience on social media sites like Facebook and forums. More and more consumer are likely to research a company on the internet before choosing to do business with them.
However, I believe one should harness the power of social media. Use it as a tool to benefit your business. Most businesses I know are proud of the services they offer and the way they treat their customers. This is particularly true in franchising. Customer satisfaction is at the centre of our business model and ethos. So why should you not shout about it and encourage a proactive relationship with customers? Who else is going to do it for you? Certainly not your competition!
Give a place to your customers to talk about how much they like your company and even let them give you positive or negative feedback about your service. I believe that often it's the way you deal with criticism that defines ones real character.
Protecting one's brand is paramount as we have all worked hard to develop it. So why not utilise the often free tools provided on the internet and create and control the mechanisms and avenues that your customers use to give you feedback. You can't stop the conversation going... but you can join it!'
