A recent survey by the EngagementIndex finds that UK Supermarkets are failing to respond to customers on Twitter.

Customer service is one of the ways you can differentiate your business from the competition. It takes price out of the equation when it comes to winning customers and can result in an increased referral rate as satisfied customers recommend you to others.

Online retailer Zappos takes customer service so seriously it’s tagline is “Powered by Service”. CEO Tony Hsieh’s book “Delivering Happiness” highlights the importance extraordinary customer service played in the success of the company, which has since been acquired by Amazon.

Power to the People

Social Media has given power to consumers, enabling them to discuss brands online in open view, regardless of whether the brands are taking part or not. Companies good and bad points are being laid bare for all to read.

Bad service can result in a bombardment of Tweets or Facebook comments that can easily spiral out of control as these two examples of poor customer service show.

Whilst great customer service is rewarded with positive PR.

If customer service is so important and customers are using social media to discuss brands why do they fail to respond? Surely as a company if you have a Twitter account you would expect customers to contact you via it? The EngagementIndex is an attempt by Mark Shaw and Chris Arnold to highlight those brands responding to customers via Twitter and those that are not.

Does Your Brand Have Klout?

Much like the key influence measurement on individuals from the likes of Klout, PeerIndex and Kred, the EngagementIndex scores on how well, or badly, businesses are at replying to messages aimed at them via Twitter.

Their first report is on UK Supermarkets, quite frankly they all perform poorly.

Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys are the worst performers, with Tesco only replying to 242 out of 879 messages; Sainsbury’s replied to just 4 out of 188 messages and Asda only replied to 2 messages out of 319. Considering how closely these companies compete you would think that one of then would take the lead online in terms of customer service and out serve the competition.

Mark is still awaiting a response from the supermarkets to the results, in the meantime you can suggest another market sector to be measured over at the EngagementIndex.

Make a difference in your market sector and leave the competition standing, ensure your customer service is up to scratch, online and offline.