Reaching out to irate customers can strengthen your brand

We all know that good customer service matters, but here’s some hard evidence. U.S. researchers analyzed some 400,000 tweets from consumers to get their take on interactions with five big airlines and four major wireless carriers. Following up with a survey of the same clients, they found that people receiving a response to their posts were willing to pay more for services and more likely to recommend the brand to others. Another takeaway from the study: engaging angry customers pays off in brand loyalty.