Nike Knows What They’re Doing

Nike has a mission in life. Their mission is to prevent their customers from looking like this.

Nike has gone so far as to create a separate Twitter account with the sole purpose of tending to customer complaints and providing exceptional customer service. They understand that crowding their main Twitter page with criticisms and self-admitted wrongdoings just doesn’t make sense.

Nike is very clear about who their audience is. They identify themselves as athletes and their mission is to help other athletes (their customers). As an international company, they provide customer service in seven languages. People all over the world can turn to Nike when they run in to a problem with their merchandise. This builds and maintains strong customer relations, which inevitably leads to sales and profit.

Nike Support acknowledges their customers on a personal level. They directly respond to tweets, and try their hardest to make their clientele feel comfortable and appreciated.

It surprises me that Nike is one of the very few corporations who offer such impressive customer service via the Internet. Living in this digital age, it seems obvious that professionals would understand the significance of Social Media. But that is just not the case. The majority of companies are still providing customer support solely through telephone calls.

These companies need to hang up their phones, turn on their computers, and start practicing customer service by means of the Internet. It’s an understood fact that society is glued to their smart phones, laptops, and tablets. A fundamental idea in business is to be where your customers are. If businesses aren’t on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter, they are hiding from consumers.

Nike sets a precedent for other brands that want to stand out in the customer service industry. Maintaining two Twitter pages helps them to maintain a clean image while simultaneously giving their customers a sense of comfort. Nike understands that as a part of life, things will inevitably go wrong. Unlike most companies, they don’t try to hide their mistakes or customer complaints. They welcome these setbacks with open arms on an established Twitter page.

Nike has always been a leader in fashion and athletic apparel, and hopefully they hold their title of leader in the online customer service game. The concept of having an account for marketing and an account for customer service is a model all companies should follow.