What are your expectations when it comes to response time? Do you expect an immediate call back from a voicemail left after “office hours”? How long after contacting someone via email? Exchanging business cards? A fax? A letter?
Now what about a Tweet or post on Facebook?
I was reading a post by Simply Zesty called Is ‘Quick’ The Worst Or Best Thing To Come Out Of Social Media? and it struck me as an interesting topic. Working in social media, I have become conditioned to hold certain expectations when it comes to engagement and interaction online. I am the first person to admit that when I post a question or comment to in social media – I expect a quick reaction. In fact, because of what I do for a living I expect a rather instantaneous reaction. When I post out to social media, I expect to hear something back from a business within 10 -15 minutes. That is also how I try to meet the expectations of my own response time. With all the various ways of notification, there is no reason not to extend even the most basic “Let me get back to you on that” response if I am unable to answer a question right away. *
That being said… I don’t expect to be able to give that response time 24/7 (I am a big fan of sleep) but if I am online, that is my goal. I check in with my phone during non “work hours” once an hour or so when I am able*, and will always check when the audio notifications go off.
I wondered how other people felt about this topic so I posted the question to Facebook
“When you post a question or comment to a business/company on social media – what are your expectations for response time?”
Here are the responses: (click images to enlarge)
Do I hold other businesses up to the same expectations as I do myself? Yes and no. If you are a “social business”, by that I mean a business that is actively engaged in social media – yes I do. But I do feel that you get to know the members of a social community and can gauge response times accordingly. Would I like everyone to reply as quickly as possible? Why, of course – but by gauging the reactions of others, it might just be something for me and my patience level to work on.
* The phrase “when I am able” refers to when I have not run out of battery power or am in a social situation where I am unable or it is unwelcome to be on the phone.
** I do not hold the same expectations for individuals as many people are unable to check on social media sites for large portions of the day.
What are your thoughts? Please share them in the comments.
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