Survey: 42 Percent of Business Leaders Say Consumers Shame Them on Social

Lithium Technologies, a social customer experience management platform, announced the results of a recent survey performed on its behalf by Harris Poll, finding that brands are increasingly under pressure by consumers to innovate.

The survey took into account more than 300 corporate executive who work for companies with revenues greater than or equal to $1 billion. According to Lithium, 42 percent of those surveyed say that consumers have shamed the company via social media. 82 percent of business leaders say that customers’ expectations have risen in the past three years.

Rob Tarkoff, president and CEO of Lithium Technologies, commented on the survey:

The consumer is forever changed. Social media and the rise of non-traditional, web-based entrants into established industries have evolved their expectations. Consumers use digital channels to find and share information, reviews, and insider tips. At the same time, they are using those channels to suggest improvements and sometimes shame brands into solving their problems. Business leaders are taking note of what this means to their image and bottom line—and rushing to find innovative ways to adapt.

Other key findings from the study:

• 93 percent of business leaders say their company is adapting to the digital transformation
• 65 percent say they increased pressure to innovate
• 58 percent say they increased competition with other companies
• 52 percent say they increased costs to serve the customer
• 30 percent say they increased customer turnover
• 29 percent say they slowed revenue growth
• 28 percent say they increased the amount of discounts their company provides to customers
• 17 percent say they reduced their market share

Lithium also announced a major product rollout Tuesday, at its LiNC Conference in San Francisco. The new products include Lithium Monitor Wall and Shared Dashboards, Experts and Mobile Agent, a new Integrated Profile, updated Ratings and Reviews and a new Value Analytics feature for Lithium Communities. Lithium also announced an improved Salesforce Connector, a broader set of listening application programming interfacess and a new software developer kit.

More than 700 million users interact with the Lithium+Klout platform each month.

Tarkoff discussed the impact of these new features:

We are the only company in our space who taps an audience of this scale. We recognize people across a broad range of social networks, communities, and online experiences. The insights we deliver to our customers are a real advantage for us in Total Community. The products we’re announcing today bring these data advantages front and center.