Do You Know What Employees Are Saying Online? Controlling Social Networking
Social networking has become a powerful marketing and outreach tool. Many jewelers and designers have taken Facebook by storm — often to their advantage. However, the wrong message can have a negative — and just as lasting — impact on business.
With this in mind, discuss your expectations about how employees address your business — and especially clients — on social networking sites. Remind them — especially sales staff, who have direct contact with jewelry buying customers — that they may think their sites are private, but the Web is very public. (There’s a reason it’s called the World Wide Web.) You never know who knows each other, and the wrong thing said about a customer can easily be passed along to him or her.
Furthermore, employee manuals should be updated to include Social Networking. You may want to consider adding this paragraph:
“Because the Internet is in the public domain and virtually anyone can access it, employees who use internet access either from the store or away from the store are to use discretion and should not engage in discussions and/or communications which would be considered detrimental to the company and/or the customers we serve. The company name or employee’s names should never be used on the internet unless cleared by management. This behavior is strictly prohibited and violation of this policy will be grounds for dismissal. If there is any question, please see your supervisor for clarification.”
Have a question about social networking and your employees? E-mail suits@fruchtman.com.
By Michael Fruchtman on November 3, 2009 :: Filed under Technically Speaking,Think
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