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Haven’t you ever tweeted about a poor customer experience, product, or service? I know I have. There’s something cathartic about sharing it in the Twittersphere.

Well, now there’s a new study that shows how important it is for businesses and organizations to respond to complaints and angry Tweeps. It will affect your bottom line!

Twitter released a study this week on the effects of company interactions with customer tweets, using three industries - quick-service restaurants, telecom, and airlines.

Twitter and its partner in the study, Applied Marketing Science, found that responding to customers on the service has a positive impact on their perception of companies, including a 3% to 20% increase in the amount they’re willing to spend on the same service in the future.” (Fortune)

But, that’s not all.

The quicker you respond to customer tweets, the more money customers are willing to spend in the future! And, responding to frustrated customers in Twitter is an effective way to make them happier, too.

Of people who posted negative tweets about a company’s product or customer service, 69% said they would feel ‘more favorable’ about the company if it responds to their concerns.”

In addition, research conducted by Social Bakers last year, (and reported in Social Media Today last month), “more than 80% of customer service requests on social are happening on Twitter, and there’s been a more than 2.5 x increase in the number of Tweets to brands and their customer service usernames in the past two years (or had been at the time of the study).”

So, what does this mean for smaller businesses and nonprofit organizations that may not have dedicated social media managers?

Do the best you can with the resources you have. The sooner you respond to customers in social media, the better. If you’re strapped for time, make sure you check your accounts at least twice daily so no one has to wait overnight for your attention.

Have you been using Twitter for customer service? How has it been working for you?