What takes precedence: complaint via social or traditional channels?

Guy, I think there's a hypothetical, "perfect world" answer and there's also a more realistic answer. The perfect world answer is they should be dealt with in the same level of precedence. There's a customer problem that needs to be resolved and the only difference is the method for communicating with the company. Where it starts to veer in a newer direction is now complaints can be aired for all to see via social channels. If I complain about service on Twitter or my blog, not only will my followers and readers see it, but it can be instantly and easily shared far beyond my first-level network. And its that very public nature of social that scares most companies into focusing more on resolving problems raised on social channels than on those more traditional channels.

However, here's another reality that all companies must grapple with...and why they need to give each customer complaint the same precedence regardless of the communication channel. If I make a call and get no satisfaction, I'm going to blog about that experience. If it's my father or grandmother or friend who has had a lousy customer service experience, I'm going to Tweet about it. But if a business effectively deals with the situation in whatever way it first arises, there's no need to complain publicly. Rather, I might just tell my network about the wonderful customer service offered to make up for a problem.

I guess my bottom line is: train all employees to deal with the customer problem in whatever way it shows up because you never know how it will escalate beyond that moment.