First Direct live feedback site - Plebble's thoughts

Earlier this month online bank First Direct launched a live feedback microsite. This means customers can go directly to the live site and leave their comments about First Direct. The site also collects sentiment from social media sources. So forum posts, blog posts, tweets, customer reviews etc... are all collected and displayed as 'live feelings' and 'live words' about First Direct.

It's a pretty bold move by First Direct and one that is taking the lead on all the other UK banks. However it's not surprising as service is a big distinguishing factor for the company. On publication First Direct had a plebble-rating of 3.24 (on a scale of -5 to +5). Compare that to most of their competitors many with negative scores and HSBC (their parent company) with a plebble-rating of 1.08. First Direct's good plebble-rating tallies with their own sentiment score of 75% of all comments being positive. This underlines the message that you can expect good service.

Whilst I think it's good step forward and deserves commending, I think First Direct could have gone further. It's just a one way channel. The site collects feedback but there is no response or engagement from First Direct. Instead a message saying "Unfortunately we cannot respond to comments. If you would like to talk to us please call...". I think this is missed opportunity and doesn't fully embrace social media. By their own score First Direct only have 15% negative comments. That's a small percentage which could be tackled. Not only would it deal with those customers problems it would also openly demonstrate how seriously First Direct take customer service and their commitment to solving issues.