In today’s omnichannel, consumer-centric world, social media platforms are emerging as a unique and effective customer service outlet. Whether it’s through Facebook, Twitter or any of the other available mediums at their (literal) fingertips, customers will inevitably talk about products and services, and it’s up to businesses to capitalize on this organic process.
Social media is increasingly becoming a more usable outlet for customer service inquiries. An infographic by Bluewolf estimates that by 2020, the percentage of enterprises that use social media for responding to customer inquiries will rise to over 90%. In 2010, that number stood at 25%, but as we have seen, it is rising quickly. If your company isn’t very engaged socially, you better make some changes! By 2014, refusing to communicate with customers via social channels will be as harmful as ignoring emails or not responding to phone calls is today.
Consumer demand for customer service through social media continues to grow. A study by Simply Measured shows that top brands are responding by increasing their investment in this area to serve more customers, and diversify how they provide support. For example, “thirty-two percent of brands now have dedicated customer support handles, with a 63 percent increase quarter over quarter in the number of brands that send 50+ customer service tweets per day.”
Hertz is a great example of a company effectively using Twitter to manage customer service. They are the first car rental company to integrate social customer service into their best practices, and they’re winning over social consumers as a result. Customers are able to easily resolve service issues, simply by tweeting at the brand.
With such an instantaneous and manageable resource at their disposal, why wouldn't businesses look to social media for customer service solutions?
Pros and Cons
Social media is inherently instant, which has proven to be both a positive and negative quality. With the “real-time” interaction quality of platforms such as Twitter, customers feel that you are instantly accessible, so businesses need to respond accordingly.
Similar to email, if a potential or current customer has asked you a question on social media, they expect a response within 24 hours or less. Response turnaround time plays a bigger role than ever in customer service through social media, so use it to your advantage.
So what can you do?
1. Be available and accessible
Customer service doesn’t always happen during business hours, and although it may be challenging to monitor social media interaction all the time, it is critical to be present! If you are investing in social media customer service, you need to follow through; show your customers that you are there, and that you care about their experience. For small businesses, a great way to manage this is to set up alerts on your smartphone so that you can monitor what is being said and respond in a timely manner.
2. Share praises; plan and address complaints
If someone says something awesome about your company or service, share it! Sharing is caring in social media, and customer service is no exception. This is a great way to show your potential customers that your current customers are happy with your services.
As is the case with conventional customer service, not all the inquiries or comments you receive will be positive. So, be prepared. Have a plan in place so that if someone does write a negative comment, you know how to handle it.
For example, several months ago, we had an Independent Field Agent complete a project, but a personal crisis prevented her from submitting the data on time, and as a result, she was sent an automated email notifying her that she would be receive a late input deduction. As a longstanding Field Agent who’s consistently done good work, she was naturally very upset and took to Facebook to let us know how she felt by leaving a heartfelt, thorough wall post. Within a few hours, we responded explaining that the deduction email is automatically sent out when a project is not logged in our system by the due date. However, because she has such a great track record and was under extenuating circumstances, we retracted the deduction, gave her a sincere apology and let her know that she would receive priority for future projects. She was very pleased with how the situation was ultimately handled and the working relationship is now better than ever – thanks to social media customer service!
It’s likely that your customers are already using your social media platforms to lodge complaints; it’s basically human nature these days. That being said, no complaint should go ignored, and you want to go above and beyond in remedying the problem and rectifying the customer experience in these situations. Customers will see that their concerns can be satisfied in a shorter period of time, and most importantly, potential customers will see that your business is truly empathetic to its customers’ needs.
3. Use social media for more than just feedback
When you think of using social media for customer feedback, responding to consumers’ inquiries and comments is what immediately comes to mind, but there are more options for improving the customer service experience in the social media world. Likeable media suggests finding unique ways to expand your business operations, such as accepting orders via Facebook, taking appointments and reservations through Twitter, and even using Pinterest to educate consumers. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!
4. Most importantly: build loyalty!
Social media is changing peoples’ opinions of businesses. By interacting with your consumers and providing positive, open feedback, you have the opportunity to build new relationships and expand on existing ones. Trust is what keeps consumers coming back. Utilize social media as an outlet to gain it. Reward your social customers with special offers. Employing a certain level of exclusivity through social media channels will drive loyalty and even attract new customers.
