In the past several years, social media customer service, also known as social care, has been moving into the mainstream. It’s not uncommon for customers to turn to social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others to post their stories, both good and bad. Some companies have done a formidable job of monitoring the comments on these channels, because they recognize the benefit of responding in a timely manner.
I recently attended the Social Media Marketing World conference and was surprised to find that social media customer service had its own track, which included six excellent sessions, some led by social marketing luminaries such as Jay Baer and Dan Gingiss, some panel discussions and more. One fascinating presentation came from Jeff Lesser of Twitter (@JeffLesser), who shared how Twitter is encouraging people to use the platform to reach out to the companies they do business with, to leave comments and ask questions. And, they’ve raised the stakes, encouraging companies to make Twitter a formal customer service channel. Here are a few of the takeaways from Jeff’s speech:
• Twitter is public, which is a good thing. It’s one-on-one interaction, but with an audience. If the company responds quickly, then everyone can see an issue being resolved in real time. Sure, the company may need to have some private discussion with the customer – which can be done through Twitter’s Direct Message feature – but once the problem is resolved, the company can come back and publically thank the customer for the opportunity to serve him or her.
• The conversation can become distributed. Not only can an existing audience of followers witness real-time interaction, but the company can also retweet certain comments, especially accolades, to a larger audience.
• Companies that use Twitter as a social care channel are seeing a 19 percent increase in customer satisfaction. That’s huge!
• If it comes down to money, Twitter is a revenue winner. The average cost of a Twitter response is $1, versus the average cost of interacting with a customer through the traditional call center, which is $6.
Jeff had a few suggestions regarding how to maximize a company’s presence in the social customer care world:
• Have a dedicated Twitter handle for customer service. Companies that have a dedicated handle get a 10 times better response than companies that don’t. This handle is different than the company’s main Twitter handle. For example, the Hilton Hotel chain’s regular handle is @HiltonHotels. Its customer care handle is @HiltonHelps. This shows the customer that you care and that you’re set up and ready to go on Twitter.
• Delivering good service on Twitter isn’t much different than traditional channels:
1. Be friendly.
2. Show empathy.
3. Offer to help, using language that doesn’t appear to be scripted.
4. A personalized message is important. Again, it has to be sincere, not scripted. This creates higher satisfaction scores, even if the problem is not resolved.
5. Use the customer’s name if possible, not just his or her Twitter handle.
6. Have the support agent use his/her name. In other words, make it more “human.”
7. Respond quickly. Statistics prove that the faster you respond, the more likely it is that the customer will do business with you again … and will spend more. This results from the customer’s confidence that the company will respond.
So far this seems like a basic lesson in how to use Twitter for customer service, but there’s more. Twitter has created two very important applications for businesses to consider.
The first is the ability to transition into a private conversation. This feature is only available to businesses, and with just a simple click, allows you to move into a Direct Message mode. This is especially important when the company needs to get the customer’s account number and other private information.
The second application, and this is huge, enables you to measure the customer’s satisfaction with a quick NPS (Net Promotor Score) or CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) survey. This new feature is called Customer Feedback. I can’t think of a more appropriate name!
Finally, Twitter has released a publication titled Customer Service on Twitter. This is a free download and worth taking the time to read.
Social customer care is becoming mainstream. Companies must embrace it or be left behind as their competitors take advantage of it. It doesn’t matter if your company is B2B or B2C; this applies to all types of businesses. Monitor all social channels. When you receive a comment from a customer – good or bad – engage and take advantage of the opportunity to publically show your customers that you care.
