Customer Service on Social Media
According to a J.D. Power survey in 2013, 67 percent of consumers have used a company’s social media site for service. That expectation has only increased. Having a social customer support strategy is a must.
Is your social media team well-versed on customer service?
Many companies have a social media team that handles postings. Is that team trained for the customer service role?
Your brand’s response or lack of response to inquiries via social media are public. Others are watching. So an effective or ineffective response impacts well beyond one customer.
Have a customer service strategy
There’s no room for error. Customer service needs to be part of your social media strategy.
Decide who will handle customer service issues. That person or team then needs to be armed with the information to provide timely and accurate support. The more information and resources they have, the better service they can provide.
Once you have the team and insights in place, it’s time to create customer service guidelines. Address:
- Standards for response time
- Standard responses (create consistency)
- When issues should be escalated to a higher level
- Identifying constructive opportunities versus chronic complaints
Automate with care
It can be challenging to stay on top of social media support. The temptation to use automated tools is real. However, proceed with care. Replacing the genuine response people expect with automation can damage your brand.
Tools can help you to:
- Provide immediate responses that set expectations for response time
- Scan for brand mentions
- Schedule timely information to proactively address customer concerns
Learn from your customers
Do more than respond. Get insight from customer inquiries. Are there common points of confusion that can be addressed in your social strategy? Does there seem to be a problem with a product or service?
Track inquiries and take steps to address any patterns or themes that emerge. Understanding where customer dissatisfaction comes from enables you to improve .
