According to a recent study by Gartner, only “5% of organizations took advantage of social/collaborative customer action to improve service processes (in 2010).” However, there is an expectation, based on the forecasts also derived by this study, that the number of organizations will rise to 30% over the next two years. Where does your organization fall on this continuum?
It is important for each company to determine the best plan for their business, to have a clear vision before jumping into social media “because everybody’s doing it.” And determining the role that your social media accounts play in your customer service approach is critical. If social media accounts are being managed by PR, marketing or sales, it is possible that they will receive a customer service request that they do not know how to resolve. Maybe company policy dictates that they should pass the request to the customer service department, which may work…if a company policy exists. If your customers are approaching you via social media, they likely expect that you will provide them service via social media. (Tip: If you don’t think your customers are looking for you via social media, search for your company name in the twitter stream.)
Social media and customer service can enhance the bottom line in several ways. If a customer is happy with the level of customer service they receive, they are more likely to recommend additional customers. They are also likely to remain a customer and more open to making additional purchases with your company. Customer service is an opportunity to change a typical customer into a raving fan.
Want to know how to begin incorporating your social media and customer service efforts? Join in the conversation about this topic and share your answers to the questions below during the social media tweetchat at 1pm ET, Wednesday, March 9th. The hashtag for this conversation is #SMChat
- What is the best practice to develop customer service policy that includes social media?
- How do you train your team to provide customer service using social media?
- How do you take your customer service to the next level using social media?
- What are the competitive advantages that can be gained by providing customer service via social media?
Amber Cleveland's Blog 
Amber,
after the fantastic experience on the #smchat this week I wanted to thank you for hosting this but also perhaps make a suggestion for upcoming discussions.
I would like to see how others are looking at how Social Media is changing companies. Not only in their customer services offered but how they are reacting to the fact that every employee can represent them through social. The official twitter account is not the only one who is replying to customers comments. Are companies preparing themselves to become more social themselves?
Keep the great work coming.
Sounds like you are giving me great food for thought, which will likely yield another post and another chat. So glad you were able to join in the last one.
Pingback: Initial Tweetchat experience | ServicePlease