Running a business means a lot more than having a great service or product to sell. In the initial days, great offerings do generate revenues but if you want to attract and retain customers you need to provide impeccable customer services. Companies that care for their customers and make sure their experiences are hassle free are faring much better in this competitive market than those that do not care much about their customers. Customer has become essential for all types of businesses and this year will be no exception. 2015 will see the brands up the ante in terms of their customer support actions. They will spend more time in strategizing for the customer contacts, and technologies will be implemented that make getting in touch with brands a painless affair. Multi-channel customer service will see a rapid liking in all the business circles. Among the multiple channels, brands will lay special focus on customer services on social media. Usage of social media as a customer service platform is nothing new. Brands have already understood that their customers like to interact with brands from popular sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It is a general observation that brands with their customer support presence in social media have a much better reputation than companies that do not.
But excelling in social media customer care will not be simple, as brands all around the world have recognized the potential of this platform. They will come to the platform with innovative strategies to thwart your good work. In such times it is essential that the basics are kept right.
Think Before You Leap
Are you all too excited about offering customer support through social media? Hold on a second, calm down! Including a new customer service channel in the mix should not be done in a hurry. There should be thought put into in. When you commit into social media, make sure you are there for the long haul. The second worst thing that you can do, apart from not being in social media, is to abandon this channel. When you start in social media the customers would be expecting continuous services. If you abandon them without any notification it will lead to client dissatisfaction. There will be a series of tweets or posts that will go unanswered. This is why when you are ready to offer customer service through social media, always have a dedicated team. You can even use the outsourced contact center services for the sake.
Why is Social Media Support so Important?
Many brands come into social media to utilize its potential to enhance their marketing efforts. There is no doubt that in the present times social media is the best way to promote a brand, but the marketing strategies for this channel are completely different. Traditional marketing approaches will not serve any good on sites such as Facebook or Twitter. People do not like brands preaching on social media, they want engagement in the form of interactions. This again is a reason why social media is such a good platform for customer care.
Benefits of Social Media Customer Care for Customers
- Instant Resolutions: Customers have grown weary of the confusing telephone menus or waiting for their emails to fetch answers. In social media they get instant answers for their queries, there is almost no waiting time. This does not solely please the customer; it is seen by many others on the customer's friend list. Everyone feels that the company actually cares for its customers. So, the chances of your sales increase.
- Personalized Service: Modern customers do not like to deal with a faceless organization; they much prefer to talk with someone having a name and a face. Companies that utilize the social media best let the agents use their own names and photos for the customers to see.
- Proactive Approach: There are many social media tools that allow you to search through oceans of data and find your brand mentions either in positive or negative manner. Companies are rewarding not only the positive comments, but they are taking steps to mend the situation leading to negative comments. A company named Citi Bike took an innovative approach; it studied a negative tweet posted by one of the consumers who had faced an accident due to bike malfunctioning. The company offered free servicing of the bike and sent a gift card with which the customer could buy a new pair of jeans. The customer ended up thanking the brand for their care.
- Happy Experiences: In the past customers posted only their negative experiences in the digital channel. When they were happy with the service they would remain silent. But the realm of social media is different. It takes a couple of seconds to make a post. When you service the customers well on social media they will thank you and mention your brand in social media. This will enhance the reputation of your brand through positive word of the mouth.
- Reputation Control: The ease of making posts or tweeting inspires the customers to voice their negative remarks on the social media soon after the occurrence. This presents the brands with a chance to mend the situation. You can quickly respond to the negative comments and correct the problem. So, there is no scope of grievance escalation.
If you want to beat the competition in 2015 than social media customer care is a good place to start. But once you start never look back.