After Social Media Marketing World 2017 in San Diego, I sat down with Dan Gingiss to discuss his new book 'Winning at Social Customer Care'. Dan is a podcaster, speaker, and now a published author. On Dan's podcast, 'Focus on Customer Service', he interviews people at brands who are responsible for delivering exceptional customer service using social media. In this episode, Dan discusses highlights from his new book.
A year ago Dan's boss gave him the task of coming up with a personal goal - so he decided to write a book. Dan's expertise in social customer service is the basis for the book as he wanted to share the best practices he's learned as a practitioner. Additionally, Dan has been steeped in the ins and outs of social customer care in his podcast, but he's also a practitioner of customer care in his "day job." He wrote the book with management teams and marketers in mind.
Winning at Social Customer Care outlines eight steps in social care. Through his podcast, Dan has learned that most companies have gone through the majority of these steps:
- Creating a Philosophy
- Selecting the right technology
- Hiring a team with a dual skill set of customer service and social media
- Training
- Establishing a process, or documenting all possible scenarios
- Reporting demonstrating ROI
- Integration with the core business
- Integration with the CRM
Customer Experience (Online and Offline)
Customer experience is an integration of both online and offline experiences. Social media enables consumers to share, and Dan points out that they tend to share extremes - be it bad or great experiences. Brands can encourage social shares by striving to convert negative experiences to positive experiences.
Customer Service Alignment with Marketing & Sales
Dan says, "Marketing people have to care about customer service, especially in social media." Often when marketing posts content and it's shared in social media, questions and problems get posed in the comments. Customer service is similar in that it should be integrated into marketing. When the two are siloed, and the customer service team isn't aware of current offers and promotions, it's a bad experience for the customer. It's a disconnect that shouldn't happen.
ROI of Social Customer Care
Businesses should stop being afraid of making mistakes with customers. There's an understanding that humans make mistakes; however, consumers expect those problems to be resolved. Social media allows brands to fix the problem in front of other people thereby strengthening brand loyalty. One story Dan mentioned on episode 64 was about a gentleman who said he was receiving too much mail from Discover Card and simply because he was engaged authentically, he was converted into a customer. Social care can change detractors into advocates in minutes.
Featured On This Episode:
- Dan Gingiss on Twitter and LinkedIn
- Dan Gingiss's website and podcast
- Get Dan's book, Winning at Social Customer Care - How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media
- Download our Up Close Podcast Series with Ceralytics: How to Harness AI in Your Content Marketing Strategy
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- Write a review of this podcast in iTunes
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