We all know that Customer Service through social media is a no-brainer. As more and more consumers are reaching out to social media before, during and after they have purchased goods it becomes clear that the Contact Center is becoming a logical home for social media together with the integration into the CRM system.
In the old world companies would wait for a customer to show up. It would be a one-to-one conversation where the company has the experts. Today, customers show up at anytime, well informed and publicly for everyone to see. As a company you still want to deliver great customer service by treating your clients with respect, quality and give them a great experience. A logical step is to bring social media into the contact center as a funnel for all conversations. How?
To integrate Social Media into your company, it must be part of the overall business strategy and supported by a business case. This business case will demonstrate without a doubt that the contact center is the place to house your social media. As with normal Customer Service contact there are some rules that apply to staff which are summarized in a social media policy that includes ways to deal with positive and negative messages, call it “crisis communication”, overall behavior and clear metrics.
Since social media is “happening out there”, there is a need to invest in a good social media monitoring software that will allow you to catch the posts/mentions about your company and its products. Through the social media monitoring you will be able to listen to the conversations, learn from it and finally respond to them. These tools must be in the hands of handpicked and well trained people who understand the lingo of social media and can act as team players to create the ultimate Customer Service experience.
Customer Service through social media is not a revolution but an evolution. If this is done well, this effort will lead to operational efficiencies, positive customer experience, valuable customer insights and improved business ROI.
Mic Adam is a social media policy creator and conversation manager at Vanguard Leadership. This article is writing under own name and responsibility.
