Businesses all over the globe are busy setting up social media accounts, blogs, websites and other tools that allow them to connect more directly with their customer base. Whilst this can only be a good thing, businesses do need to be careful that they have the resources allocated to handle the interactions that are generated by this type of activity.
Getting a negative customer comment is never nice, but getting it in the public domain for all your customers, past and future, to see can be incredibly damaging to your business reputation and must be handled swiftly and elegantly to mitigate any negative effects. Too many companies rely on robotic or automated responses to cover their backs, and think that because they have scheduled 100 tweets to be published over the coming week that they will look like a great company.
However, none of this effort is actually improving the experience for the customer, which at the end of the day is the key element to manage to ensure higher profits. Here are 4 rules you need to follow when engaging with customer via social media to ensure you get the positive effects your business is looking for.
1. Respond quickly
There is plenty of technology available to help you stay on top of what is being said and done about your company online. You need to instil a culture of urgency in your employees so that when a response is appropriate and called for, it is made with professionalism and in a timely manner. Don’t forget, its not just that customer waiting for a response, it’s all the others too.
2. Give it to the experts
Don’t let your IT department take over the management of your social media accounts. Whilst they may be very useful at setting things up so they can be easily managed in house, they probably don’t know all that much about customer care. Let your front of house people work the social media responses, as they already have the expertise and training to respond in a friendly, professional and representative manner.
3. Get the issue resolved
In social media, actions speak much, much louder than words. Its no good having your top CSR respond to the client in a positive and uplifting manner if all the promises they make never come to fruition. That customer will only come back to you, even angrier, and make your company look like it doesn’t keep its promises. Similarly, if a reported problem is a common complaint, get it fixed from the start otherwise your customers will start to think you are incapable of solving a problem and will lose faith in your brand.
4. Thank the complainers
Social media is all about embracing that direct feedback from customers, so remember to thank the people who take the time to raise issues with you. Explain, in a public way, what has been done to correct the problem, and openly invite more feedback from customers as a way of improving and refining the service you give.
PHS Hadjizacharias is a professional firm providing Cyprus Corporate Services, with a lot of care on customer support and human relationship