Social customers are increasingly turning to social media channels for support. With the immediate accessibility offered through mobile devices, they see this as a convenient channel to communicate with brands. This means that brands need to respond quickly and transparently to consumers’ questions, gripes and even compliments. A support query going unanswered on Twitter, for instance, is likely to cause frustration for the consumer, and prompt them to take a situation that is already visible to other consumers even further, potentially causing a brand crisis.
Brands should carefully consider whether all social media channels are appropriate for them, and be prepared for any eventuality. Brands that are well liked will generally have positive responses on social media, those that receive a mediocre response from consumers will have a bit of a mixed bag, but those that have a lot of support issues are likely to experience very large numbers of complaints that need to be addressed.
Social support staff should have access to all the historical data relating to customer issues – such as all the data collected about previous complaints and reference numbers. In this way, they can respond directly to the consumer in the social channel that they’ve selected and escalate the problem appropriately.
Brands should carefully consider whether all social media channels are appropriate for them, and be prepared for any eventuality. Brands that are well liked will generally have positive responses on social media, those that receive a mediocre response from consumers will have a bit of a mixed bag, but those that have a lot of support issues are likely to experience very large numbers of complaints that need to be addressed.
Social support staff should have access to all the historical data relating to customer issues – such as all the data collected about previous complaints and reference numbers. In this way, they can respond directly to the consumer in the social channel that they’ve selected and escalate the problem appropriately.
