Improving Customer Service with Social Media

As a company, you strive to supply what your customers demand, in an efficient, cheerful, and courteous manner. After all, a smiling customer = a loyal customer = a customer who will refer you to her friends and contacts. There used to be a time when a “referral” was something that happened between two friends over coffee. Today, with viral messaging enabled by social media, a referral can quickly reach thousands. If your customers “Tweet” or blog about how pleased they were with your service, that could lead to many more clients.

Bad News Travels Fast

However, as amazing as your product is, problems will arise. And that problem or glitch may have huge repercussions, because in a few moments, your irate customers can use their social networks to spread the bad word about your company. In fact, when blogger Jeff Jarvis was unhappy with the “lemon” he purchased from Dell, he blogged about it, using the catchy title, “Dell is Hell.” Within a week, the New York Times and Business Day had picked up the story. You certainly don’t want someone Googling your company only to find several blogs and articles complaining about your product coming up right after your own site in the search results.

…So Does Good News…

But here’s where social media truly works its social magic. If you are on top of what your clients are saying about you, you have a golden opportunity to fix the problem and keep the customer. In addition, receiving personalized attention and a quick response will likely evoke in the customer all sorts of affectionate feelings towards you, and she may end up being an even bigger fan than she was before! Lemons to lemonade!

Here are some tips to help you use social media to improve your customer service:

Listen and Learn

Find out what the word on the (virtual) street is. Search on Facebook, Twitter, and in the blogosphere, and read what people have to say about your product. You can go to http://search.twitter.com, type in your company name, and see firsthand what your customers have to say. There are also many forums for customer complaints, such as www.consumermedia.com (a subsidiary of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports), and www.complaints.com. It’s probably worth a look around those sites, and others, to see if your company’s name is popping up.

Some larger companies, including Comcast and Southwest, have employees whose sole job it is to monitor social networking sites for mention of the company. A smaller company who can’t afford a “social network liaison” should still be on the lookout for how and when their company pops up online. In addition to keeping an eye on larger networking sites like Twitter, pay attention to sites in your niche market. If you sell baby products, check out the “Community” section on www.parenting.com and www.parents.com, and join www.Cafemom.com . 

Control the chaos!

Don’t avoid the inevitable problems that will crop up – invite them! Create a group or forum on your website for users to post problems or complaints. You will be able to catch glitches right away and respond to them faster. You can also create a cache of solutions on your forums, enabling your clients to help solve problems on their own. Not only have you created good feelings toward your product, you’ve cut down on your customer service costs! After being burned by “Dell is Hell,” Dell turned itself around and harnessed the power of social media. The company created a “Dell Community” (http://en.community.dell.com/) where customers can post problems, and browse blogs, forums, and groups to find solutions and advice.

Conduit to Your Customers

Make your Conduit community toolbar a place where your customers know they can find solutions. Every time you add a gadget or link on the toolbar, your users’ toolbars are automatically updated. If you’ve noticed a common complaint relating to your product, post a link on the toolbar discussing the problem and how to solve it. Your customers will immediately see the link and be able to fix the problem. Include a link to your “Help” forum as well on your toolbar, so your customers can report a problem, or find a solution, quickly and easily.

Take action!

Whether you’re selling lemonade at the corner or selling computers online, taking swift action is the key to customer service. Once you’ve acknowledged the problem, thanks to your presence on social media sites, do something about it! Respond to the customer and figure out what can be done, whether it’s a rebate, sending a technician, or replacing a part. Dell created the position of “corporate blogger,” who spoke to unhappy customer Jeff Jarvis and worked to resolve the issue. In the end, Jarvis felt he was listened to and respected, and praised Dell’s response on his blog. Not every company can afford a “corporate blogger,” but every company, no matter how big or small, can respond quickly to customers and provide a satisfactory resolution.  

Social media provides incredible opportunities to keep your customers happy. But remember, in the end, you are the one responsible for resolving the problem. Twitter or Facebook cannot call a customer and work to solve the problem. It’s the person on the other end of the technology that is responsible for turning those frowns upside down. And keeping them that way.