Almost each and every person walking on the street, today is an owner of a Smartphone. Wondering how does that relate to customer service? Increasing number of people using Smartphone and internet facility directly correlates to increasing users on various social media channels. Better communication through social media sure has its own better side however; it also contains a flip side just like all other things. It is this flip-side that the customer support teams of various companies need to work on.
Let’s make it simpler. Constant use of social media by people and presence of companies on social media as well is often accepted by all as a means to reach the company. What gets worse is the fact that people actually expect a reply to their comments, complaints, queries and opinion within the shortest period of time.
Now, the question is what defines this expected range of time? Well, the answer is exactly what you think; it is different for different people. Therefore, Edison Research conducted a study regarding the same. What they found left everyone amazed. Close to 42 percent of the researched population expected to get a reply within a time frame of five minutes to one hour. On the other hand 25 percent of people expected a reply within one day. This only means that all companies today need a dedicated customer support team for the social media channels alone. However, the woes do not end here for the companies who make their presence felt through social media. What makes the job difficult is the fact that consumers actually expect quick and constant replies to their queries even on weekends.
Consider this : Twitter has a total of 284 million monthly active users and Facebook alone has a total of 1.35 billion monthly active users. Only a customer support person can imaging the number of accounts that are handling when such numbers appear!
What is the necessity of providing customer support on social media when you already have a telephone line constantly dedicated towards it? As we all know Social Media is THE platform today where most conversations happen, between people from various corners of the world. This results in word about your company travelling across nations as well. In such cases would you prefer bad and derogatory comments about your company being spread life fire? Of course not!
This leaves us with the question – What shall be the solution in that case? Here are a few ways which can help generate better and faster response to your customers’ queries and all on a real time basis.
1. KEEP IT CLEAN, KEEP IT CLEAR
Keep your company’s profile and the customer support profile separate, link them to each other but keep them separate. This allows a huge level of filtration in itself. This however means there needs to be a dedicated force working on it constantly. For example, Yahoo has a separate twitter handle which deals with customer support alone. This handle not just educates people about the various new developments, changes or even small tips, but also makes sure to provide timely replies to their customers. Customers complain about various problems through comments. So what? You are supposed to respond to that as well. This leads to reduction in unhappy customers and remember, happy customers always talk good. Before you know there is already good word spreading about your company.
2. NO MORE FAQ’S
How do you find out where your customers are talking about you or are trying to reach you? Well, the world has advanced faster than we think. Today there is a number of software which allows you to listen to what your customers are talking about you. So, why just stick to answering basic FAQ’s and wait for people to call you in case they need help? If you take a step ahead of that, your gesture would be noticed and appreciated. Tools like Simplify360 can be helpful. It not just facilitates the option to listen to what your customers are talking to you but also allows you to manage your profiles and engage with your customers from the same platform. This helps in keeping track of every spot where your brand name has been mentioned. What’s the best part? It also has an option where you can assign various types of tasks to different people and make the process automated. This means if one respondent does not answer instantaneously, the complaint would be allocated to other personnel. Doesn’t that make life a lot easier? Here’s an example:
3. SIGN IN/SIGN OUT
Be sure that your customers are aware when you sign in and sign out. This just makes the process more transparent. Let your customers know your time of operations clearly with a nice salutation. It not just makes your customers feel more personally attended but also allows them to be aware, whether your customer support online is 24/7 or not. Also, it reduces the congestion of messages created over the night, if your company does not provide support at night. Here is a great example:
Let your customers talk good about you wherever they go. Be available more easily and readily to create the best impression online.