Customers expect fast, consistent, and reliable service in-person, on phone calls, and through the internet. With that in mind, it’s clear to see the importance for companies to have a social media strategy in place. Though there are significant benefits for your company and customers to provide fast service on social media, many companies run into issues when they automate their social media customer service. Automation can be your friend in many facets of business, but when it comes to social media, it’s key to maintain the human element to your strategy. The ICMI article “Achieving CX Success on Social Media” by Scott Ontiveroz elaborates on how crucial it is to have the right people controlling your social media channels. The article gives the following three keys to social media customer service success.
1) Hire Good Writers: It’s not enough to have auto-respond answers or stock responses based on corporate scripts. Customers on social media can see right through these tactics and often despise them. If the employees running your social media handles are good writers, they’ll be able to think critically and respond to unique inquiries and comments in a personable way, while sensing things like sarcasm and humor and knowing when to provide sympathy and empathy.
2) Maintain Up-To-Date Knowledge of Web Culture: Are your social media agents knowledgeable on the latest memes and internet slang? It’s important for any writer to know and understand the culture they’re working in and the audience they’re writing for. If you talk in solely industry or professional jargon, you might not connect with your customers on social media channels. Having professionals who know and understand memes and slang is very important in having a successful social media presence.
3) Empower Your Team: Just like customers don’t like being put on hold and transferred during experiences with traditional call centers, they also don’t want to be given the runaround on Facebook or Twitter. It’s critical that you enable your social media team members to make decisions for themselves and not weigh them down by corporate processes. Let them give the customer service necessary in the moment and your customers will be a lot happier with their experience.
Automating your social media customer service can certainly save you money, but it will be at the expense of giving a good customer experience. If there’s one place you can’t afford to give bad customer service, it’s online where everything is saved in a public record. Don’t risk letting putting your company in a negative position by providing terrible service on a viral platform. Hire the right people and empower them to help your customers, and you’ll see a better overall customer satisfaction.
This blog post is based on an article from ICMI. To read the original article, please click the link below:
Achieving CX Success on Social Media – Scott Ontiveroz
If you’re interested in outsourcing with a social media contact center, we can help at no charge!
Outsource Consultants are call center experts with over 25 years of outsourcing industry experience that have spent thousands of hours vetting and analyzing the strengths and specializations of the industry-leading outsource call center vendors. If you’re considering call center outsourcing, simply call 888-766-4482 or request a free call center cost proposal today and we’ll help you find the solution that best fits your exact requirements.
