Digital Marketing Consultant

One of the earliest commercial success stories on Twitter came from Comcast.  The company had a reputation for delivering poor customer service.  Customers struggled to find agents to speak to and when they did manage to find someone, they often felt that the agent was not listening.

That changed when Frank Eliason, the company’s “Director of Digital Care” opened a Twitter timeline.  Whenever anyone complained about Comcast, he shot back a reply asking if he could help.

For Comcast, it was a great thing.  Customers began to feel that there was someone listening to them.  They felt they could get help easily and Comcast began to rehabilitate its image as a company that could care less.

For other companies though, it has been something of a disaster. 

Take a look at the timeline of Dunkin Donuts.  Or of Target.  Or of Macys.  All of those companies have tried to copy Comcast – and come up short.  Their timelines are filled with tweets offering email addresses or phone numbers to make a complaint.  They read like long lists of apologies for poor service and shoddy products.

They are not bad companies.  Dunkin Donuts recently opened its 10,000^th store.  But if all you had to go on was the corporate timeline you would have to believe that these were firms that had no idea how to serve customers and had nothing good to give them. 

That is not just wrong; it is a waste of an opportunity.  A corporate timeline should be used to push deals, make product announcements, engage with influencers and drive sales.  If it is dominated by apologies for the bad service of individual staff in far-off outlets, it is not fulfilling that role.

There are a couple of alternative approaches to using the main corporate timeline as a customer service outlet.

That is Walmart’s approach.  The official timeline lists special offers and links to media initiatives.  Complaints about products or service are not answered anywhere.  It is a risky approach.  A serious complaint that is not addressed could quickly spread across networks.  But most issues tend to be fairly minor and Walmart feels big enough to shrug them off.

The alternative approach though is to go back to Comcast.  The company operates multiple timelines.  Its @comcast account, is relatively inactive.  Its @comcastvoices account talks about deals and promotions.  And the @comcastcares account is dedicated to dealing with customer complaints and issues.  That account is filled with apologies and offers to send technicians.  But that is what you would expect to see on a dedicated customer service desk.

However a complaint is addressed, it is picked up and dealt with by @comcastcares, leaving the rest of the social media team free to build the customer base.  It is a much smarter system than the one used by Target or Macys, which allows complaints to overwhelm social media promotions.

Usually, you want to make sure that you’re servicing your customers as much as you can.  But social media is a public forum and you do not want everyone to see a long line of dissatisfied customers at the front door.  There is a reason that retail stores put the complaints department at the back, and there is a reason that smart businesses on social media guide complainants away from their main page.

Have you ever thought, "Oh, man, that answer shows that the customer service rep has not read my email question.  He/she just sent a standard answer, which I have already read in the FAQ.  They are wasting my time and insulting me at the same time."

Customer service continues to be a major social media initiative for B2B companies, but not every customer service rep is ready to represent your company or brand online. Social profiles are usually managed by marketing, public relations, or even an outside agency, and often customer service personnel are charged with responding to product issues and service inquiries.

Studies have shown that people who complain on social channels are already dissatisfied with the response they received through traditional service channels (phone and email). This means that online responses need to be carefully composed to effectively answer the customer. While it is sometimes necessary to take the conversation offline, it can also be important for others to see the details of the situation. Frequently customer service reps are familiar with the customer and their issues, so it is less about solving the problem, and more about discussing it in a public space.

The following five points can help evaluate who in a customer service department can be initially responsible for creating and posting responses on social profiles.

1. They Have a Facebook Profile

Even though over half of the US population is on Facebook and it seems like everyone has a profile, there are still people who don’t. But just having a profile is a start for a customer service rep. Someone who is interacting with customers online needs to understand how people communicate on social networks. There is much less formality and often people post comments to get a reaction. If someone misses the tone of a post, they can respond inappropriately.

2. They Have Strong Writing Skills

Often customer service reps are hired for their people skills, their telephone skills and their ability to follow a script to resolve a situation quickly. Responding to customers in writing, whether in email or online, requires a different set of skills. Reps need the ability to combine standard answers with a customer’s specific problem in a clear and concise way. A simple writing test can determine how someone would respond online.

3. They Have Strong Product Knowledge

A good customer service rep must understand the product to be truly effective in responding to customers. Due to length requirements of online commenting, it is important to be able to write succinctly about product issues. It is much easier to discuss something briefly if you truly understand it. It is also likely that customers discussing products online, especially technical products, may have a deep understanding of product specs and functionality. Reps need to be able to interact at that level.

4. They Understand Public Perception

A good customer service rep understands that every response, whether it is made via phone, email or online, can be shared with the world. This is true in both positive and negative interactions. As that information spreads across other networks, the perception of others is shaped by that information. People who have worked for the company for a long time can sometimes be challenged by this significant change in their world view.

5. They Know They are on the Front Lines

No matter how much content and company messaging your B2B company puts out through traditional and online methods, an interaction with a customer service rep, even responding on a social profile, can completely change a customer’s opinion. If many B2B purchases are about relationships, make sure the customer service team is part of the relationship. Sometimes large companies have dedicated customer service teams to their largest customers, and this supports the relationship. This approach is about more than service. It’s about the relationship with specific people as well. Even in one time interactions, customer service reps are the company.

What are other ways to know if you B2B employees are ready for social media?

Customer Satisfaction surveys will provide any business with information regarding customer service, customer loyalty, and opportunities for improvement.   The problem is a lot of surveys are handed out or mailed out but never get completed and mailed back in.   Perhaps you, too, have received such an interview and like so many others; it was tossed in the trash and never thought about again.

The problem even gets bigger when all the people who were dissatisfied with the service do respond and mail in their survey.   So if you have experienced this in business, you understand the impact of receiving a handful of surveys by the  dissatisfied customers who take the opportunity to tell all that was wrong.  Failure to engage and inspire your satified customers to complete and return satisfaction surveys becomes even more important to the overall picture for your business.

1.     Establish a customer form on your Internet site.   Ask your customers in a consistent manner to provide feedback.  Ask specific, but few questions to make it easy.  Don’t stand back afraid to ask for it.  Step out and actually extend an invitation.
2.    Have everyone in your business send customer service feedback forms to customers and visitors following any type of contact with the customer.
3.    Improve customer service rankings for social media sites to help offset poor feedback from your website visitors and customers.
4.    Answer slanderous and postitive comments on various websites. Use a tracking service, such as Trackle. 
5.    Increase your content on various sites other than your own (such as LinkedIn) to gain credibility. 

Don’t waste any time. Start listening to your customers and actively request feedback from them.  Offset negative comments with positive feedback received on various social media sites.  You will need to be proactive and quickly respond to areas of negative feedback on customer service to improve future feedback.   

And finally, if you would simply like to read some excellent material on the subject, go to http://bit.ly/WSIwisdomBook starting at page 93.