SwitchHack

Neville Upton

It’s hard to ignore the boom in popularity of social networks – whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or blogs – it seems that social media now needs to form a core element to any customer service strategy. And for good reason. 

At its heart, social network-based customer service interactions drive increased intimacy between company and customer. Consumers now have the ability and means to use social networking sites to broadcast their frustrations’ at the short comings of brands - or indeed praise excellent customer service experiences - to a wider audience than ever before. It’s word of mouth operating with immediate and exponential reach. 

More importantly however, is the trust associated with these sites. We recently undertook research that indicated consumers are increasingly turning to their peers, friends and families for product and service recommendations because they often do not ‘trust’ corporate communications. Social media then provides consumers with a personal recommendation from a trusted party. 

As people start to bypass traditional customer service routes in favour of digital platforms then, brands are faced with both more challenges and more opportunity than ever before. However, there still seems to be confusion amongst brands about what social networking services mean for them and how, if at all, they should factor in their communication strategy with customers.

On a basic level, there is the reactive approach. If, for example, a customer complains to the world at large about poor service, the company being complained about should reach out to that customer to try to solve the issue. Social media is all about individual thoughts and opinions, and the people participating in this digital forum want acknowledgement that they are being heard – even if the issue can’t necessarily be solved. 

Beyond that however, there are also opportunities to identify and engage current or potential brand advocates proactively.  Through Twitter or Facebook, brands have the ability to identify who is unhappy with competitors’ customer service and target them with an alternatively.  There is still no substitute for having your customer service enquiry dealt with by a dedicated representative who can provide immediate resolution – regardless of the channel.

Companies that choose to simply ignore this trend will in many ways relegate themselves to the outdated camp. Whether brands want to embrace the latest social networking phenomenon or not, it is clear that consumers are placing these customer touch points close to their hearts.