Social Customer Service

The automated voice system. The “Can you please hold?” commentary. The waiting, and waiting, and waiting. We have all experienced trying to get answers for our questions. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be more challenging than it sounds. Customers want to know that when they buy your product or use your services that they will be able to receive help in the future if needed. They also want to know that once the sales representative closes the deal, the rest of the process will continue to receive equal attention.

Companies today are incorporating social customer relationship management (SCRM) programs that place the emphasis on satisfying customers and finding new clients. In order to keep existing customers happy, companies must find ways to be innovative in connecting with them. Businesses are finding ways to utilize social media to reach customers in effective and convenient ways.

Social networking allows customers to be an interactive part of the business process. Through social media customers can share suggestions, ideas, ask questions, inquire about other products, and communicate about countless other topics. At the heart of all these possibilities is communication. Companies and customers are able to dialogue easier. Customers want to be heard and feel as if their time and energy is valuable. Luckily, for the business world, social networking provides the means to make this happen.

Customers may really be satisfied with your products. Throughout their own experience, perhaps they have found new ways to use them. Giving your customers a place to share information and ideas may promote your goods more than you had originally thought. For example, maybe you make some type of cleaning product. You advertise this product for being great for a few different uses. However, by chance, one of your customers has found it to be fantastic for something completely different. This customer wants to share and let others in on this great new usage. This type of promotion can be completely unsolicited, yet totally beneficial for sales.

Complaints are inevitable. It is difficult to make everyone happy all the time. However, social media can offer non-confrontational ways to converse about possible solutions. Providing a sense of community by incorporating the customer in the process may alleviate some tensions. Since they feel like their concerns are being considered, a simple solution for a misunderstanding may be all that it takes. Not only will the customer be happier, but so will your staff. When your company receives messages from customers via social networks, your staff can direct the questions to the correct staff member, reducing the risk of passing around a customer while he/she sits on hold.

Meeting the customer on their turf can be another incentive of using social media to support customers. People feel comfortable at their own computers, and communicating in a way that makes them feel heard, but also easy to use. Time is important to companies, as well as customers. No one wants to waste time because everyone has long to-do lists. Being efficient can also mean getting results. The two can be one in the same if using social media as a means of customer support.

The goal of social CRM systems is to keep customers happy, and in order to do that, communication is essential. Social networking offers ways for companies and patrons to connect in meaningful ways. Whatever the conversation is about, it is the customer support that counts. By providing excellent customer service, companies will most likely see the profits return in customer loyalty, and more sales.