There once was a time when drafting a letter and putting it in the mail was the most effective way a customer could place a complaint, provide feedback, or inquire about a product. Next came customer service via telephone, which was more efficient than letter writing, but the customer was likely to wait on hold for exasperatingly long periods of time, or get bounced around in an automated system and be unable to speak to a real person. Customers can often find comment cards or surveys to fill out regarding their feelings about a product as well. While these methods are still used by companies and their customers, the face of customer service is evolving with technology.
In recent years, social media platforms have rapidly been developing on the Web. The term social media refers to content published online that is created by individual users and is widely accessible to many people. Popular social media platforms include Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Flickr, as well as message boards, forums and blogs. Internet users have the capability of writing content that they can publish via any one of these platforms, as well as countless others. A comment or post made by a user can be distributed to thousands of other users in an instant.
Social media platforms are becoming commonplace among businesses which want to improve their customer service, stay current with their customers’ opinions and feedback, and look for new avenues of innovation.
As customer service tools, social media applications can serve a variety of functions. Customers who have complaints about products will often turn to their favorite platform to post their thoughts. A negative comment about a product or service can be reviewed by countless users. Many companies are devoting employees and time to monitoring social media platforms. In this way, companies can review users’ comments and address them in a very timely manner, in an attempt to convert negative perceptions about a product into positives. Companies also have a unique opportunity to address complaints and converse with their customers directly.
In addition to using social media platforms to monitor customers’ complaints, companies can also capitalize on the main function they serve: communication. Companies can create their own blog spots, Facebook and MySpace pages, and Twitter accounts in addition to monitoring users’ posts. In this proactive approach, companies invite customers to provide them with feedback that can be quickly addressed and reviewed. Conversations between the company and its customers present opportunities to discuss ideas and assess customers’ needs. Ideas can be generated from listening to customers’ comments and concerns. From this, innovation can blossom.
Social media outlets are also a great way for a business to create buzz or get the word out about a new product release or promotional campaign. Having a presence on a popular social network also helps establish and maintain brand and Web presence.
By capitalizing on social media platforms as customer service tools, businesses can potentially open doors to communication, avert public relations nightmares, build their reputations, and turn people into fans. Social media users have a lot of power when it comes to affecting a company’s image. One post about a simple product default can turn into a huge loss of revenue. However, a positive, concerned response regarding that negative post from the company can generate fans instead of adversaries.
To make the most of social media platforms as customer service tools, companies must spend time monitoring the platforms and respond to users’ comments in a timely, personal manner. In addition, they may want to build their own pages on the platforms and invite users to become fans or members in an attempt to open up conversation and communication. The social media applications should be used on a regular, even daily or hourly, basis to be most effective.
Gone are the days of waiting for a few letters in the mail. Now is the time when social media platforms can change the face of customer service.
