Customers Use Social To Cut The Double Waiting Time
Last week, I met the customer service team of an insurance company. I showed them a road map to help them integrate social networks effectively. They need to embrace Social Customer Service because an increasing number of customers ask for information and support thru Facebook and Twitter.
As you can imagine, I had to answer many questions. But one topic, in particular, hit the spot: customers want to get rid of the double waiting time.
Read on to learn more in this article.
First Waiting Time [the most hated one]
It’s the one we always had to deal with for over 30 years, but we’re really fed up:
Waiting TO GET IN TOUCH with customer service. E.g., you try to call, but you’re kept on seemingly eternal hold before being able to speak with somebody. Long ago, this became unacceptable. Customers just can’t stand it anymore because social networks allow them to deliver their questions in real time!
Credit image: Unsplash.com
The following questions will help you focus on this topic from an organization’s standpoint:
- Do your customers find it hard to get in touch with your support team?
- Are you currently measuring Customer Effort Score (CES)?
- Would your customers prefer to get Social Customer Service over Facebook, Twitter or other channels?
Related reading: build your digital customer information hub
Second Waiting Time
This is crucial for customers, as well as very important for brands:
“how much time do I have to wait to get a response?”
Fact: customers tweeting or commenting on a brand’s Facebook page expect a faster response compared to when they send an email. That means getting it within very few hours. Otherwise, they lose patience and use other channels to replicate the same questions.
Unfortunately, many brands are still not ready to meet customer’s expectations, so that there’s a gap between expected and delivered response times.
Infographic: Sproutsocial.com
Cutting Down On Double Wait Time
Smart brands have already realized that they need to cut down the double waiting time. Consequently, they’ve re-organized their support structure integrating social channels and the most effective way to do it is adopting a strategic approach:
- Setting up Social Customer Service goals & KPIs → i.e., what results I want to achieve what do I need to measure
- Selecting an omnichannel digital customer service platform → i.e., to handle and monitor all social conversations in one dashboard
- Building a social/digital customer service team → i.e., hiring and training them within your customer support / call-centre
Related reading: why you can’t do without these 3 customer service pillars.
Over to You
As customers cut the double waiting time, focus on reducing response time across all your support channels. As for Social Customer Service, start building your structure when the volume of social interactions is still relatively low (less than 100 per day). The sooner you start, the better you’ll deliver.
Have great conversations.
Featured image: Copyright: ‘https://www.123rf.com/profile_makkuro‘ / 123RF Stock Photo
Paolo Fabrizio
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