Are you using Social Customer Service wisely?
When it comes to using Social Customer Service, some people tend to focus on the first word. After all, everybody talks about ‘social’ everyday.
However, that’s a wrong approach to this topic, since customer service is the main goal, while social is just the tool to deliver it. If brands underestimate this aspect, they’re bound to make mistakes with negative consequences either for customers (awful experiences) and for themselves (reputation at stake / churn rate increase).
Put customers first
In this sense, one of the worst practices is excessively using automated responses. That’s mainly due to the will to answer as fast as possible to many customer queries via social. So, in order to prevent that before responding him/her ,always ask yourself:
- Am I replying properly to customer’s issue? (CONTENT)
- Am I providing him/her with the solution? (HELP)
- Is my answer crystal-clear or will it generate further questions? (UNDERSTANDING)
Below a bad example of what may happen when replying with automated responses:
Image: Business2Community.com
What can we learn from this case:
- Customers react badly if they receive non-appropriate responses to their queries
- Other customers (current or potential ones) will think that your brand is not reliable in case of need
- Automated responses are dangerous as they generate negative customer experiences (and 68% of consumers say they’ve switched service providers because of poor customer service/experiences)
USEFUL READ → 7 steps to avoid Social Customer Service pitfalls
Human touch vs. automation (the debate)
A few days ago, I came across an interesting article on CallCentreHelper entitled ‘Do we still want humans in customer service?‘ stressing the value of human interactions in customer service, regardless the channel we use in our conversations. I shared it then on LinkedIn and asked other readers to let me know their view about this topic. Guess what? I’m receiving many comments from people with different views; some prefer automated responses (provided they are consistent), while others prefer to interact with real people because they need a human touch.
Below an excerpt:
As this conversation is still ongoing, feel free to add your comment HERE.
The hidden ingredient
Dealing with customers via social networks is not easy since conversations are public and customers expect fast and conclusive answers. That’s why hiring the right people and/or training your existing customer service staff becomes crucial in order to deliver effective Social Customer Service.
However there’s a hidden skill that is also the most winning one… ↓
Empathy is about finding echoes of another person in yourself – Mohsin Amid
What’s your view about it? I’d love to read your comments below.
Have great social conversations.
Lead/Featured image: Copyright: ‘http://www.123rf.com/profile_llesia‘> / 123RF Stock Photo
Paolo Fabrizio
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