Social media has both driven and coincided with a dramatic change in the way that businesses and customers interact. Gone are the days of one-way conversations dictated by brands. Customers now demand a level of speed, convenience and transparency that is challenging boardrooms and customer service professionals like never before.
Social sites such as Twitter and Facebook provide a very public platform and the sort of easy access to organisations that modern consumers crave, so it’s no surprise that social media is fast-becoming an essential component of customer service strategies. The key is being able to deliver a truly integrated communication platform, where customers have the choice of how and when they communicate with an organisation.
With this in mind, we at the Institute of Customer Service conducted a comprehensive survey of consumers and held in-depth interviews with senior customer service executives to give businesses clear direction on how they can use social media to improve levels of customer satisfaction, understand customer needs and, ultimately, bolster the bottom line.
Social mobility
One key conclusion from the research report is that consumers are turning to social media to communicate with brands at a rapid rate. According to our research, since January 2014, there has been an eight-fold increase in customer complaints made on social media. One in four social media users in the UK have used platforms to complain within the last three months.
Increasingly, platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are being viewed as the perfect vehicles for customers to escalate complaints, with 12% of the 2,195 consumers we surveyed stating they had taken this course of action. The cheap, convenient and public nature of social media platforms means they are a convenient way for shoppers to register their concerns.
But it’s not all negative. The public is not flocking to social media just to complain; 39% of consumers we surveyed actively provide feedback to organisations online, while 31% make pre-sales enquiries. There’s an opportunity here for brands to gain a deeper understanding of their customers beyond handling complaints.
But there’s a world of difference between knowing your brand has to engage and knowing specifically how to do so. Here are some key actions:
Analyse, equip and empower
First, take a helicopter view of your employees’ knowledge and understanding of the business environment in which they operate. Beyond the technical skills of operating on different social platforms, businesses need to ensure that employees are equipped with a broad understanding of the company’s purpose, strategy, values and, of course, the whole customer service strategy.
Individuals have to make snap judgements on a range of different customer enquiries, but I challenge you to find a boardroom that will make a snap judgement about how to equip teams with the appropriate skills. What’s more, I’d hope you wouldn’t be able to, because to give consumers the rapid response service they desire, companies must empower individual employees to make the correct judgment calls.
Involve and include
Responsibility for social channels tends to be placed within marketing departments, but it’s vital that organisations align activities with the customer service team and all other relevant departments. That includes the boardroom.
Social media is becoming the responsibility of the whole company; customers expect a seamless experience with every department, from sales to corporate comms. So in the same way that cyber security has matured to a boardroom concern, social media decisions and use must involve leadership from the top down.
Jo Causon is chief executive of the Institute of Customer Service
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