9 Important Do’s and Don’ts of Social Customer Service You Should Know – Amanda Peterson

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Since the transition into the digital age, customer service agents have been forced to adjust to new forms of communication and expectations. Part of the change that digital communication brings with it, is responding to customers via social media channels. Increasingly, customers are posting their bad reviews or complaints on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other channels.

Ignoring these channels is not an option for any sized business. Below we outline the do’s and don’ts of social media customer service management.

Why Social Customer Service is Important

In today’s world of instant feedback, people are turning to social media to get an answer or voice their opinion about something. As this form of communication increases, so do customers’ expectations of decreased response times.

More and more individuals are engaging with brands and businesses on social media. Studies have shown they prefer social messaging over call centres. Online Marketing Institute found that companies can spend $1 to solve a customer issue on social media, while a call centre cost six times that much.

Since social media is a part of everyday life, except that current and potential customers will be paying attention as to how businesses are responding to customer concerns. Which leads to what companies should and should not do during social media exchanges.

Social Media Customer Service – The Do’s

#1. Have a Plan

We all know that plans can go out the window at the last minute, especially when it comes to social media. But even having a rough plan of attack together can help your team maximize efficiency.

When a business first puts this plan together, see that it follows the traditional company way of responding to concerns and compensation. Don’t deviate too largely from what the company originally offers in terms of refunds or returns because that can set a company up for problems down the road.

Have in place a system for tracking customer complaints. Know where the initial interaction occurred, collect details such as name, contact information and what the issue was, and who spoke with the customer first. Gathering and sharing this data can help a team in the long run when customers turn to multiple channels to voice their issues.

Work out some responses that your team could use ahead of time. From years of handling customer complaints, companies have at least a few responses they tend to use a lot. But keep an eye out that for each exchange you differentiate them a little.

#2. Use It As a Learning Experience

We all learn something new each day. Have team members share what information they gathered from different exchanges with each other.

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Ongoing problems can also be used as ideas for content generation. If people continuously have problems with the checkout process or product page, create a social post or short video on how to navigate through it. Or expand on a current page and share that updated information.

#3. Follow Up

It’s not just on the consumer’s shoulders to solve a problem. Businesses have to meet their customers halfway. Following up with customers lets employees report if the issue reached a resolution or not and lets the customer know the company cares about them.

Part of having a plan in place is knowing how long a business should wait before replying again to a customer. Everyone has busy lives and may not let companies know if their advice helped with the problem. Also, by having a plan for how long to wait means customers won’t get annoyed with too many automatic follow-ups.

#4. Move The Conversation Off The Public Page

At some point, a conversation will need to move off the public page. Customer information like phone numbers and addresses are not something to share publicly. Encourage consumers to direct message your support team after the initial contact has happened.

If they refuse to have a private conversation, make it private as it develops in the comments. That way other customers know the company cares about its customers’ private conversations.

It also helps businesses keep trolls from comparing how different issues reached a resolution or customers asking for larger compensations by pulling up these conversations. However, be sure to follow-up publicly on the original comment when the issue reaches a resolution.

#5. Use Your Tools

There are a lot of tools on the market to help customer service individuals. Facebook allows businesses to set up automatic replies for chat conversations.

There are also ways to monitor comments about a business that do not appear on its page. Utilizing experienced team members is another useful way to pass on knowledge and advice for newer individuals. 

Social Media Customer Service – The Don’ts

#1. Ignore It

It is very bad for a business or brand to ignore customer comments. They won’t just go away on their own.

Potential customers who see a business page with multiple complaints or issues showing on a social page without responses sends up a red flag for them. The same logic applies to the comments section on a blog or website.

Replying to positive feedback is a must as well. It lets an individual know a brand cares about them. This will improve their outlook on that business leading to the potential for more recommendations or social shares from that person.

#2. Repeat The Same Response Every Time

A standard issue reply does not look good when scrolling through a business’s social media page. It suggests that a customer is not going to be treated as an individual based on their concern.

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In a previous section, we discussed having a planned response in place. When creating that response, brainstorm other ways of delivering the message. However, individuals should always read what a customer has said thoroughly before responding to ensure the response they give is the correct one.

Creating a personalized response to a customer comment is a sure-fire way to gain trust with that individual. It shows them the company or individual representing the company is equally concerned about their problem as they are.

#3. Get Emotional

Yes, there are many times when it is difficult to maintain composure when dealing with difficult people. However, one bad remark or response can tailspin because customers can then turn around and share a screenshot of an exchange with everyone on social media.

Encourage team members to take a break when dealing with a hard situation. The beauty of social media is people can step away from a computer for a few minutes before responding. However, don’t let the conversation sit for too long before responding to it.

#4. Be Too Casual

Remind people they are representing a larger entity than themselves. Look over responses before they go out for spelling and grammar mistakes. Slang and overuse of emojis can signal an unprofessional tone. It can also show inexperience or lack of knowledge about an issue, which again reflects poorly on a company.

Social media customer service is a newer kind of customer service, but it’s an important component of it. By incorporating some of the thoughts from the do’s and don’ts sections above, managing customer feedback will be much easier for business.

Contributor to Enlightened Digital and software engineer form the one, the only New York City. When I’m not trying to find the best record store in the city, you can find me curling up to watch some Netflix with my Puggle, Hendrix

Kelechi Okeke
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