Social media customer service

Everyone talks about social networks. Everyone uses social networks. Everyone’s on social networks. Not your company?

Okay, being on social networks is not mandatory, and in fact it has both advantages and disadvantages, but if you have chosen to have a company profile on sites like Facebook or Twitter, you should know that it is likely that some customers use this way to send you all kinds of queries, suggestions or incidents. And now ask yourself, is your company ready to manage this information traffic?

By now you will know that managing customer service on social networks is a very sensitive issue, because the answers you give will be exposed to the eyes of thousands of people. In this post we are going to look at some ideas so that customer service in social networks does not become a nightmare from which you’ll have a hard time waking up.

1. Dedicate an exclusive mean to customer service

Does your company receive a large number of inquiries or complaints from customers? Perhaps it’s time to separate customer service from your main profiles. You can create dedicated customer service sites on every social network. Thus, incidents and queries will not be mixed with other issues that are not so closely related to customer service -such as the presentation of products or promotions- and it will be easier to manage them.

2. Create attractive and informative profiles

Social network profiles are also part of the company’s image. If they are too overloaded or seem abandoned, the image you transmit will not be positive. If, on the contrary, you take care of the aesthetics and information found in them, your users will appreciate it and their customer experience will improve.

One idea, for example, is to create a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section. They are usually one of the most visited sections of any profile or web page, and will avoid that you have to solve individualized some simple doubts that the user could solve by himself (this will save you a lot of work).

3. Work with professionals

Remember that when it comes to customer service on social networks, everything can be seen by anyone who wants to watch. In social networks everything is intensified, so you have to be especially careful. Do you really think your friend nicknamed “Dogfight” is the right person to take care of your business’ online reputation? You can hire a community manager or leave it in the hands of other people within your company who are better able to carry out the task.

4. Be very careful with your answers

It has a lot to do with the professionalism of the people who take care of your profiles. It is better not to give names, but the cases of companies that have suffered serious reputational problems because of an out of place tweet are well known. You really want to get yourself into that mess? Education, moderation and caution must be essential elements in any message you post on social networks. And of course, remember that getting into thorny matters like politics or religion is like juggling fire on a tightrope.

5. Do a continuous follow-up and be quick to respond

Be on your guard! While some social networks allow for comment moderation, in others users will say what they want and when they want, so be on the lookout for disaster control when you least expect it. Your users will also appreciate a quick response, just as they would if they used any other means of contact. Can’t you provide 24×7 service? Specify it in your profile; include your customer service schedule and, if you can meet it, the estimated waiting time to receive a response.

6. Be diligent and respond to everyone

In this sense, nothing changes if you are using a social network with respect to customer service by other means. To respond to your users, you must use the same professionalism and diligence as if you were using the phone, email or any other way. Remember that your job is to solve the problems that arise. Do not leave questions unanswered; the image you give will not be any good. And, of course, make politeness and goodwill your flag when dealing with your users.

7. Personalize your answers

The fact that you don’t have more direct contact (e. g. telephone) or that the answers on social networks reach many people doesn’t mean that you should be impersonal in your answers. Quite the opposite. If you are close in your answers, everyone will see that there is a real person behind them, which will generate more sympathy in your users and make your profiles more human.

8. Use their questions to improve

If you are a regular reader of this blog (which is highly recommended), you will know that complaints or queries from your customers are unique opportunities to improve your business. Your users’ requests can show you bugs you didn’t know about or reasons to implement changes that will make things work better. Don’t waste them. Also, if you offer valuable information, a good response can even end up generating a sale.

9. Strengthen your internal communication

To give an effective response to the incidents raised by your customers, you must have excellent internal communication in your company. Do you have any software to help you? What do you mean? That your software is called “Mildred the one that notes complaints in a post-it“? Seriously, there are better ways to do it.

Take a look at Pandora ITSM. Pandora ITSM is a software that, in addition to other functionalities, has a ticket-based incident management tool, fast and easy to use.

Want to see what Pandora ITSM can offer you? Click here: https://pandorafms.com/en/itsm/help-desk-software/

Or ask us a question on the form you can find here: https://pandorafms.com/en/contact/

We will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you!