Social Media Support
Episode #6 of the course How to win business with memorable customer service by Dream Support
Hi everyone! Today’s topic is social media support. I’ll share a few tips and examples of astonishing support we’ve spotted over social media.
Where to Start
What is the best way to organize your social networking efforts? You can always do it directly, or turn to software that gathers all your customer service channels together (like Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and any other “social network support tools” you can google).
In any event, if you decide to go social, consider your capability to handle all the requests in a timely manner. Users expect a fast reply when messaging anyone, and they usually do not make an exception for brands.
Tip: In case of mass issues or outages, do not waste your time replying to each and every message. Publish one major post, warning your customers about the issue, and provide estimated resolution time.
How to Improve
A smooth trick that can help you stand out is personalized support rep accounts. Show their faces in your profile. Create special accounts for each representative, so they can work under your company and leave comments as individuals. People love contacting other people, not faceless brands.
The next opportunity to win customers’ love is to create a separate account dedicated solely to support. Of course, its necessity is undoubtable only when you have a massive amount of questions incoming.
You might find it necessary to elect or hire a dedicated team member responsible for all social network interactions. This person will help you create your own guidelines to managing social interactions with customers:
• tone of voice and overall mood
• reply time
• most active hours
• premade answers to most common questions
• actions bound to calm down angry customers
• issue escalation practices
On top of that, this team member can organize proper social media monitoring. Be careful, though, as sometimes, people want to be able to talk about companies without them listening. Even more, some might consider social listening to be an invasion of their privacy.
In addition, you can successfully use social channels when you launch a new product; for example, share educational content like instruction and how-to videos to help all new customers even before they reach out for advice.
Examples of Astonishing Social Media Support
JetBlue, low-cost airline: One of the passengers tweeted about a non-working TV screen during his flight. No aggression—just a short note and a sad smiley. The company reached out, comforted him, and offered a credit for this trouble. All done in 23 minutes.
Delta Hotels, Vancouver: While staying at a Delta Hotel in Vancouver, a customer posted an unpleasant view from his suite on his Instagram (his windows displayed some tech constructions, vents, and such). He neither complained nor demanded anything, but the hotel staff was quick to react. They changed his room on the same day, providing a suite with a pleasant view. Their handwritten apology (together with a plate of pastries) touched the customer to the heart.
Waterstones, London bookstore: This one is about urgency and importance of social listening. Once a man got trapped in Waterstones bookstore in London. He tweeted about it and the message went viral. Someone from store staff was obviously monitoring their media, and 80 minutes later, they made a success tweet: The man was free again. Imagine spending a night in a bookstore!
Morton’s Steakhouse, New York City: In a short tweet, the man jokingly called for a delivery upon his landing. When the man arrived at the airport, he was greeted by a Morton’s server carrying a gift of a 24-ounce Porterhouse steak, shrimp, potatoes, and bread. It’s impressive when you think about the preparation time. The New York Morton’s team only had about three hours to pull this off.
I hope these examples have inspired you to do some research and look at social media from another angle. Tomorrow, we’ll turn to best ways to apologize to customers.
See you later!
Valentina
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