Providing excellent customer service on social media is crucial for maintaining a positive brand image and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Here are some best practices to help you excel in social media customer service:
Rule #1 – Answer Every Complaint, in Every Channel, Every Time.
It’s as straightforward as it gets. You want each and every customer with a problem to feel heard.
“Stop trying to be amazing, start being helpful…. If you sell something, you have a customer for a day, when you help someone you have a customer for life.”
You need to be meeting each and every customer complaint where they’re complaining. For example, if you have a Twitter account and someone tweets something about your product or service, you need to be there to respond. Nothing is worse than a complaint going unanswered. You can kiss that customer goodbye.
If you don’t have a Twitter account, you get one to provide your customers with the outlet. Most businesses never hear about their customers’ complaints because they don’t want to take the time to call or email. Social media is an easy way for your customers to provide you with valuable feedback without investing too much time or energy.
There is no picking and choosing which complaints seem easiest to resolve. You need to provide a response to each and every issue with your brand. High-quality social media customer service requires serious dedication.
Don’t, however, look at this as an unending cycle of complaints. Instead, see it as the opportunity to rally behind the complainers and turn them into appreciative returning customers. You’ll be reducing your churn rate and boosting your ROI with every situation you flip.
NOTE: The exception to this rule—In the event of mass issues, there is no need to try to reply to every complaint. Post widespread alerts and give regular updates that reach the masses more effectively.
Rule #2 – Use Complaints to Identify Weak Points
There are a number of social media marketing tools that will help you search for mentions of your brand. While using these social listening aids to hone your marketing is a great idea, you should be using them to improve your social media customer service as well.
Plenty of these brand mentions will come in the form of questions, comments, and complaints. You need to be responding to them quickly and professionally. You also need to be recording each and everyone in order to help identify your company’s weak points.
What sort of comments are you recording most? If you receive the same questions over and over, create a way for that information to be more apparent to your customers.
Are you receiving negative feedback about a particular part of your customer interface or checkout process? What can you do to streamline things and smooth out the process so your customers aren’t getting frustrated every time they buy from you.
If your customers are frustrated and commenting about it, imagine how many gave up before they checked out and never took the time to let you know. Social media customer service translating to boosted profits? Who would have guessed!
If you have a problem that comes up again and again, address it. After all, solving an internal problem that eliminates customer complaints is better than continually running around putting out fires.
Rule #3 – Sense the Tone
Social media customer service gives you the opportunity to react quickly and compassionately, with an opportunity for informal interactions once a rapport has been established. Your ability to determine the severity of a complaint and the individual tone of your customers will help you judge how to best interact with them. Do they use emoticons and slang? Do they seem like they’re having trouble just getting their message in front of you? Do your best to read the individual and respond accordingly.
A less formal approach is often preferred in social media interactions, but know your audience before you get too friendly. There are times for high professionalism and times where a smiley face included in your response may lighten the mood and shift the scenario completely.
Rule #4 – Don’t Change the Communication Channel
If your customer is airing their complaint via a Facebook comment, they’re doing it there for a reason. Don’t start your response by asking them to communicate via phone or email. Don’t even ask them to communicate through private messages until you’ve begun to address their needs publicly. Changing communication channels for a complaint can be seen as a lack of respect for your customers.
Rather, meet them where they are and reply in public if that’s how they prefer to hash out their issue. The ensuing dialogue could generate support for your brand thanks to your professionalism and willingness to help your customer, no matter the outcome.
Rule #5 – Saying “Sorry” Doesn’t Make You Instantly Culpable
If you’re responding to a disgruntled customer to help them, don’t avoid starting the conversation with a genuine apology. Saying you’re “sorry” doesn’t always mean you’re at fault.
Approach the situation with an empathetic tone. Engage your customer politely and with professionalism. If your company is at fault, take responsibility and do your best to regain the customer’s trust. It may take less than you expect.
If your company isn’t at fault, rather than passing the blame, see what you can do to spin the situation anyway. Even if their complaint is about something out of your control, a special offer and a few kind words may go a long way. You never know what could turn an unhappy tweeter into a repeat customer and cheerleader for your brand.
Rule #6 – Handling Difficult Customers is a Good Thing
This rule ties into the last one quite a bit. In any form of customer service, you’ll be met with angry customers. Sometimes they have a genuine reason, other times you may just have the misfortune of being the vent for their frustration.
Take this opportunity to create spectator advocates. Keep your cool. Handle yourself with the utmost professionalism in the face of whatever they may throw at you. Use your best logic and reason to appeal to their better judgment. If that doesn’t work, treat them like a child throwing a tantrum and offer them something wonderful to make all of their huffing and puffing worthwhile.
No matter what the outcome, the situation will likely have attracted a few spectators. The level of service provided during the interaction is likely to impress the people watching from the sidelines. These people will come away with a new appreciation for the way your business is conducted without having ever purchased anything from you. How cool is that!
Rule #7 – Follow Up
This one is super simple. If the situation allows for it, try to follow up with a customer after you’ve helped them. A simple “How are things going?” will let your customer know that their problem means a great deal to you and that you’re there to support them with any further issues.
Rule #8 – Share Service Tips
Share a weekly “do-it-yourself” customer service tip with your followers. Let them know you’re listening. After all, most customer frustrations go unreported. Just because people aren’t sharing them doesn’t mean they should be left ignored. Promote your customer service and get people sharing!
Rule #9 – Don’t Let Automation Go Unchecked
Large brands often have trouble responding to all of the tweets coming their way. Automation is not at all uncommon, but don’t let yours run unchecked.
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