While social media is a great addition to your marketing campaign, it should not be your main source of customer service. As such, it is essential that you set up proper customer support.
In our increasingly fast paced world, what have your tried in order to stay on the cutting edge of your industry? In an effort to simplify transactions, companies may turn to informal forums for certain aspects, such as customer service. While there are many legitimate reasons to reach out to followers through social media, customer service just shouldn’t be one of them.
Customer Support Through Social Media is Negatively Impacting Your Brand
Though many customers may like to rant about businesses on social media, this should not be your main venue for support services. Before this rant begins, consumers should be able to easily access your customer service department through other platforms, including email, online chat, phone, or even face-to-face.
Not only does this keep problems from being splashed all over social media, it also helps customers feel valued. If the only way a customer can get through to you is by hashtagging your brand name, then you are opening yourself up to the scrutiny of the billions of social media users worldwide. Not to mention, this puts the spotlight on the inadequacies of your customer support. Very few people will want patronize your business if your products have problems and your customer service is deplorable, to boot. These factors can lead to serious issues for your online reputation.
How to Ensure Great Customer Service
To ensure that your customers are satisfied with your services, use the following techniques:
Make your proper contact information highly visible on your website, blog, and social media pages.
Use customer feedback (from all sources, including blog comments, social media, and other customer service calls) to create a FAQ page;
Offer customer service platforms that are as effortless as writing a tweet.
Respond as quickly and as professionally as possible;
Encourage followers to contact you via your customer service portal if they reach out for support purposes on social media.
To learn more about how to use (or not use) social media to bolster your online reputation, please feel free to contact us today.