How to Use Social Media for Service & Support

Social media as a service and support channel is on the rise. There is a buzz about what effect social media will have on customer service.

Peter Shankman showed us what one tweet can do. After jokingly asking Morton’s steakhouse to meet him at an airport with a porterhouse in one of his tweets, they showed up!  The power of that tweet is extraordinary! After five months, the story is still being retold.

How do you properly begin a social media support plan?

The following three tips will help you develop your own plan.

Develop a Plan of Action

When getting started in using social media for service and support, the first step is to develop a plan of action. Your plan of action needs to contain a map for how to handle certain situations that may arise. Some issues may be routine or you may see repeat problems, so having a map for what to do when those issues occur will save time and frustration for both your customer and your staff. Think frequently asked questions for example. Do some questions get asked over and over again? Create a “cheat sheet” just as you would for a call center.

Prepare escalation plans for unexpected issues as well. While you may not be able to anticipate certain issues, you need to have your marching orders in place so your customer is confident you will take care of the issue. The more situations you are prepared for, the smoother your interactions will be.

Empower Employees

Companies are coming up with creative ways to empower their employees to offer support and solve problems through social media. HP and Best Buy both created unique twitter handles to offer support to their customers. Check out this blog post to find out how.

Follow Through

If you choose to use social media as a service channel, you need to follow through. If a customer communicates with you over Twitter, whether a complaint, concern, or question, you need to respond in a timely manner. The sooner the response, the more satisfied the customer.

If you respond and truly serve your customers over social media channels, you not only increase your customer’s satisfaction with your company, but increase loyalty as well. Keep the following words from Janet Eden-Harris (chief marketing officer for Market Force Information) in mind: “Happy customers produce the gift that keeps on giving. They buy more. They tell their friends. They return more frequently. But, a few unhappy customers can undo all of your great work.”