Providing good customer service on Social Media

A quick 5 step guide on handling complaints, enquiries and feedback on social media.

I’m sure we can all recall an example of sub standard customer service; whether it was the lady at McDonalds that forgot your Ketchup or the barmaid at a dodgy club who has “downright atrocious manners”.  However, can you genuinely remember a moment when you received outstanding customer service? I can’t. That’s not to say I haven’t received any, it’s simply that we have exceedingly high expectations and sometimes forget that employees of places like McDonalds or that dodgy club are human too.

That’s exactly the issue; this is why providing consistent, brilliant customer service seems nigh on impossible. Some would argue that it is, but I’ve compiled a list of tips that will make the enigma of outstanding customer service seem far more conceivable.

Step 1: Respond quickly.

Speed is key – Customers will expect fast service. Customers will be dissatisfied if it takes more than an hour for you to issue a reply, especially if it’s a simple question. This is why it’s important to have your social media monitored 24/7. Furthermore, if you’re not addressing their concerns, someone else will and the last thing you want is to be losing customers to your opposition.

Step 2: Be personal.

Being spoken to by a machine is something I would like to throw into room 101, lock the door, and throw away the key. It almost screams the message “you’re not worth the time of day, here’s a robot to direct you to another customer service outlet”. However, letting a human control your account doesn’t make the interaction feel human. A few things I would suggest is to address the name behind the twitter handle as well as signing the tweet of with your name. This engages the customer far more and creates mutual empathy.

Step 3: Address their enquiry directly.

It is very easy to link someone to your terms and conditions page but that doesn’t make for good customer service. They know of the terms and conditions page, but they want an answer without having to rifle through 18 pages of legal jargon. Do your best to answer their question as quickly and concisely as possible.

Step 4: Monitor Twitter for indirect mentions.

Just because you haven’t been tagged, doesn’t mean people aren’t talking about you. Search your brand name on Twitter and look at the the tweets that have been published about you. You can address issues that otherwise you might not have known about. Don’t forget to track misspellings of your brand name and account name – people type fast when they’re angry!

Step 5: Be courteous.

Okay, this might be an obvious one but don’t forget the basics. Apologise to the customer if they have an issue, thank them for their feedback and generally act polite. It’s as simple as that. Also, don’t be afraid to go beyond your call of duty, if you go that extra mile for a customer they will certainly remember it.

 

If you would like any help with your customer service on social media site make sure to contact us. Sharp Monkeys is a digital marketing agency based in Worcester.