One of social media’s “killer apps” is customer service because it provides a way to engage with people in real-time about their problems, concerns and questions.
Companies such as Comcast and Dell have embraced social media to drive customer serviced to new levels and, in the process, validated social media a valuable tool with healthy ROI.
Before social media emerged as an option, many of these people wouldn’t have bothered to complain because it was too much of a hassle to call a 1-800 number, or send a letter or e-mail to the customer service department. As well, many of these problems weren’t really big enough to warrant a call, e-mail and letter anyway.
But complaining via social media is quick, easy and a pretty good way to capture the spotlight, particularly if you’re a high-profile person such as Jeff Jarvis, who thrust himself and customer service into the spotlight with his “Dell Hell” diatribe a few years ago.
One of the issues, however, with how customer service has evolved within social media are the unrealistic expectations of consumers who have a problem with a product or service. What often happens when someone has a bad or less than stellar experience is they quickly turn to Twitter, Facebook or their blog to complain about it.
If their public complaint gets any kind of traction or publicity, most companies quickly cave in by immediately making things right with a refund, exchange or other compensation. This happens even if the problem is fairly minor because there seems to be more upside when a company is seen as being responsive in a public forum.
In the real world, a company may have come back with a polite response that they appreciated the feedback and will make sure the right people or department is notified. Or a company would offer some compensation but not provide something that is over the top.
The problem with caving in on social media is it does more harm than good by encouraging more people to complain as well because they see how easy it can be to get results. This has created a landscape in customer service has gone from productive and constructive to whining and complaining.
You could argue that social media is compelling companies to react appropriately because having things in the public realm make it more difficult to simply brush aside complains with a polite but curt letter or e-mail.
On the other hand, customer service on social media is becoming a monster that is becoming more difficult to tame. The more companies that concede defeat at the first sign of a complain, the worse it going to get. If this happens, the downside is customer service via social media will no longer be a “killer app”.
What do you think about social media customer service? Are companies going too far in responding to complaints? Are consumers taking advantage of having a public forum to gripe?
Tags: complaints, customer service, killer app, Social Media
In today’s era of customer relationship management, businesses must strategically invest in tools that will improve the customer experience.
The path toward a truly customer-centered enterprise is intersected by many possibilities and problems.
To find out exactly how customers are feeling, you’ll have to listen to them. But, how do you respond?
Romero,
I think the way that companies respond to what consumers are saying Twitter is still work in progress. As a public forum, Twitter has given consumers an interesting and way to complain about anything and everything – big or small. The question is whether having things in public compel a company to do more than they would do in other forums. So far, many companies have responded by bending over backwards to demonstrate their responsiveness and corporate goodwill. That said, I think many of them are probably going too far because they’re afraid of a backlash if they don’t “dance” properly. This is why companies need to create social media policies that take into account social media complaints and issues.
Thanks for the comment!
cheers, Mark
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The customer wouldn`t have to turn to social media if the company would take care of the problems. Being ignored, lied to, and hung up on, are reasons the customer gets perturbed. In many cases, social media is the only way to get attention to an on going problem. Most customers only care about their particular problem, not what is going on in the social media world. It is merely a means to an end for them.
Poor quality and even poorer customer service has pushed the consumer to the social world. Consider social media as a double edged sword.
Until some of these companies actually fix their problems, we can expect to see more complaints. Companies can not continue to use social media as a marketing and sales tool with out the downside.
Teddi,
Fair point, and it does reflect the reality that social media has, in many respects, forced companies to behave better because it’s more difficult to hide their problems with consumers. Thanks for the comment.
Mark
Interesting argument. I agree with Teddi, there are far too many companies who take the customer for granted.
I wonder if the companies who are adopting social media as a customer service tool are farming this function out to a third-party like so many do with their phone based customer service.
I am curious to know if those companies who manage their own call centers have better customer satisfaction ratings than those who farm out their customer support? It makes sense to me that those employees who have a personal interest in the company/product they are representing would provide better customer care than those employees who are working for a third party whether it be over the phone or internet.