Have you ever purchased a new product, only to discover it doesn’t work right? To make your situation even worse, to fix your problem you are required to embark upon a treasure hunt to locate contact information on the company’s website. Trying to find their customer service phone number is like trying to pick the numbers to win the lottery. Sending an email results in a generic auto-response. And filling out the ‘contact us’ form? Where the heck does that go? And will a real person EVER respond?
Luckily for the customer, locating a company’s social tag is easy. Today, with social media, more and more consumers are turning too social as a way to get a quick response to resolving their problem. Social media sites are the billboards of the Internet highway. An extremely public way to gain attention and call for help. On top of that, those who seek assistance via social often expect a quick response.
It turns out…
35% of people have asked a customer service question via social media.
42% of consumers expect to receive a response within one hour, with 32% expecting it in 30 minutes or less.
“In the world of Internet Customer Service, it’s important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away.” – Doug Warner
According to HelpScout:
80% of companies believe they deliver “superior” customer service…
BUT ONLY
8% of customers think these same companies deliver “superior” customer service.
So where is the disconnect?
Start by taking a look at your Customer Service Plan – if you don’t have one, now is the time to start putting one together. Determine what social networks your customers are, and make sure you to have a presence so that you can monitor, communicate, and reach out to them. Look for tools to help you. Tools can help you easily find out when someone has posted a message on social. This is particularly helpful for companies that don’t have a dedicated social media manager.
Decide how to handle issues ranging from the simple to complicated. Oftentimes, it may start with a very public message to the customer apologizing for their problems, “Sorry productxyz doesn’t work as expected, please send us a direct message with your contact information so we can help you resolve this problem.” You are letting your customer know you recognize there is a problem, and demonstrating genuine interest in helping them fix it. So while the world at large will have seen the customer’s public display of dissatisfaction, they will also see your effort to work with the customer to find a solution.
"I genuinely believe that any business can create a competitive advantage through giving outstanding customer care." - Gary Vaynerchuk
If you have received a few complaints from customers regarding a single issue, it may help to write a blog describing the problem and information leading to a solution. Promote through the social sites you are currently using to interact with customers. Doing something like this helps current customers and as well as interested buyers know you are taking this information seriously and sharing details to help many. Use this way to start a conversation or gain additional feedback regarding this one particular issue. You can then use that to help in product development for future offerings.
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates