Social customer care and service has and continues to evolve. No question about it. Instead of returning to a store or calling a helpline, people are increasingly turning to social media to resolve their gripes. It is called social customer care.
Social media is transforming customer care as we know it. The change really began with the shift in focus from customer care as a case triage tool to customer care as a strategic vehicle for delivering excellent customer experiences. Social media has accelerated this transformation.
The bottom line is that service isn’t a silo. Organizations need to leverage social channels for the delivery of customer care, and customer care extends beyond the customer service department. At the same time, your brand extends beyond marketing—customer service has become your brand.
Rise of Social Customer Service
So it’s perhaps no surprise, then, that 80% of companies are planning to use social media for customer service.
And when you hit that sweet spot and create a well-oiled social customer service machine, the pay-off is huge: 71% of customers recommend a brand that gives them a ‘quick and effective’ response on social media.
Almost 50% of social media users have used social customer care.
Shift in Customer Focus
Brands are emphasizing their focus on the people behind the posts, putting great effort into building platforms that allow for open, honest communication that supports superior customer service, not just the bottom line.
As customers expand their use of different channels to satisfy different needs, many companies continue to build out their support capabilities across various channels, including social. As companies gain more experience with social support, many contact center leaders are trying to strike a balance between the expectations that customers have for problem resolution and response times and what’s practical from a cost and resource standpoint.
Customer Expectations
According to research by The Social Habit, 42 percent of consumers who contact a brand, product, or company on social media expect a response within 60 minutes. While 25 percent of consumers in the same study expect a response that same day, some customers are more demanding, with 20 percent expecting a response within 15 minutes. Many companies scale back or discontinue social support at night or on weekends. Yet The Social Habit study finds that 57 percent of consumers expect the same response time during these intervals as during normal business hours.
Reason for the importance of social care
71% of customers who experience positive social customer care are likely to recommend that brand. That compares to just 19% of customers that don’t get a response.
90% of upset customers can be retained with great customer service and social care.
Lots of opportunity here, isn’t there?
NM Iinate – The State of Social Customer Service 2013
Social customer service challenges
Only 36% of consumers that make customer service inquiries via social media report having their issue solved quickly and effectively. More opportunity.
Eptica Multichannel Customer Experience Study 2012
Our theory why
What business groups are involved in social media:
Marketing 70%, Public Relations 69%, Customer Service 19%
The Regan / NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions Survey
Need cross-department communication and new integrated roles and tasks.
Organizations must respond to the splintering of conversations across service, and marketing. The bottom line is that service isn’t a silo. Organizations need to leverage social channels for the delivery of customer care, and customer care extends beyond the customer service department. At the same time, your brand extends beyond marketing—customer service more and more is becoming your brand.
Remember … social isn’t a new way of marketing, it’s a new way of doing business.
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