Retail TouchPoints: What Role Does Social Play in Customer Service?
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
Research indicates that social customer care tools and solutions enable retailers to connect with consumers as well as react to questions and complaints quickly and efficiently.
According to Forrester, merchants that leverage social customer service have experienced a variety of benefits, including:
- Improved customer loyalty (26 percent);
- Increased customer satisfaction (24 percent);
- Reduced support costs and incoming support calls (16 percent);
- Improved agent efficiency (8 percent).
"If you don't invest in social technology as a way to reach out to, communicate with and support your customers, you really run the risk of being left behind," said Kate Leggett, Principal Analyst at Forrester Research during the recent webinar, "Get Serious About Social Customer Care."
To improve customer service strategies via social media, Ms. Leggett advised that retailers develop a foundation built on four elements:
The Right Data: For some organizations, mobile apps and social channels may be the most effective channels for customer service. But for others, call centers might work best for their customers.
The Right People: A savvy writer would be a good candidate for working in social channels, while an eloquent speaker can find success through phone support. Agents must be empowered with the information they need to track, analyze and respond to cross-channel dialogue.
The Right Tools: Simple issues can be answered swiftly through a "frequently asked questions" section on a web site, but there still are complicated issues that need to be addressed by a customer service representative via phone, social media or email.
The Right Alignment: Customer care strategy and company strategy should be aligned.
Katy Keim, CMO of Lithium Technologies, a software provider, noted that 70 percent of tweets directed to brands are ignored, and 95 percent of customers' posts on a brand's Facebook wall go unaddressed. She noted, "Leaving all these queries and requests is like letting phones ring without answering them. Our customers aren't going to tolerate it for long."
Companies that master the digital support space are gaining free promotion through word-of-mouth, Ms. Keim added. Retailers that have models in place to scale social questions and requests, prioritize inquiries and assign the right people to the right customer service roles will be laying down "a strong foundation for future markets."