Are You Doing Enough for Your Social Customers?

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Richard Pinnington looks at why the stakes are higher with social customer care and what you can do to prepare.

Social butterfly. Best mate. Two peas in a pod. Life of the party. We are social creatures. We feel a need for connection from birth and it continues as we grow up. Being part of something—a family, a group of friends, on a team—is important. Social media delivers both a connection and being part of something larger than ourselves… and it is growing in importance in our lives.

Social media, when you think about it, is remarkable. The sheer number of people who use social media is amazing—nearly 174 million people in the US in 2014. That number is expected to exceed 200 million in 2019. Anyone can go online and find a community of like-minded people—the modern equivalent of your historical tribe.

And where people go, brands go. Increasing numbers of people are contacting brands via social media with questions, concerns or to share feedback. Phone is still the channel the majority of consumers use to contact brands, but social media is quickly catching up as more brands begin to offer customer service assistance on these channels.

Consumers of all ages are discovering the value of social customer care

So which customers prefer social customer care over traditional phone and email customer care? It’s a moving target. Driven by the ubiquity of smartphones, consumers of all ages are discovering and liking the speed, ease of use and value of social customer care. And the percentage of customers contacting brands via social media is growing every year.

LiveOps Research has found that 50% of Gen X and 71% of Gen Y customers have used social and mobile channels to communicate with a brand recently. Nielsen has found that 33% of users prefer to contact brands using social media rather than the telephone. That’s one-third of consumers, and that number will continue to grow each year. And Forrester found that 70% of customers prefer to use a brand’s website to find answers instead of calling. For the first time, the phone channel has been unseated from the top spot by web self-service.

Brands must have a team dedicated to social engagement

What does all of this research and all of these statistics mean for brands providing social customer care? There are a lot of instructive points in here. The first and most basic: brands must have a social presence. Brands must have a team dedicated to social engagement and actually engage with customers in a two-way conversation.

LiveOps Research shows that 85% of consumers feel that the way a brand handles issues on their website or social channels is a good indicator of their customer satisfaction and the quality of their support.

Get involved and interact quickly with customers. Customers expect a much faster response on social media and want their issue to be resolved with the first contact. That means brands must empower their customer care agents to do what’s necessary for customer satisfaction.

LiveOps has a formula for customer success that says “Better Agent Experience (BAX) = Better Customer Experience (BCX) = Better Customer Lifetime Value (BCLTV).” Keep those agents happy to keep your customers happy.

Richard Pinnington

Richard Pinnington

Forrester has found that 71% of customers say that valuing their time is the most important thing a brand can do to provide good service—so do it! The pay-off can be huge in terms of repeat business and positive word of mouth.

Brands must be aware that the stakes are higher with social customer care. Social customer care means interactions are public, period. And research shows that’s a good thing, that customers with positive social customer care experiences will recommend a brand.

The benefits to brands of providing social customer care are clear—and the risks of not providing social customer care are just as clear. Make sure your brand is prepared and providing social customer care to all interested audiences today or in the near future.

With thanks to Richard Pinnington at LiveOps

Author: Megan Jones

Published On: 19th Aug 2015 - Last modified: 18th Dec 2018
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