The Customer is at the forefront in this competitive era. Every business aims to satisfy the customer by delivering excellent customer service. “A happy customer drives another customer to go for our product/service but an unsatisfied or unhappy customer may deride us in front of ten others“ – is a long heard cliché which businesses are still being wary of. By keeping customers happy they wish to thrive in this cut-throat competition.
Need for Customer Service
With the entire highlight on customers, there was an increasing need for businesses to provide superior customer experience. Businesses started focusing on customer delight rather than just customer satisfaction. They started using different ways to ensure that the customer is more than satisfied with the business as this ensures customer loyalty. Concepts like ticket management system, customer care department, public relations, customer relations department, etc. emerged into the business arena to address customer queries and grievances.
During the past decade, there has been a change in how customers are communicating with a business. The role of a mobile phone has also undergone a major upheaval. It is no longer a tool used just for texting or calling. It has now transformed into a mini-computer used for almost all tasks including web browsing, emailing, and accessing social media tools, connecting constantly with friends, sharing documents, and many other activities. Customers have started perceiving that their queries will surely be answered about social media due to two main reasons – Due to the fact that a single person manages the social media profile for a company, two due to the reason that company is under public scrutiny on any social media platform.
So, What Next?
With the changing trends, a lot more communications now happen in social media. It is used as an important channel of communication. Social media has also become the next big marketing tool which drives customers towards a business. It is increasingly being used for customer attention, engagement, and feedback.
The customer has now gone beyond the traditional brick and mortar store. Any business he wishes to deal with, he tries to track it online and get in touch with it. He uses the online mode to complain, request, suggest, and inquire about a product and/or service. Yes, I used ‘’complain” first as a frustrated customer is usually going to use the social media channel to convey his complaints. Handling customer queries and complaints is not much of a problem though it can be complex at times. It requires efforts which are worth it in the long term.
Whilst it is a matter of pride to receive customer appreciations on the social platform, answering and managing irate customers might seem like a big deal. To crack this down, let us look at ways to handle or answer different types of comments received on social media.
Positive Comments
When you see a positive comment or feedback on social media, it gives you a great deal of satisfaction of having served the client aptly. However, it is also important to respond to positive comments or appreciations. You must be polite enough to thank them and also their first name (Thanks Maria). This will encourage users to post positive comments whenever they feel satisfied with a product/service. It will also increase customer engagement levels.
If you have been asked a question, then also you need to respond promptly as it reflects a high level of customer service. It depicts you as a ‘social’ company. Research shows that if social media queries are unanswered then people are less likely to associate with that business. Answering queries, inquiries, and responding to positive feedback helps build trust and rapport with your existing/perspective client base.
Negative Comments
Sometimes customers want to voice out their grievances through social media as they are constantly using it. They have to trust that their complaints will surely be addressed on social media. This makes them voice out their frustration on the social media platform. This is a good opportunity for you to prove the complaining customers as well as other customers that you provide excellent after sales support. Addressing their complaints in a timely manner will leave a lasting impression on all your followers. However, there will be times when there is no genuine complaint, but people just want to voice out their dislikes towards a popular brand. This calls for monitoring comments or posts on your page. If someone gives their own bad opinion about your company you can go ahead and ask for articles or resources which support their opinion. This will definitely force an offender to take a step back.
Regulating General Conduct on Social Media
For keeping things under control, it is important to heed to intervention when needed. If you are regularly facing the ire of social media users, then it’s time for you to implement a code of conduct. This code of conduct can prohibit users from posting offensive, obscene, and anti-social comments or posts. With your social media code of conduct in place, you will be empowered to delete such comments. With an easy to follow, and well thought-out social media code of conduct, you can ensure that your page receives only genuine comments and not something which is just a result of their personal dislike.
Gear Yourself Up
Any brand having its presence on social media should be geared up to offer customer service on the social platform. When customers see you on social media their first thought is that their query will be responded promptly on this front. Hence, you must be geared up to face both the positives and negatives that may come up. You must also handle all types of comments with a degree of smartness.
It is important to check your page for at least two to three times a day to address the comments. When you are on social media, you can speak for your brand and deliver excellent customer service. Used optimally, it can fuel your marketing goals and strategies.
Images: “business hand writing customer service cloud text on blue sky/Shutterstock.com“
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