Back office customer service: who it is and what it does
Today, the customer is the center around which every business activity revolves, and within this...
Social customer care, as you can perhaps guess from the name, concerns fundamental social tools to expand one’s customer base. The vast majority of companies are on social media, but being present is no longer enough. Social networks are so popular that they cannot be considered simple showcases, but tools to guarantee valid customer support and a place to provide useful information and news.
Within this context, social customer care was born, that is an assistance service that answers consumers' questions, solves problems and issues, resolves doubts and accepts complaints.
Incorrect management of social media can lead to crisis management, understood as a reputational crisis on the web that can generate incalculable damage. We at We Are Fiber know how to deal with crisis management on social networks, but we understand that prevention is better than cure in this regard.
Social customer care: definition and meaning
What is social customer care? We can define it as a service working in conjunction with social networks, aimed at supporting customers and promoting a business’s goods and products, with the ultimate goal of increasing the loyalty rate.
Social media customer care is, in effect, a service, with the simple difference that it is achieved through social channels. According to research, one user in three prefers to rely on customer care on social networks, rather than using more traditional channels, such as telephone or email. 70% of consumers also said they had used a brand's social customer service at least once.
We Are Fiber always pays the utmost attention to new market trends, so we have implemented essential social media customer care software. The statistics have proved us right, as the partners who have relied on our services have seen an increase in customer satisfaction levels of 16% and lead generation of 23%.
Social customer care: trends to follow
The tools to be used, as well as the methods of approach, can vary considerably depending on the activity. An e-commerce business that sells clothing clearly has different needs from a law firm or a company that provides postal services. The social customer care strategies should therefore be designed and customized according to specific needs and target audiences.
However, there are tools that are always useful, such as social DMs (direct messages). This is a section of a social network dedicated to direct messaging with users. This tool allows you to create a direct relationship between customer and company and to solve any problem effectively and quickly.
Alternatively, there are valuable apps, installed directly on social pages, which can be used to make direct contact with a company, free of filters and unnerving wait times.
Social media customer care: the 3 best practices to follow
We Are Fiber can provide you with the optimal social customer care tools, capable of being adapted to your needs, but, of course, you must also adopt a specific and targeted strategy, based on your customers.
Specifically, you must:
- be present on the channels where your customers are;
- listen to the opinions of your customers;
- do not lengthen response times too much.
Customer care in social media marketing: let your customers find you
Where should you invest your resources, so as to offer a valid assistance service? Of course, the answer is where your customers are most active. Facebook and Twitter are generally the most frequented social networks by users, but lately other social networks, such as Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ are bursting with users.
Much also depends on your business. So, probe the situation and try to understand where your customers are most active and ask questions and queries most frequently. In this way, you can direct your investments, optimizing expenses and increasing your retention rate.
Don't leave dissatisfied customers
Listening to your customers doesn't just mean hearing their problems or complaints, but, above all, entails finding a solution. By doing meticulous work, you can collect comments, feedback and reviews, from which to extrapolate important information. For example, if most consumers point out that a product is malfunctioning, then you need to take action as there may be some manufacturing defect.
Watch out for response time
Modern users expect a company to provide an answer to their problems in a very short space of time, even within an hour. If you provide an answer that is not conclusive, or after 2-3 days, you risk losing the customer's trust and losing ground to the competition.
In this case, you can set up an autoresponder, which provides customers with a short response, or moves the conversation to a private channel, such as messages, email or phone.
Do you want to enhance the performance of your company and equip it with the most modern tools? Let's join forces for the turning point you have been waiting for.