Call Center Management Featured Article
Avoid Being the 'Last to Know' About Customer Complaints in Social Media
If most contact center managers could choose, they might wish that social media had never been created, or was at least reserved for cute cat pictures and sharing photos of family vacations. Unfortunately for the average customer support organization, social media is increasingly being embraced by Americans who have axes to grind about a product, company or support experience. While the idea of a disgruntled customer isn’t new, it’s only recently that these unsatisfied buyers have been able to share their opinions with thousands of people. For this reason, managing complaints by social media has very definitively become the call center manager’s problem.
According to a 2013 study by J.D. Power & Associates, 67 percent of consumers reported that they had used a company's social media site for servicing, and this figure has likely climbed in the two years since the report was issued. Younger customers are more likely to use social channels such as Facebook (News - Alert) or Twitter to air problems, unresolved issues or complaints. Another study from Nielsen found that that 33 percent of users prefer to contact brands using social media rather than the telephone or email.
What this all means is that the contact center had better be prepared to treat social media channels just as they would any other customer contact media. It’s important that companies build a timely way to respond to these posts: angry customers are hoping their comments will attract attention, and they often do, particularly from other visitors to the social media page. By the time a customer has reached out via social media, he or she is likely angry enough that letting the comment go unattended for days would be a serious mistake, according to a recent article by Katie Cooper writing for Business2Community.
“They [angry customers] lash out in these public forums in front of thousands of people so they know even if the business isn’t seeing concerns right away, fans visiting the page certainly are,” wrote Cooper. “Many consumers expect their problem to be addressed within a few days or even within the day of the comment being posted. It’s best practice to respond within an hour of the posting. Draft up a response, re-read it, and make sure their problem is being directly addressed.”
When companies do respond, they should avoid being defensive, and instead take an apologetic tone. According to Cooper, accepting responsibility can put the company in a positive light.
“Admitting fault can be tough, but doing so shows your company is not only responsible but more importantly, has a set of ethics,” she wrote. “So if a consumer posts something negative and your company is at fault, don’t shy away from an apology.”
A critical next step, however, is to fix the problem and ensure it doesn’t happen again. Apologizing is great, but if you’re apologizing frequently for the same mistakes over and over again, other users of social media will begin to see a pattern. (“Wow, this company must have really lousy shipping policies to generate all those complaints and apologies about shipping.”)
Cooper suggests that companies try to move the interaction offline, if possible, into a phone call or a private e-mail. This can be accomplished through private messaging. It’s good for the company – nobody wants to have their complaint handling policies under such a harsh spotlight – but it’s also good for the customer. Service can be more one-on-one and personalized in a direct, synchronous communications channel.
While you may not be able to turn every agent in your contact center into a social media expert, some industry analysts recommend that you create one (or more) social media “first responders.” This is a socially active employee who is capable of responding and monitoring each one of your brand’s social channels. While it may take a while for you to perfect your social media response protocols, it will at least ensure that you’re not missing important complaints in public forums, where the danger of being the “last to know” is high.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi