Social engagement – it’s something that companies throughout the world are trying to perfect. Customers are consistently using social networking to share information and connect with brands they love. If those brands don’t have the capability to instantly connect with dynamic conversations, customer care initiatives can quickly go south. Fortunately, there are a few things you can look for in the call center to stop the churn.

A recent Five9 (News - Alert) blog highlighted many of the reasons companies fall short when it comes to social engagement. For one, leaders tend to drop the ball when it comes to proper reporting. They also don’t put the proper spam control in place and coaching tools may fall short of what is needed, running the efforts to improve customer care.

The key point – it’s not enough to simply reply to a customer’s Facebook (News - Alert) or Twitter post. You need to have a strategy in place that outlines how you will “listen” for comments and issues posted to you or about your brand, and how you will respond so as to foster relationships through this medium. Others have gone before you and made significant mistakes along the way – the key is to learn from their missteps.

Reporting with Accuracy

It’s a given in the call center on demand environment that your communication channels are easily traced and measured. When social media is brought into the mix, however, that is not always the case. ICMI found that 80 percent of contact centers offering social customer care find accurate reporting and analytics to be a struggle.

Early in the game, social software developers were unaware of traditional contact center metrics such as KPIs or SLAs for agents. These metrics help to drive correct behavior with agents and serve as the benchmark for how the entire service organization is performing. Without this helpful information, interactions can easily be ignored and customer dissatisfaction quickly ensues.

Making Sense of all the Data

In this era of Big Data, it can be confusing to know for sure where to start. You not only need to drill down to the information you need, you also have to do so while weeding through the spam. There is a wealth of good information and quality interactions on social platforms, but identifying this information can also mean spending a lot of what could be productive time trying to get through the junk to the business intelligence. Natural Language Processing can help you weed through the junk and get to the posts that actually need your attention.

Monitoring and Coaching

Real-time dashboards are needed to monitor and coach agents through this process. This gives you the opportunity to understand what they are working on and offer advice for how best to proceed. Without the ability to see the conversation and the agent’s opportunity for response, you run the risk of the free-for-all approach to customer care, which can quickly backfire.

The point is you can drive the results you want in social interactions throughout the call center on demand, but put a plan in place that is actionable and measurable so you can produce the results you want.