4 Ways You Can Use Social Media To Improve Your Customer Service by Kimberly Jean Fricke

Social media has opened up an entire world of marketing for businesses small and large alike.
The more people that have a need for your product and understand what your company is all
about, the better your chances for success. Unfortunately, where many companies ultimately
fail isn't with their marketing tactics, but rather, with their overall customer service experience.
Social media can transform your business, but it should never be used as a place to employ
shameless marketing.

Here are four ways that we believe social media can and will improve your customer service:

1. Know What's Being Said

One of the biggest advantages of social media and blogging is the ability to address consumer
complaints before they escalate. In fact, comments and reviews people leave can often trigger
a negative response. You should aim to monitor your social media feeds regularly and use
software that sends you notifications when common keywords are used i.e. issues or problems
within the text. This allows you to diffuse virtually any situation and turn it into a positive
outcome.

2. Learn From The Past

Is there a common complaint that your customers or clients seem to have? Sometimes, simply
addressing these complaints by updating your product profiles or FAQ pages can help eliminate
future complaints. Once or twice, it is possible to make a mistake, but if you have repeated
complaints about the same issue, you need to escalate it and get it fixed. Sometimes, this may
also pertain to the quality of the products you sell, in which case, using a different supplier
altogether may help address concerns.
3. Timely Response Is Needed

When someone has an issue with your products or services, they become vocal about it and
either reach out directly to your company or through your social media channels. You can no
longer afford to check your complaints or messages from concerned clients a week later.
Consumers expect a timely response from the company owner and a resolution within a 24-
hour window. This may get impacted by holidays, but make it a point to tell consumers when
you'll resume work.

4. Don't Get Too Public With Complaints

This isn't obvious for many companies, but when a consumer posts a complaint, address it
privately. There is no reason for the world to see a private conversation. It may negatively
impact your standing in the community as well as future consumers' impression of your
business. Make a note on your feeds that this person has been contacted, and if you had the
ability to resolve the problem, ask them kindly to make another post explaining everything was
resolved. Under no circumstances should you blatantly delete all negative comments unless
they feature profanity or simply put, way too negativity. Deleting too much and not leaving
valid complaints will create a poor perception of your company that you have something to
hide.

Social media is a great marketing platform, but oftentimes, it is so much more than that.
Employ the use of social media channels to address consumer complaints and concerns to show
the world that you care about your loyal fan base.