Having a presence on social media almost guarantees that a company will be bombarded with inquiries and criticisms from consumers on a daily, hourly, or even minute-to-minute basis.
Concerns concerning purchases have been voiced by customers. Problems with customer support have been voiced by many who have used it. To retain loyal customers, it’s important to show them that you value their preference for your business.
To what extent will your company be responsive to clients’ needs, or will their tweets, postings, and questions go unnoticed and unanswered?
Offering support to customers via your company’s social media accounts is not radically different from other support channels. Customers do, after all, depend on it, therefore it’s crucial that you have a plan in place to handle their inquiries and concerns.
ClickSoftware’s infographic on the rising popularity and benefits of social media customer care is full with eye-opening data visualisations.
There has never been a more crucial time for your company to be available to meet the needs of its customers online than now, when a growing number of customers are turning to social media as a source for customer service and when positive customer service experiences on social media are proving to increase sales and brand recommendations.
Customers now demand lightning-fast response times in addition to the standard requirements of social customer care (accuracy, helpfulness, and presence across several social media platforms).
How quickly might social media customers expect responses? It’s probable that they’re looking for a response in less time than you’re giving it. “42% of consumers complaining in social media expect a 60 minute reaction time,” states research from CONVINCE&CONVERT.
According to the same Edison Research graph, 63% of customers who reach out to a brand on social media anticipate hearing back from the company the same day.
Although while this survey doesn’t go into detail about how different social media networks have different reaction time requirements, other sources do. Studies reveal that customers who reach out to a company via Twitter have higher expectations for a rapid response time than their Facebook-using counterparts.
Charles Pownall says that people who interact with your Facebook page or follow you on Twitter want a response from you within 24 hours or less. Lithium, a social media management platform, claims that 53% of its clients expect a response to their tweet from the company within an hour. When consumers tweet a complaint, 72% of them want a response in less than an hour. Does your company now monitor Twitter around the clock to address questions and concerns?
Your brand’s consumers will continue to send social media messages regardless of whether or not you answer to them, and they will remember whether or not you responded quickly. Making sure your company is providing helpful social media assistance to your clients is not as difficult or time-consuming as it may appear.
To better serve your customers on social media, remember these guidelines:
- Create a social media customer care plan for your company.
- Construct informative, ready-made rejoinders to frequently asked questions.
- Create a timetable that specifies who will be in charge of each social media account and when. While scheduling and tracking tools are useful, someone still has to check in on the brand’s social media accounts on a regular basis and reply to more complicated messages.
- Do not put off replying to a customer’s communication if fixing their issue would take more time or resources. Far better than no answer at all would be a note saying you’re trying to fix the problem, offering a timeframe or additional information about the issue, or providing the contact information of someone who can help them further.