5 Things to Tell Your Customer Support Team About Working on Social

It’s 2016, and social support is no longer a “maybe” but a “must have” for customer-centric businesses. Companies delivering social customer service see 7.5 percent growth YOY, compared with 2.9 percent for those without. Innovative brands around the world are meeting customer demand by investing in social support solutions. But once you have your team, tools, and mission in place, how do you get started?

Read on to learn a few goals to share with your team.

Social customer support goals

1. Remember that you are on stage

It’s one thing to work on a customer issue one-on-one and quite another to do it on the public stage of Twitter or Facebook. Remind your team members that they are ambassadors for your brand and that everything they say is public and recorded.

2. But there’s no need for stage fright

Empower your agents to provide candid, empathetic, and on-brand social support. Provide them with training and documentation on social support best practices. This can involve “standard responses” documentation, introduction to social support tools, and even permission to add personality through the use of GIFs or emoji.

3. It’s okay to get creative

While it is important to start on the same channel where the complaint originated, there are valid reasons for switching channels. For example, if you need customer account information or anything that poses a security issue, move the conversation to a secure and private channel.

4. Take breaks to give thanks

The most important goal is to provide solutions to customers who are having a problem with your product or service. But, it’s also important to reach out to happy customers too. Let customers know that you are here by thanking them for positive shout-outs.

5. Above all else, be responsive

Posting on social media is instantaneous, and while customers don’t expect an immediate response, they do want you to be quick. A whopping 72 percent of people who complain on Twitter expect a response within an hour and 51 percent of consumers who message companies on Facebook want a same day response.

Social media isn’t going anywhere. The faster your business can invest in social care, the faster you’ll build important customer relationships online. For more tips on social care, read How Being Customer-Obsessed on Social Media Will Grow Your Brand, by Zendesk and Hootsuite.

Learn how to connect with customers like never before at Connect via Hootsuite, our virtual conference. Register for free to learn how to use social media at every stage of the buyer’s journey—from engagement and brand awareness, to driving leads and closing sales.

Connect via Hootsuite takes place October 5, 2016 at 8:30 a.m. PT/11:30 a.m. ET/4:30 p.m. BST

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