Aren’t we all use to the phrase “The customer is always right.”
Customer service has evolved since twitter has been used for customers services. In the past, we had to send an email or submit a ticket with our problems and wait for hours or even couple of days to get a reply. If we didn’t get the answer we wanted, we had to reply and then wait for another couple of days.
Ever since twitter has been used for customers service, customers can get replies in a couple of minutes depending on the company.
Should your company use twitter for customer service? YES! The reason I say that is because…
1. Faster
Replies are faster than email and you can reply your customers in matter of minutes even seconds. Imagine how happy your customers will be.
2. Shorter
Yes, it is shorter as people only have 140 characters.Compare that to a long email. On twitter they usually go straight to the problem. Your company can easily help them with a tweet or two.
3. Your competitors aren’t
Your competitors might not be on twitter. Isn’t that the best reason to be on twitter? When people have problems and they are unhappy with your competitors, who comes to the rescue? Your company.
There are a number of companies using twitter as their customer service. Here is an example from a Ford customer asking a Four Customer Service ( @fordcustserv ) a question on twitter and @fordcustserv replying to them
Here is an example of a happy customer of @britishairways
@Comcastcares is one of the top brands when it comes to customer service via twitter. Their success has been mentioned is numerous blog post and videos. Below in a video of an interview with @comcast and how it changed their customer service.
Here is a video from @loic the founder of @seesmic and his opinion on customer service on twitter.
So is your business using twitter yet? If no why not? What is stopping you?
Photo source: 1
This is a fantastic post Aaron! I wish that Swiss companies would embrace Twitter but they are slow. Maybe because not enough Swiss people are onTwitter. I hope it will change in the future.
xoxo
ps: I will turn into a total social media, twitter and tech freak around your blog!
You are making a good point here Aaron, but don't you think that the weaknesses of the company are more exposed than ever for competition (benchmarketing easier). And knowing that elite on twitter with 100k + followers may tweet something bad about a brand or product and influence others, it's also a negative point. Companies have to be very selective in there responses.
You have agood point there and it may be true that a company has to be careful with their answers. Don't you think though that they benefit incredibly from being on Twitter and being able to react real fast? This is the new age and a company has to move forward to survive in todays world. There are risks involved as you describe true, but the benefits are way bigger and worth the risk.
I do agree with you mirijam but this risk is way different than any other risk a company can take. The companies here are literraly exposing all the arguments to use against them about their weaknesses. It's a new age indeed, but hope that Marketing Ethics won't be lost.
I'll agree with mirijam that the company needs to move forward. Yes its true that there are risk involved since the company is exposed. However it also shows that the company cares about their customers. I don't think there are much argument on twitter since people always control themselves and try not to show them off too much.
Ok, nobody agrees with me ey? 🙂
@ForCustServ clearly doesn't get the idea of Twitter. Half the tweet is wasted with noise, then they don't even answer the question!
Did you tweet them mate?
I'm not sure about your exp with @fordcustserv but I've seen them answering questions very well.
There are tons of happy customers with @fordcustserv
I agree with you.