The 2012 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer shows that consumers who have used social media for customer service have an impressive amount of influence.
The survey of 1,000 consumers (some who have used social media for customer service, and some who haven’t) reveals that overall, 93% believe companies fail to exceed their service expectations. The four major customer service complaints were rudeness, passing the buck, having to wait too long for an issue to be resolved and being shuffled from channel to channel or service representative to service representative.
In 2012, there has been a noticeable increase in consumers using social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter for customer service and to engage in brand conversations. Customers who use social media give the top five reasons for doing so:
- Seeking an actual response from a company about a service issue (50%).
- Praising a company for a terrific service experience (48%).
- Sharing information about a service experience with a wider audience (47%).
- Venting frustration about a poor service experience (43%).
- Asking other users or customers how to have better service experiences (43%).
Says Parature’s Duke Chung, “As consumers start to feel just as comfortable with posting or tweeting for support as they would sending an email or submitting a help desk ticket, more and more customer service conversations will happen on social media channels.”
“Because of its very public visibility, customers feel empowered by social media, and their response time expectations are incredibly high. Not long ago, providing superior customer service on social media was an impressive anomaly, but it’s very quickly becoming a necessity for every brand.“
The infographic below speaks to the social customer’s growing influence:
