Tag Archives: social media customer service software

Building Brand Advocates [INFOGRAPHIC]

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    Brand advocates are consumers and business buyers, usually with a large online network, who frequently recommend brands, products and services without any expectation of compensation. They are a virtual referral and sales force, creating positive testimonials and all-star ratings for brands on online review sites. They share your brand’s content and offers, assist other customers with questions and problems, and loyally defend your brand against detractors.

    In a worldwide Nielsen survey, 92% of online consumers said they completely trust or somewhat trust recommendations from people they know and 70% said the same of consumer opinions posted online. Brand advocates are an invaluable resource both on and offline. So how do you create more of them and continue to engage your current power advocates? This infographic from Parature offers some constructive advice: Read More

    7 Ways to Save Your Customers Time

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      We live in a world of increasingly immediate gratification. 7-Elevens are now being equipped with mashed potato and gravy dispensers, for goodness sake. Things that once took hours are now expected within minutes – and the same goes for good customer service.

      Forrester data tells us 66% of customers say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide good service. In addition, 45% of US online adults will abandon their online purchase if they can’t find a quick answer to their question. And time is money: 75% of consumers move to another channel when online customer service fails, and Forrester estimates that unnecessary service costs due to channel escalation are $22 million on average.

      So how do we save our customers’ valuable time? Here are seven quick tips: Read More

      12 Considerations for Connecting with Millennial Customers

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        Millennial customers, commonly defined as the age group now between 12 and 34-years-old, represent the largest and most unique segment of customers since the baby boomers – and they have great expectations for brands and customer service.  Millennials extensively research and follow brands online before and after purchases, making up their own minds about quality, value and customer care rather than being told what they should know through marketing messages.

        According to a recent Forbes article, “They take technology for granted. They live through social media. They want the world their way, and they want it now.

        “They have grown up in a text-it or FedEx-it, why-wait world, and they don’t expect to wait. They expect unlimited choices, and they would like you to customize your product just for them.”

        As millennials age, and the next generation of customers who have never known life without the internet and social media come of age, expectations for personalized, real-time service will only grow. Here are 12 statistics to consider when connecting with web-savvy Gen Y customers: Read More

        How Social Media is Making Demands on all Customer Service Delivery

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          Response time expectations on social media aren’t just affecting companies who deliver support on Facebook and Twitter. Social media is creating response time expectations that affect all customer service channels, be it phone, email or help desk. Social customers are the 24/7 equivalent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s Veruca Salt, boldly demanding of brand support, “Don’t care how, I want it NOW.” Read More

          5 Tips for Meeting and Managing Social Customer Expectations

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            Parature’s Best Practices for Effectively Marketing and Managing Social Media as a Customer Service Channel Featured in the May Issue of CRM Magazine

            Though social media engagement has been identified as one of the top priorities and most exciting opportunities for companies in 2012, many brands still aren’t actively engaging with the millions of consumers using social media to make purchase decisions, share brand experiences and request customer service. Marketing departments have traditionally controlled customer interactions by directing consumers to one-way pages where the company posted freely while customers’ comments were ignored or blocked.

            With social-savvy companies transforming customer service on Facebook and Twitter from a wonderful exception into a widespread expectation, organizations across all industries are being pushed to talk with their social audiences. The following are five best practices for better managing social media as a customer service channel are featured in the May 2012 issue of CRM Magazine:

            1. Focus Service Efforts. With new social channels emerging daily, it is impossible to effectively give attention to every one. Prioritize social customer service delivery to your most active social channels, and utilize marketing efforts to encourage and train consumers to reach out on these venues. Read More

            Gartner Lists “Hot” CRM Applications for Customer Service

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              Gartner recently released its What’s “Hot” in CRM Application 2012 Report, showing that the CRM interest and investment is heating up, especially social CRM.   Read More

              5 Tips for Delivering Customer Service in 140 Characters or Less

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                Providing customer service in 140 characters or less; that’s a challenge a growing number of companies are facing. A Maritz Research survey of approximately 1,300 Twitter users showed that 71% of customer complaints and questions posted to Twitter went unanswered, leading to our first tip for tweet success:

                1. Listen carefully. Whether using a free tool or a customer service solution for social media that integrates with other customer service processes, a company’s reputation is becoming increasingly staked on its social responsiveness or lack thereof. More than half of the Maritz study’s respondents expected their tweet to be read by the company, and that expectation actually increased with age. Read More

                The Customer Service X Factor

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                  “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

                  If there is one true X factor in customer service, it is the genuine care shown (or not shown) by service representatives and organizations as a whole.  Empathy, patience, sincerity and competence: one or a combination can turn even the most frustrated customer into a loyal brand advocate for life.

                  Genuine care is a customer service game changer, and the stakes associated with a positive customer experience have never been higher now that social media provides every individual a platform to publicly praise or complain about a brand.

                  And while genuine care is easily detected through customer interactions over the phone, it’s just as important in online interactions such as email, live chat, trouble ticket responses and social media customer service. Even Read More

                  8% Thoroughly Satisfied with How Companies Use Social Media to Communicate with Customers

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                    It’s time for more customer service reps to occupy Facebook. A 2011 MarketTools survey of 331 companies with annual revenues of more than $10 million found that just 23% currently provide customer service on Facebook, and only 12% provide customer service via Twitter.

                    Yet just last month, the results of a study conducted by NYU Assistant Professor of Communications Liel Leibovitz for Conversocial showed that more than 50% of consumers now use social media to communicate with companies – and if the companies don’t respond, the consequences can be serious.

                    Study findings include:

                    • 78 percent of respondents believe social media will either become the dominant method for consumers to communicate with companies, or it will replace other methods altogether.
                    • If ignored by brands on social media sites, 45 percent of respondents said they would be angry, and 27.1 percent said they would no longer deal with the company. Read More