Twitter is used successfully by various companies for customer service purposes. And I don’t have to explain that an optimal customer service is more important than ever in this digital and social era (although it’s too bad some companies needed ‘social’ to see that again). There are good examples of companies that have used Twitter successfully for customer service purposes. There are at least as many examples of others that have not been so successful.  

What is customer service via Twitter? In an ideal world, it means that the entire problem or question your customer has is solved via the micro-blogging channel. Some companies, having the necessary resources and integrated vision, can do that.

However, it depends greatly on their activities, products, etc. In practice customer service is mostly a cross-channel story where one uses various channels. And Twitter is actually rarely used as a fully-fledged customer service channel.

This was confirmed recently by a survey conducted by Forrester that was tackled in this post.

I summarized a few key takeaways of that post (that also looked at online and offline customer service in a more general way) in the form of tips that you can use as a source of inspiration to optimize your customer service and thus customer satisfaction, which is one of the prime sources for new clients and a positive brand reputation.

1. Use Twitter to listen

I know. This is obvious, but it’s often forgotten or poorly managed, to say the least. Simply listening is also useless. First, and foremost, you need to gradually follow your customers and other people within the ecosystem around your brand. You also have to define which terms and trends you definitely want to “hear” (monitor). Next, you also determine how to respond: after all, you aren’t simply listening for fun. The better the technology, processes and people, the less noise there is and the better your response. Cross-channel thinking and working is key here as well.

2. Prioritize, keeping social value and the long tail in mind

People use more digital channels than businesses invest in those channels. Online ad spending, for instance, has never been directly proportionate to online media consumption, an old but known fact. Less than 1% of people uses Twitter for customer service. Does this mean that you should only spend 1% of your resources on it? No! Obviously, with customer service you have to use all the channels that your clients use. And these are, first of all, as proven by several reports, telephone, e-mail, etc. But on Twitter you have a specific user group that is mostly also socially very active. Does this mean that your clients using Twitter are more important than others? No again. In a long tail economy every client is potentially equally important. However, set priorities that don’t only relate to the current “value” of the customer but also to the future value. Furthermore, although the Pareto principle (80/20) could possibly be less relevant, it remains a guideline. At least if you adjust the definition of economic value and expand it to the economic and digital reality of social currency.  

3. Think of Twitter as a front door

In reality, most customer service questions are handled via various channels to guide a customer through a solution directed path. An e-mail to customer service, for instance, is a first step: you are knocking on the front door. The channels that are then used depend among other things on the client, but it is almost always a cross-channel story. E-mail is not the only channel obviously. A tweet, filling in an online form, a chat, a telephone call: they are all “front doors” to your customer service. Make sure that you have these doors, or nobody will come in. Furthermore, make sure that they are open as much as possible and that there is always a gatekeeper…

4. Acquire a ‘single view’ of your clients

Your customer is everywhere: He or she is cross-channel. People are more impatient and aren’t afraid to voice their dissatisfaction if they are not served fast enough. Dissatisfaction travels quickly around the online world. And when that happens, you are often stuck with a reputation problem. However, that is not the essence. Just think of what Joseph Jaffe says: “every unhappy customer tells millions of his closest strangers”. So make sure that your clients are happy. If you don't, you lose out on revenue, along with a possible damage to your reputation. And what you will never know is how many people could have become customer if your dissatisfied clients were satisfied. How do you ensure customer satisfaction? Again by keeping the doors open, listening, acting proactively and thinking in terms of solutions. However, especially by centralizing all data regarding your customer interactions and providing your employees with the details needed to offer the customer a consistent experience, obviously including customer service. When someone tweets, mails or phones about a complaint, you should immediately have access to all previous touch points and the status of the issue.

5. Think customer oriented when choosing your channels

I’ll say it one more time (in this post at least): the customer is cross-channel. Your ‘support’ department or call centre must offer all these channels and services (online chat, self-service, community-based assistance, Twitter, telephone, e-mail, fax, everything) that are used, even if sporadically, by your customers. You also need to be able to integrate them seamlessly. However, offering these channels doesn’t necessarily mean that they will all be used (in the same degree) of course. Did you know, for example that more call centres offer Twitter than there are people who use the micro-blogging platform? However, that is not important. What does matter, is that you are ready, offer choice and that you are very much aware of the value of a happy/unhappy client…

Whether or not Twitter is a fully-fledged customer service channel (and according to Forrester it clearly is not): use it.

Keep all the doors open. The more open your company, the more people will come in and have a look.

More data here.