Social Media Integration Tips for Customer Contact Centers
The integration of social media gives businesses the unprecedented ability to build deep relationships with their customers, according to analyst Gartner. A recent Yankee group study found that a majority of employees and consumers would prefer to use social networking for business communications. As social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many others have become ubiquitous, companies are faced with the challenge of how best to use these resources to connect with their customers.
To drive customer collaboration, it is advantageous to use social networking tools, as ignoring these media outlets could result in many lost opportunities in connecting with potential customers. These are a few tips to be kept in mind when developing a social media strategy for a customer contact center.
- Keep pace with customer contact channels– The various channels of customer interaction have evolved from face-to-face, voice, fax, IVR/voice portal, email, web chat and now to social media. As customer contact channels never stand still, it is important to keep pace with the changes. Social media presents the opportunity for companies to serve customers while they are connecting with them. Being the first in the industry gives a company the chance to leverage social media and to have an edge when it comes to customer service and accessibility.
- Detect the platform for communication on social media that a customer is using– Most customers feel that companies need to be monitoring social media for customer feedback. As there are various automated tools available to monitor and provide prospect activity, a company can determine the filtering criteria based on objectives like brand defense, proactive marketing outreach, crisis management, etc. By identifying where customers are communicating on social media, a company can target relevant corporate or public outlets for monitoring and develop strategic marketing plans accordingly.
- Enhance the efficiency of your contact center by leveraging integration– Nearly 70 percent of employees surveyed by a Yankee study group felt that better tools were needed to track and manage social media for business. Numerous companies use a small dedicated staff to monitor social media activities and engage in social media outreach. To effectively connect with customers and prospective customers, it is necessary to integrate key social media outlets with contact center technologies, tools and processes. This way a company can better leverage the skills and resources.
- Educate agents about effective social media interactions– As social media conversations are usually in the public domain, unlike a telephone or face-to-face conversation, there is the possibility of statements being misunderstood by casual viewers who are not part of the conversation. It is therefore important for a contact center agent to be trained to understand that although media interaction is just another contact channel, it is different from email and other face to face interactions. Social media is a powerful tool for getting a message out to a broader audience. Hence it is wise and effective to use a private message or move a social media dialog into a richer and/or more private media such as email or a one-on-one chat.
- Treat social media as another tool to contact your customer– Social media is just another tool in a multi channel integration at a contact center. By tracking and reporting like other multimedia channels, proper management of social media-related activities is made possible. Contact managers need to establish metrics for inbound and outbound activities on social media outlets. This way social media can be used effectively and correctly to improve customer service and support.
Social media integration is a powerful tool that can be utilized by companies to not only reinforce existing relationships with customers but to also find new customers. In order to maximize its potential, it is necessary to leverage it tactically as an integrated part of your overall contact center strategy.
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