Customer Service = Social Networking?

If you read our last post, you know what we think about social networking: we think we are in the process of revolutionizing customer service and customer expectations. In a world where many products and services are being thought of as commodities, customer service is becoming even more of a differentiator than it was before. Of course, you will still need to service your customers by telephone, and in some cases in person, but more and more transactions are taking place via social networking.

Last time we talked about the woman in JFK airport and her experience: getting explicit personal help in less than 5 minutes from her airline, using Twitter and her 10,000 followers. Rather than the exception, such experiences are rapidly becoming the rule.

In an article by Aaron Strout that appeared in MultiChannel Merchant yesterday (http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/0810-social-marketing-customer-service/), the author discusses how embracing social networks has enhanced customer loyalty and differentiated customer service for several companies (Intuit, Comcast, Zappos). What is social networking doing for you and your company?

Mr. Strout suggests that you begin your social networking efforts by listening (sound familiar?). As "The Listening Coach," I couldn't agree more! The book that I wrote with Henry DeVries gives you a structured way to accomplish this (Pain Killer Marketing).

The second step is to engage your customers. Stimulate their passions to help to create loyalty. The author cites Fred Reichheld's assertion that increasing loyalty by as little as 5% can increase the bottom line by between 25% and 85% (Leading with Loyalty)! Again, this agrees with the assertion that Henry and I made in our book: tap into the customers' passions (often, their pains).

The third and final step is to measure. You must develop and deploy predictive internal business metrics. This will enable you to show the ROI for your efforts and predict future success.
Have you engaged in social networking as a corporate entity? Are you wondering what the cost/benefit calculations show for your investment of time?

Many of the companies who have engaged their customers and potential customers in this way have greatly reduced their need for call centers and reduced their time to service. In some cases, customers help each other solve problems! Talk about establishing a community of loyalty! Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos, has more than 1,000,000 followers! What would it be worth to your company to have direct access to a million customers, instantaneously, who want to hear from you? As a market researcher, I would say that is a lot of people to tap into for their ideas and opinions about your product.

As you move into this realm, whether as a marketing effort or as a customer service program, please keep in mind that it begins with listening. Have a structured way to capture and use the Voice of the Customer. If we can help in any way, please call.