The Business of Broadband

I recently spoke to a group of telephone companies about social media, and talked about how they could leverage some of the popular social media channels to improve their marketing and support efforts. I knew going in that the least understood social media platform was Twitter.  There were a few in the audience who had a handle on it already, but most had only heard of Twitter, and thought it was basically a way for someone to keep up with what their favorite celebrity is having for lunch.

While Lady Gaga’s dining habits might be interesting, Twitter is actually an excellent tool for taking your customer service to the next level.  Twitter provides a new channel for customers to contact you, plus  you can keep track of what your customers are saying about your service and interact with them publicly.

Whoa there….

Okay, let me anticipate some objections. You may be thinking: “Wait a minute… I don’t want another way for customers to contact me. Even adding email was too much.” Don’t be afraid. Communicating with your customers via Twitter is not hard. It does take a commitment of some time and resources, but there can be a big pay off.

I hear another objection: “I don’t want a Twitter presence. Someone might mention our Twitter account and say something bad about my company.”  Here’s some news. People can and will say bad things about you on Twitter whether or not you decide to participate. The best thing you can do is become active on Twitter so you can listen for comments and be better prepared if someone does say something negative about your company. You will then be in a position to respond quickly and appropriately, and if you already have satisfied customers who follow you on Twitter, they may even come to your defense.

Turning lemons into lemonade

There are many examples of companies who have used Twitter effectively for customer service, and who have turned around negative comments into a very positive situation. The most well-known example is the account @comcastcares, which was started by a guy named Frank Eliason. Frank was hired as Director of Digital Care at Comcast, and he had the idea of using Twitter to reach out to customers. He began monitoring Twitter for people who were talking about Comcast, and then offered to help those who had problems, including providing assistance in getting around some of the hurdles in dealing with their other customer services channels. I first heard about Frank when blogger Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt) told the story of how he had complained about Comcast on Twitter, and was surprised to receive a tweet from Frank offering help. Frank promptly got his problem corrected, and in this case a few negative tweets turned into a very positive blog post about Comcast and their extra-mile customer service on Twitter. Frank (@FrankEliason) has recently moved on, but @comcastcares is still going strong due to the support channel and team he took the time to build.

Another recent example I heard was on a talk-radio show here in Atlanta. The host happened to send a negative tweet about an annoying banner ad from a local tire company. The ad was at the top of a Web site that he frequents. He complained on Twitter that the ad constantly expanded when rolled over and did not shrink back down for several seconds. He later received a letter from the president of the company apologizing for the ad, and explaining how it had been changed due to his feedback. The radio host read the letter on the air, and ended by saying he will definitely be getting his next set of tires at that retailer.

You probably won’t have this type of experience on Twitter, but you can still build your reputation one customer at a time. Plus, if you promote your Twitter account and attract followers, you are developing a new way to have a closer relationship with your customers and prospects. This will build brand loyalty and customer satisfaction, making it less likely that your customers will leave your service when presented with a competitive offer. This is especially effective with local providers who are up against a regional or national competitor.

Where do you go from here? I recommend setting up a Twitter account for general company communication, and a second account specifically for handling customer service requests (a la  comcastcares). If you’re not sure where to begin, I wrote a previous post about getting your feet wet with Twitter. That’s a good place to start, and I included some links to other Twitter resources for beginners at the end of that article.

What about you? Do you use Twitter for company communication or support?  Let me know how it’s working for you.