5 Social Media Customer Service Blunders to Avoid
Customer service, especially on social media, is an art form. It’s extremely important to put your best foot forward in all social media correspondence.
Check out how to avoid these 5 common social media customer service blunders.
1. Getting defensive
Since upset customers aren’t dealing with a “real person” when they come to make a complaint on one of your social profiles, it’s easier for them to openly vent, say nasty things about you personally or slam your services or products.
While this may be unfair, the most important thing you can do is to keep your cool and respond in a professional, polite manner. Getting defensive or reactionary will only serve to make you look unprofessional.
If you’re feeling angry, take a step back from the computer and breathe. Return to your keyboard and answer the complaint in a fair, positive fashion once you’ve had some time to calm down.
2. Typos, grammatical errors and misspelling
Nobody’s perfect. Everyone, even social media professionals, makes silly typos every once in a while. It happens! But it will happen less if you proofread, proofread, proofread.
Customers want to feel like they can trust the business they are dealing with, and part of that trust is intellectual. A response riddled with typos and mistakes is not very authoritative, professional or even readable!
3. Providing a link with no other input
Customers feel cared for when you add a personal touch. If someone asks a question that’s easily answerable, it’s certainly appealing to simply paste a link as a response to their question. It only takes a couple of extra seconds to personalise it and that human-to-human connection can make all the difference.
4. Not staying on top of your social game
If a Facebook post is “liked” in a forest and nobody is around to see it, was it ever really liked at all? In other words, there’s no point in having a social presence if you don’t update and monitor it!
Follow this handy checklist to keep on top of your social presence.
- Incorporate checking your social networks into your online maintenance routine. Twice a day (in the morning and again in the evening), quickly browse your business’ social profiles and notifications to make sure you aren’t missing a customer inquiry.
- If you need an extra nudge to remember your social networks, change your settings to get notifications pushed to your email. Every time someone tweets at you or comments on your Facebook page, you can get the announcement right in your inbox.
- Once a week, skim some of the top social media resources to see if there are any major developments in your networks you should be aware of.
- Maintain your website information. Any time you change your customer support contact phone numbers, links or email addresses, make sure to update all of your social channels.
5. Avoiding the chance to take a conversation offline
As valuable and accessible as social media is, it’s not always the most efficient communication channel. If a customer has a complicated question about your services or product, sometimes the most efficient way to address the issue is to go old school.
If a complex customer service situation arises, don’t be afraid to request a customer’s personal contact information and contact them directly through email or maybe even the phone. Taking the extra steps to ensure you have fully met your customers’ concerns will make a lasting positive impression of your business and prove you’re dedicated and trustworthy.
SOURCE: Volusion
