Companies like Comcast and Zappos have already delegated customer service representatives, or digital detectives, to hunt for and resolve customer complaints via Twitter. Ultimately, Twitter as a customer service platform has proven to be a success!

Of course, you can take advantage of this unique customer service angle as well…it’s not just for corporations! Follow these simple steps to bring your customer service into web 2.0!

Get on Twitter!

Of course, you’ll want to open your free Twitter account! (It will probably be the quickest account creation you’ve ever experienced!)

After that, your first stop in Twitterland is the very useful Twitter Search page. All day long, Twitter users tweet their experiences, interactions, and thoughts. Plenty of those users may be your customers!

Go to Twitter Search, run a search for your company’s name, products or services, and see what your customers are saying!

http://search.twitter.com

If you come across any complaints, or even positive comments, now is the time to make a connection with your consumers!

Create A Connection!

Twitter avails you a proactive opportunity to thank happy customers, and to help unhappy customers—it’s viral! Take your customers seriously, especially if they’re enraged and dissatisfied with your company...those are the customers you really want to listen to!

Take a lesson from Comcast, one of the major communications companies. A team of Comcast employees joined Twitter, and has 10,000+ followers that they keep up with! They listen to what customers have to say and respond with tweets to their solutions.

Their Director of Digital Care makes sure that each customer is satisfied. That’s the kind of customer care you want to make synonymous with your brand!

Establish a Twitter Strategy!

Once you’re on Twitter and are following customers, you’ll want to come up with a strategy for customer service. For instance, look at Zappos’ Twitter for inspiration…

Zappos displays a great example of Twitter conduct, with over 450 Zappos employees involved, and they retain plenty of repeat customers because of their stellar consumer relations.

Many people also follow Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh because he pays attention to his followers’ tweets and acknowledges their tweets through his own, which makes them feel more personally connected. Do you see the pattern?

Your strategy should not only include addressing concerns about your products or services, or resolving the issue at hand, but also should entail paying attention to your customers. Reply to an unrelated tweet once in awhile, or tweet a little something (nice) about them on your Twitter!

Is Twitter a Customer Service Breakthrough?

In short, Twitter is one of the biggest names in social networking, and can be used quite successfully as a customer service platform. Is it a customer service breakthrough? Not really, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t advantageous. In fact, it’s a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of your customers. Also, it’s not just for corporations...your online business can benefit from it too!


About The Author:
Nicki Flouton is the Customer Service Manager for Multiple Stream Media, an online advertising network helping small businesses gain visitors to their websites, and acquire new clients the inexpensive way. For your free and non-obligatory consultation please visit - http://www.rent-a-list.com
 
Submitted by abecherian