“Thanks to social media, customers have a voice like never before," said Laura Thomas, marketing communications senior consultant at Dell. "When customers wanted to discuss a product or service in the past, they'd dial a call center and their problem would be addressed behind closed doors. Only the customer and the company would hear the complaint or praise. Now, these issues are aired publicly to potentially huge audiences of potential buyers. At Dell, we still rely on a number of traditional channels for help desk services, but are increasingly looking to social networking to actively engage with our customers and ensure they have a good experience with us” (Donston-Miller).
It can be observed how social networking has clearly changed the face and ways of many organizational functions, but possibly none more so than the customer service and help desks, as mentioned in the quote from the article, above. Both internal and external customers are subjected to new open platforms that “provide a forum for anyone with expertise to weigh in—and anyone with a similar issue to gain knowledge.” Even so, more is required than to simply jump on Facebook and answer a couple questions every now and then.
If a particular company has established that Facebook—for instance—is the most appropriate way to interact with their customers, they’ll most likely need an entire department dedicated to reading, interpreting, and answering questions or comments that their clientele may have.
“Social networks can provide important data on the problems customers are having most often, as well as the products they would like to see changed (and how)--but only if you listen. Dell's Thomas said that the company has found that listening and engaging with customers via social networking can directly result in improved customer satisfaction scores, customer loyalty, and brand metrics” (Donston-Miller).
That said, organizations that choose to employ Facebook or other sites as a medium between them and their customers need to take a dedicated approach and presence to such a thing. Consistency and timing is a big deal, “After all, with social networking, it's not just one person who sees that a question has been left hanging; it's everyone who follows the page or is a fan of the company.”
This article reminded me a lot of what we spoke about in class with organizations that went about this process the right—and sometimes very wrong—way of dealing with the advent of using social media for open-forum marketing purposes. It can easily impact an organization negatively if handled inappropriately, or at times not at all.
I agree that social media definitely can improve customer service if it is done right. It is good to keep in mind though how negatively a company can be portrayed if it is not gone about in the right way. For companies like Dell who have relied heavily in the past on customer service through call centers, social media outlets definitely give them another avenue to improve customer relations.
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