Is customer service via social media really the answer?

 

Tweet Written by Danny Whatmough

My new iPhone 4 arrived on Friday; I was very excited. But alas, my experience in trying to get it activated and in getting my old number ported across has been less than satisfactory. My dealings with Vodafone as a new customer have hardly turned me into a customer advocate (give it time, I guess) and, whilst I won’t bore you with the various trials and tribulations (you can get an idea from my Twitter feed), the various phone calls and tweets I have exchanged with the company over the last couple of days have made me think about the role that social media can play in customer service.

The first thing I will say is that, despite the problems they’ve had in the past, the @vodafoneuk Twitter account is impressive. They answer tweets in good time and are always helpful and friendly. They also work long hours and are available throughout the weekend as well, unlike certain other telecoms companies (yes O2, I’m looking at you!).

But, having said that, when I came to actually trying to get things done, it was only through a call to the contact centre that things were accomplished (albeit slowly and painfully, but that is another post for another time).

So the question is, can customer service via social media ever really be effective in getting problems solved, or will it always just exist more as an advanced information distribution service? When the Twitter rep did want to try and check the status of my activation, I was forced to use good old email to get in touch (an email that received no response I hasten to add), so back to the same old problems.

So how did my experience via social media make me feel as a customer? On the one hand, I was impressed by their speedy responses and genuine desire to help. But once I had got over that surprise, all I really wanted at the end of the day was a resolution to my problem and this they couldn’t help with.

I appreciate this is early days for companies like Vodafone and that many are still feeling their way, but I can’t help but think that brands might be setting themselves up for a fall. After all, Vodafone are able to manage the relatively small number of enquiries they receive through Twitter at present, but what happens when or if numbers start to skyrocket. In terms of the investment, is this a drain on resource for Vodafone or are they seeing reduced call volumes as a result? Customer service is always a big resource hog for businesses and I wonder whether social media helps or hinders that?

The fact is that the ‘customer service through social media’ issues aren’t ones that brands can easily ignore. If you have a presence on social media as a business then your customers or clients will get in touch with you to discuss customer-service-type enquiries whether you like it or not. Is there a way to do this effectively or are we all just delaying the inevitable call?

Danny Whatmough (@dannywhatmough) is a PR consultant at Wildfire PR. He blogs at dannywhatmough.com and the Wildfire Blog

                
          
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  • http://topsy.com/www.dannywhatmough.com/2010/06/28/is-customer-service-via-social-media-really-the-answer/?utm_source=pingback&utm_campaign=L2 Tweets that mention Is customer service via social media really the answer? // Danny Whatmough.com — Topsy.com

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by michelle goodall, Danny Whatmough. Danny Whatmough said: Is customer service via social media really the answer? http://retwt.me/1NCvq [...]

  • http://twitter.com/benjmartin Ben Martin

    Hey Danny. This is a great post, and was really interesting to read (particularly because my lowly 3G had its own problems with the OS4 update). Coincidentally, I am currently blogging about Customer Service on Social Media on the C&M (where I am Online PR Executive) site. My latest post on the matter can be found here: http://www.contentandmotion.co.uk/social-media-…

    I personally think that although SM offers absolutely fantastic opportunities for customer service (my particular favourite being that it puts the customer back in control of the relationship – as documented in the above post), I agree with you in it not being a catch-all solution. Twitter in particular has its limitations because of the character limit (as you discovered) and Facebook's limitations (as well as the result of most of its criticism) is its privacy settings. If, for example someone wades into a brand's Facebook page to seek help to a problem, how does that brand respond? Publicly through a comment on the post? Possibly but only for general problems. Through a private message sent from one of the page admins? Again, possibly, but means that person then personally opens themselves up to a dialogue that may be better engaged with under a company banner. A dedicated Facebook account could of course be set up for that person to use in such a way, but this is seemingly against FB's shady Ts&Cs

    All in all, Social Media should never be ANY brand's (no matter how big or small) only solution to customer service. Although the traditional channels (such as phone or email) have their problems, they are tried and tested and have their unique benefits, as well as their own limitations and problems. Furthermore, the aim of using social media as a customer service tool shouldn't be to reduce call volumes / emails received / vists to the helpdesk / whatever, but rather simply about offering a comprehensive, effective and thorough customer service strategy that helps your customers at every level, across all channels.

  • http://www.dannywhatmough.com/ Danny Whatmough

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting Ben. It's certainly an interesting area and it's not all black and white at the moment. Consumer take up of customer service via social media is another very interesting part of the debate. Time will tell…

  • http://www.dannywhatmough.com/2010/06/30/is-social-media-overhyped/ Is social media overhyped? // Danny Whatmough.com

    [...] First, the ‘why do social media’ question. Surely we are beyond this? The ‘maybe brands should just stay away’ argument is naive! Walley brazenly proclaims: “Could Facebook not just be a globally successful communications medium that doesn’t need brands, like the telephone?” As a consumer, I’m damn sure I want brands to be accessible on the telephone and, increasingly, I want them to be accessible on social media too! [...]

  • http://twitter.com/craigmcgill Craig McGill

    Danny, I have to slightly disagree with Ben. For some brands social media could cover their customer relation needs – but at the same time they shouldn't rely on it exclusively because not every customer will be on social media.

    I can understand the likes of Vodaphone asking for phone calls because they are dealing with a private issue and making sure they are speaking to the right person is important (it's probably easier for someone to access your Twitter account than to know all the details Vodaphone may ask in a security check) but for issues that don't require too much personal info, then a tweet and a DM may be able to solve the isssue.

            
        
 

About

This is my story. I've always been fascinated by the internet. My first passion was music and I studied a music degree at Birmingham University. But once graduated I quickly went back to the web working as a digital marketer. I also ran a web startup for a few years. In the need of a new challenge, I turned to the world of PR and now work as an Account Director at EML Wildfire. My interest is primarily looking at how PR professionals can make the most of the web and digital marketing. This blog contains my thoughts and things I find inspirational.

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