Social Media: Using Twitter for Customer Service
Posted on 10/22/09 by Erin Coller | Filed under Online, Weblog
One of the latest trends in the social media scene is improving customer service through Twitter. Here at Zenzi, we think this practice comes with great opportunities, but must be approached cautiously and with key guidelines in mind. Here are a few quick do’s and don’ts we’ve put together:
1. Don’t try to be “Big Brother.” Eavesdropping on people’s conversations and offering unwelcome answers to their negative comments about your brand can end up turning your customers off and basically freaking them out.
2. Do monitor and track public conversations to be aware of the general public’s tone and feeling about your company.
3. Don’t place too much emphasis on comments made about your organization by tweeps with few followers – do take into consideration how sizable someone’s audience is and make your decision on the value of their tweets based on the quality and quantity of their followers.
4. Do communicate individually with customers in a timely manner when they pose a question or comment to your company via Twitter.
5. Do make your customers feel special – your Twitter followers are in fact a special group of customers and anything you can do to offer them special promotions or savings will go a long way.
6. Don’t miss any direct comments or questions that need to be answered — Do use the right tools to manage and organize your Twitter account to make sure all your bases are covered (see Zenzi blog post on managing and organizing social media).
7. Do keep your tone and style of writing on Twitter casual but professional and not overly formal. Be creative and use personality.
8. Don’t ignore or place less emphasis on your current customer service tools. Twitter is a great new tool to expand the way we communicate with key audiences but it should be integrated into your strategic communications and customer service plan so that it makes sense and adds value to the programs you already have in place.
9. Do have fun with Twitter! It’s a great way to connect and develop stronger relationships with customers and should be fun and playful while keeping standard business practices and professionalism in mind.
And by the way… DO follow Zenzi on Twitter!
