Why Social Media Is Just Customer Service 2.0

Customer service has long been the art of keeping people happy, happy to the point where they feel so invigorated and impassioned about your product, service or company that they would actually go and tell their friends and their family about it; by Jove, they might even go so far as to tell the postman about it.

Then something called the internet happened and put a spanner in the works. You see while the internet – and more specifically social media – gave the happy, impassioned people even more chances to rave about your greatness, it also gave any irate, aggrieved individuals a very powerful platform from which they could share their experiences too; albeit behind the safety of their keyboards in the whirl of cyberspace.

Needless to say this began to prove something of a problem as hotels, restaurants, shops and – believe it or not – even GUM clinics began to get the once over by the social media generation, their friends, their friends' friends and so forth.

While the olden days might've seen us share some negative feedback amongst our nearest and dearest, social media allows dissatisfaction to spread at a completely different speed and to an even bigger audience – A White House Office of Consumer Affairs report found that dissatisfied customers used social media to tell between nine and fifteen people about their experience while a further 13% will tell more than twenty.

So if you find yourself at the receiving end of an impassioned reaction like this or even this what do you do?

The answer is to engage.

The time to turn social media from a tool for online marketing into the leading light in your customer service strategy has arrived.

For pure plays especially, social media isn't just internet marketing, it's an invaluable reputation management tool which directly connects you with your clientèle when it's impossible to meet face-to-face.

Be seen to be apologetic or proactive and your reputation as a company who values its customers and their opinions remains in tact. Choose to bury your head in the sand and you're just telling potential customers that you're unapproachable and not prepared to look after them.

Getting on board with Twitter is one way of providing an open door to customer complaints. Vodafone (@vodafoneuk) is a great example of a huge company - whose bound to have more than a few unhappy or confused customers – nailing the customer service angle by providing almost round-the-clock support by named members of staff. The result? More customer concerns resolved in a shorter space of time which nips potentially bigger problems in the bud early.

Furthermore, Vodafone don't just source aggrieved customers via their Twitter feed and needn't should you. Social media monitoring packages like Brand Watch, Radian 6 and Lithium all record consumer posts and brand mentions right across the web on a number of platforms such as Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, TripAdvsior, forums and blogs. Not only does this provide you with a wealth of market intelligence about who's saying what about your brand, positive or otherwise, but also allows you to get involved and start a dialogue with your customers in public. Alternatively, sending out a customer service email address or telephone number allows you to take the conversation behind doors if need be but further serves to boost your reputation; even if the dialogue is then hidden from the public eye.

Shedding any perceptions you might have of social media being just a channel for promotions bumph or finding out who's going to the pub after work is the first step towards a more productive and engaging customer service strategy and, ultimately, a better informed SEO and brand campaign in the long run.