Twitter has not only changed the way how people share what they feel but also how brands connect with their customers. Now, in addition to giving brands the unique voice, Twitter has provided brands with a new avenue for customer support.
In today’s time, when 67% of consumers use a company’s social media site for servicing, all the customer-centric brands like Nike, Emirates, Amazon, etc. are actively using Twitter as their main customer support channel. Does it help?
My friend, companies which use Twitter as their primary customer support portal get a 19% increase in their customer satisfaction rate. Also, the average cost of a Twitter response is $1, while the average cost of having a customer support channel through a traditional call center is $6. So offering customer support through Twitter is cheaper and more effective.
Here are the six tips to ace your customer support through Twitter:
1. Never Delay a Reply
Good customer service is important for long-lasting customer loyalty. With Twitter, you can not only engage with your happy customers but also handle grievances of your unsatisfied customer. The key to your success is being prompt. The quicker you respond to your customers, the higher will be the chance that they’ll do the business with you again as 77% of US citizens believe that valuing their time is the primary thing a company can do to have a loyal customer base.
53% of people expect to get a reply from a brand within an hour, so you should never delay a reply.
To retain your valuable customers, you need to respond them within 30 minutes of initial contact.
2- Have a Dedicated Handle for Customer Support
Did you know, 30% of the top brands use dedicated Twitter handle for customer support?
Regardless of your business size, you need to have a dedicated customer service Twitter handle if you want to impress your customers with your support.
Having a dedicated customer support handle shows that you’re serious about your customers.
For enhanced customer support, you can insist your users use certain hashtags ‘#’. It will categorize their feedback/issues in a well-organized manner.
3- Encourage Direct Messaging
Twitter allows businesses to accept direct messages so that the queries of their customers can be addressed directly, so you should encourage direct messaging. This will not only help you engage with your customers at a personal level but also take interaction off from public space.
You can also set an automated welcome message that never lets their customer messages unanswered. Direct messaging is the best practice when it comes to powerful customer engagement.
4- Do Proactive Twitter Listening
To maintain the quality support on Twitter, you need to constantly fetch out the brand mentions, specific keywords, phrases or comments by the people on Twitter. By listening to the conversations, you can fix the issues that are not directly addressed to you by your customers.
Also, doing effective Twitter listening will help you discover the problems your audience is facing, which will eventually help you tweak your product or service to better solve the problems of your audience.
You can use tools like Buffer, Sprout Social to make Twitter listening easier.
5- Never Ignore Negative Feedback
When you start your Twitter support handle, you will face a full range of human emotions – positive, negative, and overwhelming. You should never ignore negative feedback. Ignoring negative feedbacks can change the perception for your brand in the mind of unsatisfied customers.
You can use every negative tweet as an opportunity to gain valuable insights of your customers.
Timely replies, accepting your mistakes, and showing empathy are some best practices to keep customers engaged despite their bad moods.
Always try to find opportunities to learn from the negative feedbacks.
6- Be Empathic
Whether it is through Twitter or through a call center, customer support is not all about solving only queries. It is more than that. Always try to improve the customer experience by simply expressing genuine empathy.
Here are some key phrases that can come handy:
“I can understand how frustrating it is when…”
“I realize how complicated it is to…”
“I imagine how upsetting it is to…”
Being empathic is necessary if you want to offer the world-class customer support through Twitter.
Final thoughts
Offering customer support through Twitter is a winning strategy. Brands that focus on delivering successful customer service on Twitter have it all — customer retention and business growth.
By never delaying a reply, having a dedicated handle for customer support, encouraging direct messaging, by proactive Twitter listerting, never ignoring negative feedback and by being empathic, you too can offer valuable support to your customers on Twitter.
What about you? Do you want to share any other tips on offering world-class customer support through Twitter?
Please leave it in the comment section.
