By 2014, refusing to communicate with customers via social channels will be as harmful as ignoring emails or phone calls today. I know that I personally expect brands to respond to me on my channel of choice, whether it’s Twitter or Facebook. But, I decided to ask our in-house customer service expert, Bob Furniss, a few questions about the business of service today:

Is it actually worth responding to complaints via social media?

— Leslie Miller (@LeslieAnnMiller) October 29, 2012

BF: This is a question that I hear often. In some cases, I hear clients say, “Oh, we are not ‘doing’ social media yet.” But, the reality is that, in most cases, the client’s customers are already out there. It can be as simple as a personal post about a bad experience or a direct attempt to tweet to the specific company. Either way, customers are already engaged in the social media sphere. So, the answer to the question is, “How can you NOT respond?” In the world of telephone and email, it might make sense to just let it be. But in the land of social media, a person can reach many people with one post. I, personally, have over 1000 followers so when I complain it has the potential to reach many people.

Are people complaining just to complain on social media?

— Leslie Miller (@LeslieAnnMiller) October 29, 2012

BF: I will give the “consultant” answer to this question—yes, no, it depends! In some cases it is just that—people complaining without any thought that the company will respond. But there is also a growing expectation that companies are listening, and that they will respond. If a company prides themselves in being customer focused then the response to an online post is a simple way to engage and delight customers.

Should a company hire people to monitor customer service on social media?

— Leslie Miller (@LeslieAnnMiller) October 29, 2012

BF: When someone asks me this question, I typically respond with this question, “Where are you in your current social media strategy?” Are you listening today? Listening is the first step in understanding what your strategy should be. If your company has a presence on the Internet for buying or servicing products or services, and you are not already listening, then make that the first step. You can either use simple manual tools like Tweetdeck or HootSuite to make that first step or you can hire an outside firm to listen for you. Of course, the next step is to have a plan for how you will engage back. That step requires a lot more planning and implementation.

Is your company behind if you don't use social media to track customer service?

— Leslie Miller (@LeslieAnnMiller) October 29, 2012

BF: Yes! But, I also believe you can catch-up quickly. And many companies are in the same boat. The early-adopters are out there defining the marketplace. I recommend that you follow them to understand how they are being successful—companies like Zappos, Constant Contact, Frontier Airlines, Pepsi. If you begin the process now, you will fit into that middle-adopters category. You do not want to be a late-adopter because it will mean a loss in customers. 

I also believe that there is a strong play for Customer Service to have co-ownership of social. Marketing Cloud (formally Radian6) has a powerful tool called Social Hub that allows customer service to track and manage social interactions. 

Interested in attending one of our upcoming customer service events? Bluewolf and salesforce.com will be hosting two Transforming Customer Service events in London and Sydney over the coming months. Make sure your company has the right strategy to succeed in this new enterprise battleground of customer service.