Customer Service & Reviews
Week #13April 23, 2014
Utica CollegePRL 408: Social MediaThomas Armitage
In today’s lesson…
Importance of customer service Who's responsible Tips for a good experience Brands doing it right Your experiences Online reviews Why are reviews important? Where can someone leave a review? How can you get reviews? Tips
Importance of customer service
“Customer service is a fundamental activity for businesses participating in social media. Any time a business comes in contact with someone in social media, then there is an opportunity to raise interest, create desire and influence actions.” – Stuart Davidson
Importance of customer service
(Smith, 2013)
Who’s responsible?
(Fell, 2013)
Stats
62% of brands are replying to questions and comments on social
57% of customers think a brand’s customer service should be the same on weekends
72% of customers said that they expect a response from a brand within an hour
24 hours average Facebook response time 11 hours average Twitter response time
(Mendenhall, 2014)
Tips for a good experience
Tips for a good experience
Answer quickly Use the right tools (CRM?) Have a separate account?
30% of top brands now have dedicated customer service Twitter accounts
Aim for single-contact resolution Train your staff and have a plan in
place Be generous
(Belosic, 2014)
Brands doing it right
Best Buy Subway Target Walgreens J.C. Penney
(Stampler, 2012)
Brands doing it wrong
Supervalu Cablevision Publix A&P Shoprite
(Stampler, 2012)
Your experience
Throughout the semester, which brands responded and reacted to your tweets?
What are some brands you’ve seen who have done a good job at using social media as a customer service tool?
Online reviews
Trend
(XXX, 2013)
Consumer Reports
2008: $21.4 million profit 2009: $6.9 million profit 2010: $900,000 profit 2011: $3.5 million loss
(Romenesko, 2013)
Stats
(Gesenhues, 2013)
Why are reviews important?
Why are reviews important?
90% of respondents said that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions
86% said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews
Word of mouth = trust Short term: Sales Long term: Reputation
Higher search rankings(Gesenhues, 2013)
Where can someone leave a review?
Retailer website/e-commerce website
Google+ (formerly Google Local, Places)
Yelp Facebook LinkedIn Angie’s List Yahoo Local Listings
(Eridon, 2012)
Example
Local search is the easiest way to access reviews of local co
Example
Role of SM within online reviews
Why does the social team often get sucked into managing this?
How can you obtain reviews?
How can you get reviews?
Create pages/profiles and/or built functionality into your ecommerce system
Good products/service ASK!
Traditional Email newsletter Social media
Tips when seeking reviews
Don’t offer incentives Don’t create fake reviews Make it easy for customers. Provide
links. Do it promptly since people are
most likely to give you feedback right away
Reminder emails
(Shotland, 2011)
Next week, we will discuss…
Managing a Personal Brand, Job Searching via Social Media
To do: Work on final paper Read chapter 8 in the text Read articles from #UticaCollegeSM and
comment Imgur presenter should be ready to present
References
Belosic, J. (2014, February 17). 5 ways to offer social customer service with Facebook. Social Media Examiner. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-customer-service-facebook/
Davidson, S. (2014, February 7). Using social media for customer service. stuartjdavidson.com. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://stuartjdavidson.com/social-media-customer-service/
Eridon, C. (2012, October 23). 12 places businesses should be collecting online reviews. HubSpot Blog. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33741/12-Places-Businesses-Should-Be-Collecting-Online-Reviews.aspx
Fell, J. (2013, February 22). 4 quick tips for using social media for customer service. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225912
Gesenhues, A. (2013, April 9). Survey: 90% of customers say buying decisions are influenced by online reviews. Marketing Land. http://marketingland.com/survey-customers-more-frustrated-by-how-long-it-takes-to-resolve-a-customer-service-issue-than-the-resolution-38756
Mendenhall, N. (2014, February 11). 10 reasons why you need to improve your social media customer service. Social Media Today. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://socialmediatoday.com/nate-mendenhall/2161881/10-reasons-why-you-need-improve-your-social-media-customer-service
Mouw, S. (2013, September 5). 4 steps to leveraging customer reviews online. Brand Driven Digital. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://www.branddrivendigital.com/customer-reviews/
Romenesko, J. (2013, October 30). ‘Change is hard:’ Consumer Reports restructures to survive in the digital era. jimromenesko.com. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://jimromenesko.com/2013/10/30/change-is-hard-consumer-reports-restructures-to-survive-in-the-digital-era/
Smith, B. (2013, May 9). Using social media as a customer service tool. Social Media Today. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://socialmediatoday.com/brianna5mith/1373121/using-social-media-customer-service-tool-infographic
Shotland, A. (2011, September 12). 5 tips to get more online customer reviews. SearchEngineLand. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://searchengineland.com/5-tips-to-get-more-online-customer-reviews-92311
Stampler, L. (2012, June 12). These are the bets (and worst) brands in social media for customer service. Business Insider. Retrieved on April 19, 2014 from http://www.businessinsider.com/these-companies-are-major-brands-that-are-the-best-and-worst-at-using-social-media-for-customer-service-2012-6
