Twitter Is Your Company's New Customer Service Rep

By Jini Maxin

And you thought Twitter is the best tool to bash a company’s underperforming customer care department.

And you also thought with just 140 characters under its belt, the tool would be better off being a mouthpiece for politicians, film personalities, businesses, and technology content marketers than being a customer service tool.

But, let me tell you, there’s more to Twitter than what it appears to be from the outside, specifically in the realm of customer service. Let's look at these five key features which make Twitter a powerful tool of choice for customer support, and also some additional tips on how to leverage these features to a T:

#Public platform. Be assured, if your company goes out of its way to do something very special for a customer, it won't go unnoticed on Twitter. The Twitterati will go to town tweeting and retweeting this gracious little act of yours and ensure that every Jane and John across town knows about it. Yep, that’s the power of this chirpy little blue bird.

But then, try turning a deaf ear to a single customer query, and let me tell you, all hell will break loose. There will be angry tweets flying left, right and center, quashing your reputation, and in the process causing permanent damage to your brand. So, don’t underestimate Twitter’s public influence. It could make or mar your company’s reputation.

#Media attention. Well, right now it’s a common practice for media to pep up their stories with images of tweet chats. So, if your business has done something really, really special for its customers, which the world shouldn’t miss out on, simply go on and tweet about it. In no time the media will get wind of it and will make your tweet famous by including it in their articles, websites, and even in their mobile apps.

The viral nature of this platform ensures that every gorgeous little thing that you perform as part of customer service gets the much-deserved attention from the masses.

#To the point. The 140 character limit has turned out to be more of a blessing than a bane, specifically in the area of customer service for Twitter. Why? It’s because customer service reps can simply rush from one customer to the other in a matter of minutes by wrapping up their queries in just 140 characters. There’s no room to ramble. Isn’t that great? Happy company. Happy customer.

#Single tweet serving several. Your one tweet can be enough to answer the queries of 10 different people. In other words, several people have the same queries. But then, some make themselves heard through their Twitter accounts, while some don’t. Twitter helps you reach out to both kinds.

#Real-time conversations. With Twitter, conversations happen in real-time. Simply put, companies can respond to customer queries almost instantly. And just by glancing at your company's Twitter's page, customers can get an idea of what’s happening within your business.

Top Tips to Twitter’s Incredible Features

Now the next question is how to use these features to improve your company's customer support.

#Set up a dedicated Twitter support handle. Setting up a dedicated Twitter handle means you are opening a second channel of communication for your customers that’s totally different from the main channel. The main handle could be all about followers and company updates, while the secondary handle could exclusively cater to customer issues. This would ensure that followers only hear only what they like to hear and don’t get themselves caught in the middle of unnecessary issues that don’t concern them in the first place.

#Add a name or initials to your tweets. You could add a dash of personality to your tweets by including your name or initials. This would help your customers identify the person behind those tweets.

#Design response templates. If you plan to offer only tailor-made tweets for each retweet and share, then you'll lose precious time and energy trying to cope with the deluge. On the other hand, setting up a template for thank-you tweets, for instance, could be a great time-saving tactic that could benefit your business in the long run.

#Private info should be strictly kept offline. No matter what, companies should avoid collecting customer data on Twitter, including phone numbers, let alone email addresses. If you want to collect more information, go offline.

#Converse in a lighter vein. Save your serious tone for your emails—you are free to let your hair down on Twitter. Use hashtags, but more importantly, interact on a personal level. But then, customers should also feel that you are taking them seriously and will be helping them reach a solution.

Final Tweet

Offering customer service support on Twitter is easy for brands; however, the best part about Twitter is that it's in real-time. Customers get immediate answers to their issues, unlike traditional customer support mediums that can get do things in their own sweet time

In fact, your Twitter feed could emerge as the coolest tool in your marketing arsenal to impress existing customers and at the same time gain new customers.