Using Twitter for Better Social Media Management

A situation arises that a customer has a problem with your company and has taken a 21^st century route in dealing with it. Instead of calling a customer support line to either be put on hold or have to talk at an automated message, they decide to turn to social media.

This is where proper social media management comes into play. When a disgruntled customer turns to social media to get a problem addressed, this is where your social media management comes into play. This type of situation is not to be ignored, because if you do, it will only morph into a hideous social media monster problem.

Twitter can be a good platform to use for addressing customer concerns quickly and effectively. You want do it right though. Follow these simple tips for improved social media management on Twitter.

1. What are your Hours?

Many people think that social media means that you or someone from your company is there available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. This is not always the case, especially for small businesses. In these cases, your customers should hopefully understand that they aren’t going to get an immediate response during off hours.

On your side though, you have to let your customers know when they can get a response from you. Your business hours should be posted somewhere on your website as well as what hours your customer service representatives are available. If for some reason your business will be closed and your account won’t be managed for a few days, send out a tweet and let your customers know what’s going on and when you’ll be back.

2. Make it Private

Publicly, it’s never a bad idea to address a customer’s problem right away. The entire conversation shouldn’t take place in a public forum though. Encourage the customer to take the conversation private as soon as you can. Use the following methods:

• Direct message on Twitter
• Getting their email
• Using a support forum or webchat on your site

It’s possible the customer will open up more in a private forum and that way you can get more information from them. This includes possible confidential information such as their account information so you can assist them in any way possible.

3. Don’t be a Robot

The hope for customers when they turn to social media is that they’ll be talking to an actual person rather than dealing with an automated message at the end of a phone line. For your social media management, this means that you shouldn’t be using pre-determined messages when dealing with customers. This will defeat the purpose of social media customer service and will drive your customers off.

This isn’t to say that you’ll end up sending the same message out to more than one customer. Sometimes, customer questions can end up being the same and some will ask for similar information. Don’t use a copy and pasted response every time though. Use different wording, respond directly using their name or twitter handle. Make it obvious that the customer is communicating with an actual person who cares about a proper response.

Dealing with customers via social media can be a challenge, but by following these simple tips, you can streamline the process for your social media management team and make your customers happier in the process.