averting social customer service disaster

Averting Social Customer Service Disaster

Community Management Strategies From The Ground Up

Jeannie WaltersCEO/Founder

360Connext

Today You Will Learn

• How to build and maintain a rich and rewarding online community from the ground up

• The tools and skills necessary to maintain a healthy online community

• How to engage community members in a manner that builds loyalty and trust in your brand

• How to prevent, detect and address potential social customer service disasters

About Jeannie Walters

• CEO and Founder of 360Connext• Using Customer Experience Investigation™ for more

than 15 years• Worked with Citrix, Allstate, Motorola, others• CXPA Chicago Ambassador• Editorial team member of SocialMediaClub• Huffington Post's "Top 100 Most Social Customer

Service Pros on Twitter"• Connect with me after the event!

(@jeanniecw)

Agenda• D’oh! Common community building and

management mistakes • Construction and maintenance: Building upon a

customer-centric foundation• Help! When do you need it? How do you find it?

Community management at its best.• Early warning signals: Utilize and equip your

social customer service watchtower• Rules of engagement: proactive vs. reactive

D’oh! How did that happen?

When tools and technology take over

• Using technology chiefs instead of real people

• The person on the job has the wrong tone or poor judgment

Scripted responses: Everyone can tell.

• Missed opportunity to connect

• Failure to acknowledge the specific situation

Relying solely on brand mentions

• Brand Mentions (Acme)• Misspelled Brand Mentions

(Ackme)• Generic categories

(Computers)• Common Questions (How

do I print?)• Purchase Decisions (I’m

looking for a computer that…)

• Competitors

Being too slow to respond, or not responding at all

• 81%-90% of Twitter users expect same-day responses to questions & complaints

• 31% of social customers want direct access to product experts

Losing your cool in a hot situation

• Being too defensive of the brand

• Fueling the fire with hostile members

Losing your cool

Think before you react. Losing your cool doesn’t necessarily mean blowing your top like the folks at Amy’s Baking Company.

Construction and Maintenance

Building a solid foundation

• Brand promise as your footprint

• Know your audience• It’s all about your

customers, not your brand Brand Promise

Customer Experience

Social Customer

Care

Customer centric engagement at its best

Choosing the right channels

• Know what type of content to share and where

• It’s OK not to be everywhere!

Be where your customers are

Pinterest followers spend more than 15X more on Sephora products than Facebook followers. – Head of Digital, Julie Bornstein February, 2013

Google+

Twitter

Pinterest

Tools for keeping track

• Choosing the right tracking tools that work for you

• Differences between HootSuite, Sprout Social and other competitors

• Your preference matters!

• Brandwatch• comScore• SproutSocial• Social Radar• Bottlenose• Wildfire• Etc.

Tools for keeping track

Basic Alerts

Monitoring

Tools for keeping track

Tools for keeping track

Connecting the dots

• Bridging your communities together

• Avoiding content redundancy across channels

Help! I need a manager.

How do I know when I need help?

• Start early with honest evaluation.

• Is your own voice the right voice?

• Time management: Are you sure you can keep up?

Finding qualified help

• Where and how to seek the right community manager

• How to know if you have found the right person: what qualities to look for

Early warning signals from your social watchtower

Track mentions of usage, not just your brand

• Key words and phrases customers use while researching or complaining

• Using customer language, not marketing speak

Follow your competition

• Find out what customers are missing from you and why they defect

• What makes their customers happy or unhappy lends insight into what you should be offering or doing better

Know your customers: Do the research!

• Who is buying from you and what attracts them?

• Follow them into different communities to listen in on the real conversations

Rules of Engagement

Personalization

• Know the limitations of the different channels, and what is appropriate for each

• Understand why it pays to take the extra minute to get more personal

Personalization

Engage your customers as people, not just as customers

Responding to fans

Fans love you. Make sure you love them back!

The fine line between involvement and intrusion

• When should you stay out of a conversation?

• When should you jump in?

Handling criticism and hostility

• Defending your brand without being defensive

• Dealing with trolls and other unsavory characters

Handling criticism and hostility

Move The Needle

Move The Needle

Set Up Your Social Media Watchtower

• Set up alerts for brand names, product names, VIP’s and competitors

• Brainstorm with your team on other things to track: common questions, complaints, or how-to’s

• Be proactive in addressing the common questions and complaints

-Your brand promise should be the foundation and the mortar that holds a community together as it grows.

- It's important to set up key alerts for brand names, misspellings, key questions, acronyms, etc.

- Customers want to engage throughout the process. Encourage and reward or showcase their involvement.

- Treating complaints and compliments as conversations among friends helps maintain relationships.

-Use customer language when looking for mentions of your brand and products, not marketing speak.

-Use only as many channels as you can handle appropriately and bring in extra help when necessary.

-Select tools that make sense for your own preferences as well as where and how your customers interact.

-Honest evaluation is essential to creating lasting relationships online. Know your own limits and temperament.

-Always remember that it is all about your customers, not you or your brand.

Key Takeaways

Thank You! Keep in touch.

@jeanniecw

360Connext

jeanniecw360Connext

Google+ CXI™ Club

360Connext

Jeannie Walters

@360Connext

 www.onlinemarketinginstitute.org 

Thank You!

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