Ecommerceis a fierce industry, with thousands of competitors out there waiting to stealyour sales. One of the ways you can increase customer loyalty and keep thosevaluable sales coming is to up your game when it comes to customer service.

Shopperslike to feel valued, respected and – most of all – listened to. Needless tosay, speed is one of the most important factors. That’s why social media is oneof the best ways to handle your customer service, dealing with complaintsquickly, offering support and assisting potential customers with theirconcerns.

Weunderstand that, for some, navigating social media can be tricky. Especiallywhen it comes to managing multiple platforms. That’s we’ve put together a handyguide, explaining how you can level-up your customer service using social media…

The quicker the better

Intoday’s fast-paced world, people expect results quickly – and online customerservice is no exception. In fact, almosthalf of those complaining to brands on social media expect aresponse in less than 60 minutes. At the very least, most customers expect aresponse within the same day.

Slowreplies can push potential customers away, leading them to:

• Find a similar product elsewhere
• Complain to family and friends
• Not return to the site
• Voice their complaint publicly via social media

Notconvinced? According to NewVoice Media, businesses are losing a whopping £10.8 billion a yearthrough poor customer service. Don’t join the list of companies missing out onsales every day through slow response times.

Right place, right time

Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest – the list goes on. With so many socialmedia platforms out there, it can be tricky to stand out across all of them,all of the time. So, rather than relying on guess work or spreading yourselftoo thin and not being able to provide the level of social care necessary, it’suseful to figure out where most of your social media activity is coming from.

Searchfor mentions of your brand on all popular social media sites and, if there areplenty of conversations occurring, be sure to join in. If you find yourbusiness isn’t cropping up as often as you’d like on social media, look forways to include yourself in relevant conversations.

If youfind a lot of chatter about baby clothes, for instance, and this is your industry,you’d be missing an opportunity if you don’t join in with conversations andmake yourself known.

Make the most oftechnology

Whilethere is no true replacement for human interaction, automated responses can goa long way when it comes to customer service on social media. The2017 MIT Technology Review reports that over 90% of brands ‘withworld-leading brand recognition and high levels of customer satisfaction’ usedartificial intelligence to support their customer service.

More andmore businesses are using bots to deal with simple customer queries and answerfrequently asked, basic questions. This frees up time for human specialists andcustomer service teams to focus on more complex issues. Areas that require moreempathy, creativity and connection will typically benefit more from humaninteraction, whereas automated bots are ideal for more functional requests.

Keeping things private

Respondingto public complaints on social media is crucial to reassure not only thecomplainant, but all of your other followers on the platform. Depending on thenature of the complaint or the necessary steps to resolve it, you need to beaware of when it’s appropriate to take care of an issue privately.

If theissue requires a number of back-and-forth replies or sensitive personalinformation is needed, agents should usually move the conversation to a moreprivate setting.

Respondto complaints with an apology, offer your assistance and ask the customer tomessage you privately with an order number, email address or furtherinformation. This way, you can successfully display positive customer service,while keeping personal information private and minimising the impact on yourbrand.

Manners cost nothing

Whetheryou’re on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, there are a few things tobear in mind to avoid causing more harm than good. Of course, it goes withoutsaying that you shouldn’t neglect your customers in any situation. So, if youchoose to provide customer service over social media – which we suggest you do!– you need to respond to every direct question as an absolute minimum.

Weunderstand that negative comments can disrupt your social media pages, and theurge to delete them can be tempting. But deleting or hiding negative commentsmay only cause further damage, annoying the customer and provoking morecomments. Other customers will inevitably start to notice that something isn’tright.

Similarly,it’s important not to be defensive. We get it, you’ve worked hard to get yourbusiness to where it is and if a customer is rude, angry or dismissive of yourservice, remaining calm is easier said than done. Remember, however irritatedor angry the customer is, they’ve still reached out to you for assistance, sothey deserve the same level of customer care as anybody else.

We can help

The bestcustomer service comes when you put time, effort and the right expertise intomanaging social media, providing consistent and regular support acrossdifferent platforms. If you’re unsure where to start or feel like you can’tdedicate enough time to the cause, Bing Digital are here to help. Oursocial mediamanagement services allow you to reap the rewards of an excellentsocial media presence without any hassle.

Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram – whichever platforms you opt to use, we have theknowledge and experience to transform your business through social media. Formore information about our services, don’t hesitate to get intouch with our friendly team of experts today.