TITLE: Social CRM: How customer support can benefit from social

media
Social media has slowly but surely become the dominant paradigm for instant
communication. And as our understanding of the implications of social media has evolved to
a somewhat mature degree, experts have started to spot trends that could prove to be useful
in some way or another.

One such trend is the exponential growth in the role social media plays between businesses
and their customers. Harvard Business Review (HBR) cites an increase of 70% in online
customer interactions between 2013 and 2014. If the data is anything to go by, it is high time
businesses recognize social media as the gold mine for online customer relations that it is,
and hop on board.

The rise in said online business-customer interactions has snowballed to the point where it
warrants its own name in CRM lingo: Social CRM. Businesses have started paying attention to
Social CRM, with hopes that it will improve their customer experience and boost brand
image. And if utilized correctly, Social CRM may very well end up doing just that.

What is Social CRM?

It is easy to overlook certain marketing trends in a sea of hype-infested buzzwords. Social
CRM might be considered such, though you would be doing your business a grave injustice.

Traditional CRM vs. Social CRM

Unlike traditional Customer Relationship Management (CRM), which predominantly glances

at the customer from the outside by making suggestions based on the customer’s data and
preferences, Social CRM attempts to engage with the customer in a more direct, one-to-one
fashion. Businesses do not have to play the guessing game anymore; customers will use
social media to speak their minds directly.

Put bluntly, Social CRM incorporates the customer’s social media interaction into the CRM.
You can track your customer’s queries, suggestions and complaints systematically using
Social CRM. At the core of Social CRM is customer experience management – it helps you
organize all instances of online customer interactions, and reply quicker than ever using
social platforms. You also get to combine the newly acquired data with pre-existing
knowledge to construct a clearer picture of customers’ wants and needs.

What does it mean for you

Practically, businesses can use social platforms like Facebook and Twitter to engage with
customers in real-time. Social CRM is mutually beneficial for the business and its customer;
the latter does not have to wait for an e-mail reply or on a phone call, while the former can
swiftly respond to queries and get back to work.

Why is Social CRM important?

When times change, so should you

A recent survey of consumer behavior conducted by J.D. Power concludes that 67% of
consumers have interacted with a businesses’ social media account. That is not by mere
chance; the on-demand nature of the modern world has also left its mark on customer
behavior. Today, customers expect lightning fast responses to their business queries. And if
these expectations aren’t met, businesses suffer.

Social CRM, by design, is there to help you cope with these expectations. By tracking online
customer interactions, it enhances customer experience to unprecedented levels. Because
businesses can now respond within minutes to any customer engagement, Social CRM
provides a chance for them to show their customers just how valuable they are to the
business.

It’s the statistics, stupid

Statistics show that missing out on Social CRM is hardly a matter of choice for any
burgeoning business. Customers are much more likely to spread positive word regarding a
business if they get quick, satisfactory responses on social media from the business. In
another survey, around 43% of customers ranked direct responses from businesses as the
most important feature of their customer experience. But even amidst such a high demand, a
meager 36% concur that their online queries are resolved in an acceptable manner. All this
shows that there is plenty of room to grow in the Social CRM space. What’s more, customers
are conscious of great customer support, and will in fact reward businesses for providing it.

A friend of the little guy

Small businesses can achieve equal footing with their corporate counterparts if their social
media game is on point. In a recent survey, HelpScout found out that about 80% of
businesses claim to have ‘superior’ customer service, while only 8% of customers of said
businesses agree with their evaluation. Small businesses can greatly capitalize on this
complacency on part of their competitors, by utilizing Social CRM astutely.

Social CRM strategies

Rapid response is the right response

The most crucial aspect of Social CRM is ensuring swift, relevant responses to customer
queries. In fact, response time should be the focal point of your customer experience strategy as
it relates to Social CRM. Fanhub reports that 25% of social media users expect businesses to
respond to their complaints within an hour. That might sound unreasonably demanding, but
is in fact achievable given a framework of Social CRM is in place at the business. It is
imperative for businesses to treat each customer as the most important one, as 70% of
customer experience is based on how customers think they’re being treated. By replying
quickly and effectively to your customers, you can get a leg up over the competition.

Social Listening is all the rage

You might have already heard about Social Listening. The term refers to businesses
employing various techniques to monitor how they’re being discussed in the online social
sphere.

Examples of active social listening leading to positive results are increasing quite a bit. In one
of the more famous instances, a German utility company was able to retain 60% of
potentially leaving customers through social listening. It did so by monitoring phrases similar
to ‘change of provider’ on social media, and channeling resources in those customers’
direction in due time. Resultantly, it saved itself a hefty sum worth €200,000.

Something similar happened in Vancouver, when a Delta Hotels customer Mike McCready,
who was attending a conference, tweeted that his room had a far-from-ideal view. He didn’t
even use the hotel’s name; mentioning the conference’s name with a hashtag was enough
for Delta to notice the tweet. Delta not only gave him another room, but also treated him
with a plate of dessert.

Reward loyalty and sweeten the pot

Beyond merely responding to customer questions, businesses can take initiative and actively
reward customers from time to time. Because Social CRM gives businesses the chance to
track and monitor customer engagement, it is fairly easy to pinpoint the loyal customers, who
will typically comment, like and share your posts. Businesses should return the favor, by
frequently commenting on those customers’ posts. It will not only make those particular
customers more loyal, but also let the world know just much invested you are in your
customers.

Of course, you can go the extra mile and pamper the odd customer like Morton’s
Steakhouse. When asked by a customer to deliver an order to the airport when he landed,
Morton’s not only welcomed him with the meal, but did so without charging a penny.
Customer service doesn’t get better than that.

Social CRM platforms

Facebook and Twitter

Okay, so you’re convinced of the miracles of Social CRM. But which social media platforms
should you target? Well, a good place to start is Facebook. The de-facto leader in online
interactions, Facebook gives businesses multiple metrics to gauge customer experience. You
can monitor comments, likes and views, all of which can collectively tell you how well your
customers think they’re being dealt with. Make sure your responses are contextual; if a
customer asked something in the comments, try to respond there. If there’s one thing
customers are not very fond of, it’s being passed around.

Twitter is another solid choice. In fact, Socialbakers claims that Twitter receives 19% more
customer questions compared to Facebook. This claim is further bolstered by HBR’s findings,
which indicate an increase of 2.5x in tweets that use handles of businesses from 2013 to 2015.
Twitter’s popularity with customer service experience can be measured by the fact that 86%
of customers say they want to hear back from businesses on Twitter when reporting a
complaint.

Leave no one behind

People below 35 years of age use social media approximately 4 hours/day. This segment of
your customers is moving beyond Facebook and Twitter. It is equally important for
businesses to maintain a presence on alternative social platforms.

Instagram can be the perfect customer service tool in a visual economy, if you want it to be.
Make sure to use relevant hashtags, as they can connect more people with your posts,
resulting in a higher chance of landing new customers. Also, include call-to-actions in your
captions; any increase in customer engagement is a win for your business.

Finally, make smart use of Instant Messaging. Be it WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger,

ensure your customers have your ears on these platforms. You can even automate certain
customer interactions with Messenger for Business, using Facebook’s AI bots.

Conclusion
In this day and age, where efficiency can make or break your business, using social media to
deliver customer support is imperative. The math is heavily skewed in favor of businesses that
are able to deliver robust customer experience through Social CRM. Yes, we get it: social
media is relatively new, and it is easy to stumble into its pitfalls if not given due attention. But
the opportunity is too big to pass on. And with Act!, businesses can easily integrate their
customer’s social media information with their CRM. See for yourself by ordering the demo
now!

SUMMARY:
Social CRM: What is it? And how can businesses use it to raise their customer support game?
We bare it all in this article. Our discussion includes various Social CRM strategies, as well as
popular Social CRM platforms, that can help you separate yourself from the rest of the pack.

META TITLE:
Why should businesses use Social CRM for customer support?

META DESCRIPTION:
Social CRM can change the way businesses look at customer support. Increase customer
engagement, satisfaction and loyalty by incorporating social media information in your CRM. Read
more and discover how.