Twitter: An established customer service channel

It wasn’t too long ago that there was only a handful of brands on Twitter and of these only a few were doing anything remotely positive with the service. Many brand profiles were just making random product announcements or simply spitting out an RSS news feed from their main site, very few brands were being very social with the social media tool. However, a lot has changed in the last year or so and brands are starting to engage people through Twitter by using the service in ways that customers appreciate.

These changes have largely been brought about by a few brave brands that saw the social potential of Twitter as an opportunity and not a threat. One of the first brands in the UK to truly embrace Twitter was the RAC, who saw people were talking about their brand and set out to engage with these people. There were some nice examples of the RAC sending messages to those who had been happy with the service.

Other brands started to take note, and began reaching out to their customers, on the other hand customers started to contact brands through twitter. Of course it wasn’t just people saying how much they loved the brand and service, more often than not comments were negative. Many brands were scared off but a few remained focused on the opportunities and started to respond constructively to negative comments. As a result it hasn’t taken long for Twitter to become an established customer service channel.

In the UK the mobile phone networks were among the first to take Twitter seriously and O2 and Vodafone are good examples of how the tool can support customer service. Both networks have set up accounts that are manned by real people who actively respond to people who want to contact the brand through Twitter. Originally Vodafone and O2 were broadcasting general messages and announcements alongside the odd reply, however, as more and more users began to ask questions via Twitter now almost every tweet is an @ reply to a twitter user. This demonstrates a real understanding of the service, O2 and Vodafone know the brand doesn’t decide what content to provide on Twitter, the customer does. Vodafone have ensured they can dedicate the VodafoneUk account to customer service, by creating a separate account to broadcast exclusive news and latest deals called VodafoneUkdeals.

A lot of brands that have very active customer service departments are really starting to see the benefits of Twitter, not just to improve customer relations and improve the brand, but to actually take some of the weight off the customer service department. The likes of BT, and Virgin Media also offer great services, but it’s still very clear that not everyone is embracing the opportunities. Many brands that rely on customer service simply don’t even have a profile and some have a profile but aren’t exactly making the most of it.

Edf energy seem to be aware that twitter can be used as a customer service channel, but they certainly haven’t understood how or why. They have created a Twitter profile aimed at customer service, but have declined to actually engage with twitter users, in fact to date they are actually yet to post a single tweet. Opposed to actually using Twitter so far they’ve decided to simply set up a page and direct people to their website and call centre. This isn’t what twitter or any social media channel is about, if customers want a phone number they’ll use google or your website. Perhaps this is just a temporary measure, but for the time being the profile is probably doing more harm than good. Users will have certain expectations after they’ve searched for and found a brand Twitter profile, they won’t appreciate finding no one at home and having to go all the way back to where they started. Having no Twitter page is like not answering a customer phone call, but having an empty profile is like answering then simply hanging up.

Of course customer service isn’t the right purpose for every brand, for some it will be about entertainment (see redbull) for others it will be about the most efficient way to post special offers (see Dell). The key is that brands listen and respond to what their customers want, and if they’re sending you @ replies every hour with complaints then it might just be a customer service channel they’re after. If it’s customer service they’re after, then make sure you can deliver, you need dedicated staff with real knowledge of the brand and the etiquette of Twitter (see habitat), and remember an abandoned profile with a phone number is not customer service.