Richard McCrossan, Strategic Business Director of customer service software company Genesys, explains how a recent angry customer tweet shows just how important it is for companies to listen to the voice of the customer and have the facilities to act immediately.
We’ve all had a customer service horror to tell in our time but when Hasan Syed took to Twitter to complain about the customer service he’d received from British Airways when they lost his father’s luggage, he decided to do more than tweet it to his own friends and followers.
He opted – perfectly legally – to pay to have his tweet promoted – sending it to the top of the airlines Twitter feed and the feeds of related companies across the world.
Six hours after the tweet went live and before the airline had responded personally to Mr Syed, it had been picked up by websites, read by thousands, retweeted and commented on.
It took the airline another four hours to pick up on it. “Sorry for the delay in responding, our twitter feed is open 09:00-17:00 GMT. Please DM [direct message] your baggage ref and we’ll look into this.”
Twitter is a channel where customers expect quick responses 24/7. It is no longer a 9-5 world- especially when it comes to social media, and companies, particularly those that operate globally and therefore 24/7, need to be available at all hours.
Mr Syed’s use of Twitter has highlighted the need for real time routing for tweets. Real time routing provides a social media customer care solution that automates the processes of listening to what people are saying, analysing posts, and prioritising and routing them to the right people. An organization can then respond in the right way to strengthen the customer relationship and brand and limit the damage.
With a real time routing solution, a company can integrate social media interactions across marketing and customer service, maintaining a single customer service conversation.
