Every business is in the “people business”.
People have higher expectations for digital customer service today than they did a year ago. They’re choosing to engage with brands on social messaging channels for customer support over traditional channels (i.e. phone and email) and brands need to be ready to rise to occasion—that’s where online customer care comes in.
Online customer care is different from the basic customer service that many brands provide without realizing the harm it can cause to their reputation.
When we talk about online customer service versus customer care, what we’re really talking about is being reactive versus proactive:
Online customer service = Reactive
Only addressing the problem at hand (e.g. complaints)
Online customer care = Proactive
Starts before a customer reaches out about a product or service (not only responding to the negative, but also rewarding the positive)
Online customer care not only influences the customer you’re interacting with, but also anyone who might be watching. Effective customer care involves:
Reinforcing positive comments/messages with a personalized response
Answering questions and dispelling untruths/misconceptions with valuable information to prevent negativity from spreading
Addressing concerns and negative comments (hiding/deleting if necessary) to diffuse negativity
Responding to ALL comments—selectively responding suggests that you don't care about all of your customers
Why is online customer care so important?
The online customer experience impacts brand loyalty, sales, customer churn, consumer advocacy and customer retention. If you aren’t proactive, you’re putting it all at risk. Need more convincing?
Answering a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by as much 25%
30% of people who are shunned by brands on social media are more likely to switch to a competitor
50% of people will boycott brands if they receive a poor response on social media
Sources: Buzzsumo, Sprout Social