Customer experience management is critical to a company’s success. A large part of this involves tailoring service programs to incorporate channels of communication based on individual customer’s preferences. One such channel is social media – and it’s becoming increasingly popular.
In a recent survey commissioned by market research firm Aberdeen Group on trends impacting contact center services, it was found that the adoption of social customer care services rose from 12 percent in 2010 to 59 percent in 2013. Analysts further project that this could increase to up to 70 percent in 2014. The five-fold increase demonstrates that social media has established itself as a core business element that would be unwise for companies to ignore.
Social media’s rise as a corporate tool stems from its evident success in helping enhance business performance by gaining deeper and more transparent customer insight. So, why should you be concerned with this rise in social media? Because you can boost customer retention by utilizing social platforms. If not, your competitors certainly will while you idly sit by, and that gap will inevitably widen as time goes on.
In fact, Aberdeen’s research showed that businesses employing social media saw customer retention increase by 7. 5 percent per year in comparison to 2.9 percent for those who did not. Industry-leaders most effectively leveraging social media experienced a 17.6 percent increase in customer satisfaction, 19 percent improvement in positive mentions on social media outlets and 89 percent retention rate. Additionally, agents who were equipped with data on customer interaction via social networks helped boost company revenue by 6 percent per year.
Such tangible results point to the ways in which social media has forever altered the landscape of business. From monitoring customer opinions to analyzing conversation trends, companies can collect key data from social media and incorporate it into their offerings to dramatically improve customer care. By adopting call center solutions that include social media management, you too can empower both customers and agents alike.
