Tag Archive | social media

Improving your Customer Service by using Social Media: Part One (Facebook)

Have you ever considered how you can improve your levels of customer service through your use of social media? Not only that, but potential customers will be able to gauge how important your company considers good customer service to be and how it is perceived within your company. In short, they will get a sense of how well or how poorly they will be looked after if they buy your products or services.

Do not be afraid of negative reviews, negative tweets or negative updates to your Facebook page – you can turn a negative into a positive by addressing the problem and you can also help to spread the word when you get positive feedback.

I’m going to look at various social media platforms in turn over a series of four blog posts: Facebook, Blog, Twitter and Linked In/Reviews

Part One – Facebook

A customer or a potential customer can really get a sense of your company’s respect for their customers from your Facebook page. I’m sure many companies do not intend for their brand to be represented poorly on their facebook page and it may not reflect a poor level of customer service at all (indeed, their customer service may be excellent in many ways) but if they are not using social media effectively and properly, it can reflect poorly on them.

Always, always acknowledge when someone posts an update on your page. If it is a general comment, then click ‘like’ or respond in a friendly and polite tone. If they are complimenting your service or your products, always thank them and say you are glad they enjoyed it. If it is a complaint, (have a strategy planned in advance) always respond in a constructive way, in a way that will calm them down, assuring them that you will prevent it happening again or that you will correct the error or you will look into it and Do It!

I have looked at some pages belonging to big brands, companies that are spending thousands on television, radio and print advertising and they are not responding to their customers on their facebook pages – whether the updates are negative or positive.

The Mr. Tayto theme park facebook page has almost 200,000 fans and facebook is a wonderful way for this company to get visitors back again and let them know about upcoming promotions and events. However, many people have left complaints about waiting times at one of the rides, others have posted questions, more people have complimented them on providing them with a great day out and very few have been acknowledged, let alone responded to.

We actually had a wonderful day at the Tayto Park during the summer and the staff were so friendly and helpful that I really think this is a genuine shame that it is reflecting badly on their brand. What do you think? Do you think a big brand that is still growing their business should be interacting more with their fans?

I love the Nicholas Mosse facebook page – here the administrator is really engaging with ‘likers’, responding to their comments and updates. Always cheerful, not pretending to be Nicholas himself, always helpful and it is creating such a welcoming atmosphere on the page.

When I look at the Nicholas Mosse page, the image that comes to my mind is of the Seven Dwarves singing as they work or Santa’s workshop – as the potters pot and paint in their workshop! It certainly gives the impression that should I purchase something that arrives damaged or flawed that they would replace it and certainly look after my concerns.

With comments and updates appearing now in the Ticker feed, evidence of good or bad customer service is going to be even more apparent to Facebook users which is certainly something to bear in mind.

If you want to know more about representing your brand through facebook, do check out the spiderworking blog too.

Don’t be afraid of social media – embrace it and it will increase the brand awareness of your company in a positive light.

September 5, 2011

How to warm cold calls with LinkedIN

You may already have your LinkedIN profile set up, but are you maximizing its potential when it comes to identifying warm leads for your business?

If the idea of cold-calling leaves you, well, cold, then why not use your LinkedIN contacts to warm things up a bit? In today’s post, we show you step-by-step exactly how.

Step One – Search

Go to the search bar on the top right hand corner of your LinkedIN profile and enter a search term for the area you are interested in. I’ve chosen to search for “social media”.

Step 2 Refine Search

Now I refine my search – in this case, to Ireland.

Scrolling down through this list, some of these people I am already connected to (1st connections) but I want to refine my search further to 2nd connections.

I can continue to further refine my selection, by choosing to narrow my search to location or industry until I find exactly which area or people I am looking to connect with. When I am happy with my selection, I can see who our shared connections are and I can then ask one of them if they’d be willing to make an introduction.

Step 3 – Get Introduced

In this case I have chosen to get introduced to Fiona Ashe and I have 11 of my 1st connections who can do that for me. Now it’s just a matter of choosing which of these 11 I think would be the best person to effect that introduction.

Now some of you might think why not just click the “add to network button”? And yes, you can try this, but that is the more scatter gun approach to making connections. Think about how much more effective your approach will be with a personal introduction and how it can help you identify warm leads for your prospecting. It allows you to “sound” out your first connections on the best approach to make to your prospect and to gather some first hand knowledge of whether they are in the market for just what you are offering.

Now for an example of how this would work for our own business, Write on Track, which provides a ghost blogging service to SMEs and those who wish to get started with blogging. Say we come across a new start-up with their shiny new website but no blog. We know a blog would greatly enhance their ability to promote their new product or service, drive sales to their online store, and help raise their profile. We would like to approach them and offer our services, and by using the method we’ve outlined above, we can ask one of our previous clients on LinkedIN, to make that introduction and recommend our services.

We all prefer to do business with someone who comes personally recommended. So, why not try this method for yourself and see if this is one way you can warm up those cold calls when approaching your prospects and do let us know how you get on!