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Managing social media community engagement from 71,000 users with over 800 conversations per month is no small task. It needs structure, experience of the audience, swift responses and attentiveness in order to uphold a well-oiled machine. Here we look at how us has managed the social media channels of HomeSwapper, the UK’s largest social housing mutual exchange service to provide long-term support to the customer service team.
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Using social networks as a complementary channel for customer support can provide a much needed buffer for customer service teams. Without the correct framework however, this can become a distraction and even a hindrance to the entire customer support system, which can in turn carry reputational and brand risk.
Using an ‘always-on’ approach to customer service will work in any organisation’s favour; customers want to communicate with service providers by whatever means they see fit. Opening customer support up to all available channels (email, telephone, social media) will undoubtedly have a positive effect on brand sentiment. The customer is at the heart of every organisation – ensuring they are happy with your products and services is key.
One of the key drivers for successful community management is in creating, implementing and adhering to a strategic communication framework. This has to be a process that is fully researched and planned and that embodies your company’s values, transforming them into a fully outward-facing and customer-focused approach.
HomeSwapper for example, provides an efficient, user-friendly and ultimately, life-changing service. Knowing this, we work in the knowledge that speed, clarity and empathy are suitable pillars to drive their social media channels.
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A good resource is determined by its usability; can your customer use this tool to improve their experience with your product or service?
More often than not, customers will need a solution – a simple answer to their question. This provides the opportunity for user-generated content. An effective way to offer this is by creating a set of live FAQs. No matter how clear and concise your website is, it’s likely that without them, your customer would have to trawl through it to find an answer to their question – not the most user-friendly experience! FAQs provide a faster solution, as well as the added benefit of being extremely efficient for SEO.
Though useful, FAQs can’t be the only solution, real insight into your product or service and how to use it effectively is also important. This can be offered, and we recommend doing so, via a variety of content pieces such as, blogs, case studies, webinars and podcasts – remember everyone learns differently!
We used a number of different tools to support the comms for HomeSwapper users – for more detail on our approach see the full case study here.
“Speed and convenience remain top priorities, but they aren’t enough. Customers are also looking for helpful and empathetic agents, always-on support, and streamlined conversational experiences—no matter who they’re talking to, be it human or bot.” Zendesk
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Speed & clarity
Automation can play a key role in community management; it sets expectations for your customers and often offers immediate solutions. The quality of AI and chatbots have significantly improved in recent years; pairing this with an empathy-driven communication strategy will allow you to offer an excellent support system for your customers – speed, clarity and empathy are the keys.
Empathy
The final pillar of our communications approach. It’s not only speed and convenience that are needed; empathy should be central to all good customer service.
The nature of the HomeSwapper platform; with people searching for that ‘dream home’ can mean that conversations are often emotionally charged. This is where stepping in as a human is essential, moving away from automated processes and offering empathy-driven communications.
Conversational customer service
Conversational customer service is the element of our communications strategy that we deem most valuable. It’s the chance for us to connect with our clients’ customers on a human level, to understand their problems and to work with them in finding a solution.
More often than not, when it comes to customer support robots and AI technology, the depth of support can be limited – more sensitive queries can get lost.
For these queries addressing them through human collaboration is often the most effective approach. Whether by phone, email or social media, leading with empathy allows you to understand the specific needs of your customer – often this will be the fastest route to a solution.
As good as technology is these days, there’s no replacing a good old-fashioned human conversation!
