I sometimes have to remind myself to stick to the basics.

At Genesys, our mission is to save the world from bad #custserv.  That mission stirs up a lot of creativity.  Just imagine for a second what a world saved from bad #custserv would look like – what are you thinking about?

When it comes to social customer service, I will often talk about “closing the loop”.  Many, if not most, social media posts/mentions about a brand have been provoked by something that happened in another part of the business.

Perhaps they had a bad customer service phone call?  Perhaps they were on hold in a queue for many minutes and are venting their frustration on Twitter? 

Perhaps a delivery they received was damaged, or had bits missing?

Of course, they may not always be negative situations – perhaps they are coming to the end of a contract term and they are curious what options might be available to them.

Given the above, the most powerful thing you can give to a social customer service agent is a cross channel conversation history.  What are the last interactions the customer has had with the business?  Who was the last agent they spoke to?  What was the nature of the call?  What was the last email they sent/received?

Armed with that information, the agent can make an informed decision about what the customer needs and can provide a rich and meaningful response.

But hang on; I’ve done it again – I’ve shot right past the basics.

The “basics” of social customer service is to know and remember the customer, and respond to them in the right manner.

On a number of occasions I have had cause to use the social customer service of my favourite airline.  Now I am a frequent flyer with this airline.  I have high status.  When I have used their social customer service, (via Twitter and email followup) I have shared my frequent flyer ID.  They know my value and they treat me appropriately.

But each time I contact them with a new issue, perhaps only a couple of weeks after the last contact – I have to START AGAIN.  I have to again tell them my frequent flyer ID.  I have to again send them an email so they can get my details and my email address.

This is frustrating for me and it’s frustrating for them.  It’s a waste of their time, as much as it is a waste of my time.

So what should happen?  Well, if I send them a Tweet that warrants a detailed response, I should get two things from them:

·         A Tweet response to say they’ll send me an email shortly.

·         An email with the full details of the response.

I should not have to remind them who I am.  I should not have to send them an email.  They SHOULD KNOW ME.

Have you ever met someone and thought “I know your face”?  You eventually find out that you met  them at an event 6 months prior, and then you remember their name and what you talked about at the time.  You then feel a little embarrassed.  The same situation is happening with my airline but it should not be this way.

Get the basics right.  Show the customer that you care by remembering who they are.