Social Media & Client Service Comes of Age

The importance of the customer service role in the social media era might not be getting the attention it deserves. The stories about Dell Hell and Jet Blue leveraging community forums and Twitter to improve customer service and product development are well-known. But customer service today should go far beyond mere support.

I worked in the Global Investor Services group at JPMorgan Chase for many years, before social media storm hit in full force.  Even then the client-facing roles had been divided into two groups;

1)  Day-to-day service and
2)  Strategic client management. 

Even if you don't have the resources or staff to literally split the role into two positions, it is critical to have both roles covered.

Customer support is tactical and tends to be reactionary. If something is wrong, the customer support person gets a call and reacts to the request.

Customer management is strategic and proactive, anticipating growth and changing needs then presenting ideas or services to meet these evolving requirements. 

Social media is an important channel for both important functions not to mention the product development function. Your clients are connecting with each other like never before; in ways and places that didn't exist a few years ago. The line between the traditional roles of customer service, marketing and product development is blurring. 

What should you do?

1. Make sure your customer service role includes traditional support as well as strategic planning for clients' evolving needs. In addition to questions and complaints, include search terms for potential improvements and business when monitoring the social streams.
2. Share insights gained monitoring social conversations across business lines in your company, including product development. It doesn't matter where the social media management sits within your organization, as long as the function and communication is integrated throughout.

Bottom line, business needs to become more open and more proactive, in general. Instead of waiting for a customer issue to escalate or waiting for a competitor to move in,

• Monitor what your customers are saying offline and online and
• Document, prioritize and share across your company.

Use this intelligence to become a partner with your clients, not just another vendor.