We had the pleasure of hosting our second #MentionChat Twitter Chat last Thursday about one of our favorite topics: Customer support and success with Lincoln Murphy, Customer Success Evangelist at Gainsight. Below are highlights of the lessons we learned.
Does social media now rival support tickets?
Our recent data shows that the majority of company mentions on Twitter are neutral, support-related inquiries, which made us wonder if social interactions now actually rival support tickets. So we asked Lincoln and our participants. Here’s what they had to say:
A1: people may vent/complain about stuff on social w/out contacting support; use social as a proactive jumping off point #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A1: not sure Twitter mentions rival support tickets, but they certainly compliment them #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A1 Twitter is so great for quick interactions and delighting customers with the fact that you’re listening. 🙂 #mentionchat — Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
A1b We still have more email support tickets (and increasing live chat support) than Twitter 🙂 #mentionchat — Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
A1 Twitter is just so much better at being human than a support “ticket” where there are no faces to names #mentionchat — Alex Manthei (@xoalexo) October 23, 2014
Q1: Twitter is a more personal/quicker outlet, but you still turn to support tickets to take on complicated questions. #mentionchat — Denise Chan (@denisechan26) October 23, 2014
A1c: the companys website is still the first option in peoples minds to get support, if they get it fast there, prob solved #mentionchat
— Daniel Scherrer (@DanielScherrer) October 23, 2014
What about the other social networks?
A2: You should be everywhere if you can handle it. If not, stick to the channels you know you can manage. #mentionchat
— Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
A2: Monitor everything, but you’ll figure out where they spend their time and that’s where you should be #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A2: You should monitor everything: Social, Blogs, external community comments, etc. #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A2: Bottom line… you need to be where your customers are #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A2: I think support teams should monitor all platforms, but different brands end up leaning on different channels. #MentionChat
— Tessa Greenleaf (@TessaGreenleaf) October 23, 2014
A2: well not everywhere, just where your customers are, I believe you can somehow guide them a little bit #mentionchat — Daniel Scherrer (@DanielScherrer) October 23, 2014
A2: Throw the fishing net where the fishes are. #MentionChat — Neeraj Thakur (@NeerajT4) October 23, 2014
Q2: Can use @mention to monitor various channels, but ultimately stick to one or two so your customers know where to find you. #mentionchat
— Denise Chan (@denisechan26) October 23, 2014
A2: Reach is good but make sure to have good coverage on the channels you’re active on. No repsonse can hurt more limited reach #MentionChat
— Market One Media Grp (@MarketOneMedia) October 23, 2014
So are customer support and community roles one in the same?
A3 Support and community go hand-in-hand 🙂 I love when customers come to me with ?s! #mentionchat — Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
A3 No, I believe they are separate. Cust Support is working w/ your customers, Community is customers helping each other #mentionchat — Michael Lytle (@Michael_Lytle) October 23, 2014
A3: Mostly: Customer Support = Reactive. Community Role = Proactive + Reactive. Both the roles overlap though. #MentionChat — Neeraj Thakur (@NeerajT4) October 23, 2014
A3: for small companies, sure… but ultimately those are different enough a need to specialize is real #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A3: for small companies, sure… but ultimately those are different enough a need to specialize is real #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A3: managing a community is very different from support, though empathy may be the common thread #mentionchat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A3: idk if always the same person (technical issues), but surely they will both get deep insights for each others works #mentionchat — Daniel Scherrer (@DanielScherrer) October 23, 2014
A3: not the same job but there still using the same tools (like @mention, or maybe @frontapp? 😉 ). Insights should be shared! #mentionchat — Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
Q3: Blurred lines here. Both involve knowing your customer & knowing how to get them the help they need. #mentionchat — Denise Chan (@denisechan26) October 23, 2014
Support pros always have to be on. How do you remain cool when interacting with a frustrated customer?
A4 Empathy is key. I’ve learned so much from our Happiness Heroes in that respect. So many customers walk away with a 🙂 #mentionchat — Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
Looking at the issue from their POV makes a huge difference! That, and playing happy music while answering emails 🙂 #MentionChat — Priti (@BangsMcCoy) October 23, 2014
A4: Talking with the team, using humor, remembering that there’s always an actual human being on the other side #mentionchat — Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
A4 Even the most frustrated/mad customers, just want to be helped. Step 1 Fix the customer, then the problem. #mentionchat — Michael Lytle (@Michael_Lytle) October 23, 2014
A4: understand that the customer wants to be successful with your product as much as you want them to #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A4: they may seem like they don’t, but that’s just frustration/emotion. Be empathetic but don’t get emotional #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A4: if a customer is rude, don’t be rude back, but it may be better to postpone the interaction #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A4: Don’t take it personally. Detach yourself from the personal emotions, and problem solve instead. #MentionChat — Neeraj Thakur (@NeerajT4) October 23, 2014
A4 Frustration usually comes from lack of resolution. Empower your front line to solve problems, not deflect them. #mentionchat — Michael Lytle (@Michael_Lytle) October 23, 2014
A4: putting yourself in the customers shoes always help. And listening to them until they cool down 🙂 #mentionchat — Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
So, is the customer always right?
A5: mmm though one! But in the end yes. They’re the ones using your product and if they’re having an issue, you need to fix it. #mentionchat — Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
A5 It’s all about perspective. You can change your perspective to empathize and understand their concerns, but still educate. #mentionchat — Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
A5: No, the customer is not always right. When they aren’t, it’s usually one of a couple things. #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A5: No, the customer is not always right. When they aren’t, it’s usually one of a couple things. #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A5: Generally, they aren’t “right” because it has gotten emotional… logically, they may be. #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A5: Often mismanaged expectations are the biggest problem; customers over-sold on potential #MentionChat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A5: Barring issues with expectations/over-sold, empathy is the key to working with customers #mentionchat — Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
Favorite tools for managing customer support duties
A6: Ah! Was waiting for this one 😉 Perfect trio: @Mention – @Frontapp – @Intercom #mentionchat
— Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
One question you need to ask, “am i happy with new customers, or do I also want loyal customers” #custserv #mentionchat
— Michael Lytle (@Michael_Lytle) October 23, 2014
A6 Love @SparkcentralHQ 🙂 We also rely on @hipchat and @sqwiggle to communicate with our team, so that’s vital! #mentionchat
— Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
@Mention good music! Have to listen to something good to make it through so many questions #mentionchat
— Alex Manthei (@xoalexo) October 23, 2014
A6: I’m one of those weird people that thinks you should know what you’re trying to achieve first #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A6: know how your customers need to be supported and what they expect before choosing a tool #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A6: just email? just social? high-touch? proactive vs. reactive? Customer Success, perhaps? #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
Should everyone in the company answer tickets?
A7: everyone should do it. At least once in a while. true believer in this 🙂 #mentionchat
— Alice Default (@alice_default) October 23, 2014
A7 At Buffer we all take one day a month to Deliver Happiness – we all really appreciate what our Happiness team does! 🙂 #mentionchat
— Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
Q7: Our entire team answers support tickets for a few hours, once a month. Helpful to get to know the customer better! #mentionchat
— Denise Chan (@denisechan26) October 23, 2014
A7: everyone in the company should have to work support at least at some point to get closer to customers (cf @Zappos) #MentionChat
— Tommy Jarnac (@tommyjarnac) October 23, 2014
A7: I think there needs to be someone that owns support; but just like sales, everyone is in support #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
A7: Not sure everyone should answer tickets, but everyone should know how support works #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
Parting words of wisdom…
A8 When in doubt… cute animal gifs 🙂 #mentionchat
— Nicole M. Miller (@nmillerbooks) October 23, 2014
Q8: Above all, take time to listen to your customers and take feedback objectively. #mentionchat
— Denise Chan (@denisechan26) October 23, 2014
A8: they buy our product to get a result. Using it is a way to get that result. As soon as I realized that, everything changed. #MentionChat
— Lincoln Murphy (@lincolnmurphy) October 23, 2014
What would you like to see us discuss for next month’s #MentionChat? Leave your suggestions in the comments below.
