Carolyn Blunt, People Development Consultant, Real Results

1. Experts in people development for Real Results in your organisation
Carolyn Blunt BSc MCIPD

2. Integrating Social Media
into Traditional
Customer Services
 The evolution of the contact centre
 Change
 Best practice
 Selling the idea
 How to deliver customer service
through social media
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

3. Evolution
1962
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

4. Change
Should we do anything?
If we do, who should do it: PR, Marketing or
Customer Service?
What style: passive, neutral or proactive?
How do we handle conflict, arguments and
untruths?
How do we defend our people, team,
company, brand and client?
What are other people doing?
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

5. What are other people
doing?
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

6. Best Practice
Separation of Twitter accounts: ‘@johnlewisretail’ and
’@JLcustserv’
Listening for mentions and routing to customer service
teams for proactive customer service
Advisers trained in social media –technology, soft
skills and internal work flow.
Owned by the Customer Service Team –Social media
subteam
Adopt a proactive approach to issues
Informal professional language; consciously different
to a complaint letter
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

7. 3 Golden Rules
Customers should receive the same service &
priority as other channels (60 minutes or OOH
9am next working day)
Criticism of named people is deleted with an
explanation
Never argue with a customer; acknowledge,
apologise and move-on
And perhaps a 4th…avoid the
Chardonnay/Stella staff postings -POLICIES
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

8. Best practice contd.
Celebrate success!
Some postings will be
positive.
Take the ‘thank you’s’
on board
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

9. Selling the Idea
It’s out there anyway, either ignore it or deal with it
(you get a whole new dimension of feedback, actions
and ideas)
You will get credit from customers for doing it
Lead from the front initially to help convince
stakeholders
Social media control in service organisations sits best
in customer services
Generation Y & Millennial –can’t go back to 1962
Can be cheaper than telephone & email to handle
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

10. How to start delivering customer
service through social media
Start with Twitter, separated from Marketing/PR
In a study by Conversocial: 32% of all tweets are real
customer service issues, compared with only 7% of
Facebook comments and posts.
Create a sub team within the contact centre
Train them in Social Media & create policies
Join up the work flow as with telephone/email/web
Contact Centre Mangers to monitor usage and content
Get the stakeholders and senior execs on board. It’s
like 1962 all over again……
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk

11. Thank You
@carolynblunt
carolyn@real-results.co.uk
www.real-results.co.uk
07775 734858
Carolyn Blunt Customer Service Expert
www.real-results.co.uk