Online shoppers love going on Facebook to contact merchants about orders, or even complain about a bad experience.
But having a complaint appear on a Facebook page for all of the world to see can be pretty scary for ecommere store owners. The good news is there's a huge upside - responding and resolving the issue properly and quickly can create loyal fans who trust that you will take care of any problems that arise.
Here are 4 examples of excellent customer service on Facebook. Adopt these smart strategies to your own social media customer service plan and you'll turn complainers into brand champions.
1. Speed is of the Essence
Shoppers communicate via Facebook because they want fast service. They took their problem, question, or concern to Facebook because it's easy, but also because they want to apply some public pressure to get the merchant to reply.
Consider the case of Golden Rivet, an online store selling military style pin-up art and t-shirts. Recently, the company received a question about an order on its Facebook page.
Check out the timing here - the customer sent the initial question at 12:50pm.
"Hey mate, ordered a T shirt a few weeks back when the 7 guys were being held. Do you have any estimation on when it might get here? I know you changed the design when it went to 5 and were pretty busy with things."
A Golden Rivet representative responded in eight minutes, logging a post at 12:58pm. An email and a couple more posts followed, and the customer's concern was completely resolved by 1:10pm. This is social media customer service at it's best. Respond quickly to customers on social media sites.
2. Pay Attention & Address Their Concern
Perhaps the most basic concept in good customer service is listening. Many customers simply want to know that they're being heard. So when a shopper posts something on your Facebook wall, take the time to understand what has been written.
Farm and ranch retailer, D&B Supply had a customer on its Facebook page concerned about a recall.
The D&B Supply representative looked into the issue immediately and provided an answer that directly responded to Mary's inquiry all within 20 minutes. D&B didn't put a spin on their response - they found a thorough answer and quickly responded in a direct fashion.
Show customers that you care by paying attention, and addressing their concern directly.
3. Accept Responsibility
Facebook customer service, like all good customer service, is about taking care of needs. If there has been a problem, it's important for the merchant to take responsibility. Simply saying "sorry" is often all that is needed.
Recently, a customer complained on the Pottery Barn's Facebook page about the store's automated email system.
Apparently, this shopper had first sent an email to Pottery Barn, then became further upset when the response wasn't personal. On Facebook, Pottery Barn quickly accepted responsibility, said sorry, and began working to resolve the issue.
4. Be Generous
One goal of Facebook customer service is to demonstrate that your store is easy to work with and will do what it can to help answer questions, address concerns, or resolve problems. To achieve this goal you need to resolve the problem generously.
This can mean upgrading shipping when a package is behind schedule, offering a coupon or gift card to compensate a shoppers, or even offer alternatives to out of stock or back ordered items. The key is that you need to do something to improve the shoppers experience.
Check out this example from Zappos.
Zappos, which is known for its customer service, often offers $50 off coupons as a way to generously fix their mistakes.
If you screw up, take ownership of your mistake and be generous while making things better.
Conclusion
If one of your customers makes a complaint on your Facebook page, act quick, make sure you fully understand their complaint, accept responsibility when it's your fault, and be generous when you solve their problem.
Also check out some tips on using Twitter as a customer service platform.
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24 comments
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April 18 2013, 08:27PMThese are great examples on how customer service doesn’t need to be complicated. Imagine how angry the customers would get if nobody responded.
If you aren’t going to answer comments on social media, don’t be on it. It’s like having a telephone nobody answers.
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April 19 2013, 11:20AMWe’ve always accepted feedback on Facebook and Twitter and think its a great way to give amazing customer service. www.icollectionshop.com
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April 20 2013, 01:56PMThis has got nothing to do exclusively with social web-sites. It’s all about the message, however you deliver it. It is also pretty sad, because true, that businesses need to learn to take responsibility for events that have created customer concern or dissatisfaction.
Does being a disciple of Marshall McLuhan betray my age?
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April 23 2013, 11:33PMamazing article. thank you for the detailed understanding. worth the read.
quality customer service is the key. -
April 23 2013, 11:34PM
In our part of the world, customer service is a rare commodity. Read more about it http://www.thinkfaculty.com/what-is-customer-service-in-pakistan-from-a-call-center-perspective/
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April 25 2013, 03:44PMLet’s face it – the world revolves around social media. We want that interaction. Social media has brought Suppliers and Consumers closer together than ever before, too. I’ve accessed a website called http://hellopeter.com/ from my phone on numerous occasions, instantly bringing thousands of Suppliers to my doorstep. They even have a handy Facebook application: http://apps.facebook.com/hellopeter-com/.
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April 25 2013, 03:48PM
Let’s face it – the world revolves around social media. We want that interaction. Social media has brought Suppliers and Consumers closer together than ever before, too. I’ve accessed a website called http://hellopeter.com/ from my phone on numerous occasions, instantly bringing thousands of Suppliers to my doorstep. They even have a handy Facebook application: http://apps.facebook.com/hellopeter-com/.
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April 26 2013, 01:01PMCustomer care services is the department that maintains long relations with the customers specially when it comes to the social media, It can boost or destroy our customers as it is public and transparent.If it is handled with seriousness the results can be beyond expectations. These are some useful examples you have mentioned above .As David Lambert said above, there should be Customer care 101 like this for merchants.
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May 05 2013, 03:28AMA company with great customer service will always have their current customers come again to them and stay with them forever. That is why, it is advisable that every company must implement great service to their customers. Anyway, more information about great customer service at greatcustoemrservice.net.
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May 06 2013, 06:08AMAppreciate sharing your experiences and thoughts. This is very helpful.http://www.getcliqup.com
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May 16 2013, 06:57AM
Let’s face it – the world revolves around social media. We want that interaction. Social media has brought Suppliers and Consumers closer together than ever before, too. I’ve accessed a website called http://hellopeter.com/ from my phone on numerous occasions, instantly bringing thousands of Suppliers to my doorstep. They even have a handy Facebook application: http://apps.facebook.com/hellopeter-com/.
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July 05 2013, 01:56AMMany companies today uses social networking sites to communicate with their customers. I really appreciate companies that are quick to answer customer questions.
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November 22 2015, 01:19PMWhat we all need to remember is that personal touch with our customers. Being human and saying sorry, is paramount.
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November 22 2015, 01:19PM
What we all need to remember is that personal touch with our customers. Being human and saying sorry, is paramount.
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May 16 2016, 06:52PMWas a good article, however it did not cover the people that complain about something on Facebook & they are not even your customer. Basically they slam you and your brand & then go on their merry way. I know telling them that they aren’t even on your data base makes them look small. However it’s hard to know if this is believable to other users and wether you should delete their comment or not?
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May 23 2016, 01:06AMJust call on facebook Contact help line phone number 1-818-850-7806 Toll Free.If you heve any facebook problems with your Facebook account or looking for any information on Facebook account allied issues?
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June 27 2017, 10:43AMThese are such amazing examples of customer service! The Zappos story is particularly inspiring. Social Media customer service is of vital importance in this say and age; we can only hope the customer service training we provide at Righttrack Consultancy (https://www.righttrackconsultancy.co.uk/customer_service_training/) yields amazing stories like these ones.
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January 05 2018, 02:30AMthanks
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March 06 2018, 02:02AMGreat! thanks for sharing..
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Good stuff! Good thinking! But this info should be Customer Care 101 with EVERY ecommerce owner. It is easier, cheaper and smarter for every site owner to utilize. Very basic.