Social Media Customer Care is on the decline.

Are you worried about whether your business provides customer service via social networking? Social media was once rumored as the next big thing in customer service. Experts predicted that traditional phone-based customer support would soon be gone. They were filled with advice on how to handle customer care via Twitter.

They spoke too soon, according to a recent survey. According to the survey, social media-based customer service is declining. The number of customers who used social media to provide customer service increased by more than 80% between 2011 and 2013, but it fell by less than 1% from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, more than 4 out of 10 attempts to reach customer service via social media were abandoned. This is a higher abandonment rate for customer service than any other method.

What is the Cause of the Decline in Social Customer Care Services?

Customers now realize that social networking, at least in its current form, is not suitable for customer service. 32% of customers who have stopped using social media to provide customer service feel its functionality is too limited, 30% say it doesn’t work for complicated issues, and 33% say it takes too much time.

What are they expecting from social media if it isn’t meeting their customer service expectations? These are the top customer expectations and what you can do to meet them:

• They want: To resolve their problem immediately. This is the most important aspect of good customer service. Deliver by Having a high-quality phone service that quickly queues, routes, and transfers customer calls. A call center is a great way to ensure that your customer service department has enough staff, especially during busy seasons. Monitoring reps’ responses and results are important. Respond as fast as possible to customers who reach out via social media and contact your support team.
• Desire: Not to have to repeat information or follow up on steps. Customers feel that the information provided on their first call or the first step of the telephone tree should be shared with the customer service representatives who they contact later. Deliver by: Collecting customer data. Reps can access customer data via a cloud-based customer support database. They can also record steps taken and gather information about customers. This allows reps to retrieve customer information from the cloud, and customers do not have to repeat their steps.
• Customer Desire: Knowledgeable customer service representatives. Customers expect reps to understand their customers and offer solutions. Deliver by training your reps about customer service and procedures. But also about your business philosophy, products, and services. This will allow them to deliver the right solution and attitude.

Social media is not the best channel to handle customer service for small businesses. It’s best to discourage customers from asking questions on social media. Your phone number, customer support email and chat tool should be prominently displayed on your website’s homepage.

You will still need to keep an eye on social media, which you should do anyway, to spot any potential complaints. If you find any issues, you should immediately contact the customer and request their contact information so that you can address them offline and quickly.