The Financial Times Guide to Social Media Strategy



CHAPTER 7

EMBRACING SOCIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE

Why this matters

Social media has added a new dimension to the customer service function by providing a convenient and instantaneous way to complain, ask questions and occasionally praise. It has also encouraged a new type of customer behaviour in which people are increasingly likely to complain on Twitter or share a positive story on Facebook as they are to contact a call centre.⁸⁶ The new reality is described perfectly by the comedian (and accidental social media commentator) Ricky Gervais: ‘Ten years ago, if something offended you, you’d get out a pen and paper and write “Dear BBC” and halfway through you’d go “Oh, I can’t being bothered. Now you can fire off ...