How Small Businesses can use Social Media for Customer Service

(462 Words)
Social media can be utilized as an effective, inexpensive and efficient method of delivering customer service to clients. According to Jon Swartz of USA Today, millions of dollars are being spent on social networking applications such as Twitter. Small businesses should utilize these tools in their business plans.
Responding to customer questions
Small businesses need to respond to customers in the same way customers reach out to them. Many people are on social networking websites such as Facebook. They may find it extremely convenient to be able to pose questions or concerns on the company’s wall on Facebook. When the company responds, it will not only be sharing the answer with that particular customer, but with all Facebook followers. Others who had the same question but did not want to take the time to ask would get the benefit of the answer as well.
Addressing complaints
Customers love to complain on the Internet about businesses that have disappointed them with products or services. Small businesses may not have the resources of large businesses to personally address all of the complaints through customer phone calls or written correspondence. Through social media, small businesses can quickly respond to problems, hopefully before they become plastered all over the Internet. If someone posts something negative on their wall or sends out negative tweets, then they can try to address the concerns to bring them to a satisfactory conclusion.
Getting the message out
A small business may have a message to get out to current or potential customers. They may want to share an exciting happening at the company such as a new staff member or new retail product or service. They may want to discuss a problem or issue that has recently arisen. It can be very difficult to reach many customers at once through traditional means such as sending out mailers or creating television or print advertisements. It can also be very pricey. Social media is a wonderful alternative.
An example is a clothing company that has just come out with a new line of clothing for the new season. Not only can the company tell customers about it on Facebook, but they can show pictures of the clothing and hopefully get customers excited before the clothing even comes out. They can tweet exciting information on Twitter. Not only does this share information, but it reminds customers and clients about the company, therefore encouraging sales.
Social media is the perfect tool for small businesses to use for customer service because it does not cost a lot of money and allows companies to respond quickly to customers’ questions, complaints and concerns. It is important for businesses to quickly respond to customers when utilizing these tools just as they would through other methods of customer service delivery.