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Customer service is a lot harder than most people think, especially when social media is involved. Everyday, people take to Twitter to voice their complaints and give companies feedback. This is because they know they are being heard and it is very convenient for them. Because of this trend, more companies are joining Twitter for the sole purpose of improving their customer service. The problem is, tweeting is a lot harder than it seems.

Twitter can have a lot of influence over a consumers. If a company takes their time to respond to a customer inquiry or is rude, they don’t just look bad to one person, they look bad to their entire client base. Use this guide to learn more about how your customer service department should be using Twitter.

The Language of the Tweet

The biggest problem people have with Twitter is that tweets, by default, are very short. While services do exist to help you expand your tweet, most of your customer service is going to have to be done in under 140 characters. Otherwise, you are going to be responding using multiple tweets, calling more attention to a problem.

While most people might think this only limits them to a snappy retort and a few hashtags, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. All you have to do is learn how to make the most out of the space you are given. Remember, Twitter is a highly-engaged audience, so you will need to keep their attention every time you respond. Try using pictures or links to additional information to your benefit.

 How to Respond to an Angry Twitter User

Responding to a customer complaint on Twitter can be a very tricky process, especially since anyone can see your tweets. You don’t want to be overly polite, but you don’t have the luxury of being rude either. Use these tips to come up with the perfect response.

• Use the name – Use the person’s name or username in the conversation like normal. For example: @example, we are sorry you didn’t like the product you received.
• Apologies – Say you are sorry quickly while reiterating the problem. @example, we are sorry we shipped a red product instead of blue.
• Offer a solution – Try to offer an instant solution to the problem or invite them to contact you via private message. @example, we are sorry about the shipping error. Please message us so we can send a replacement.

Don’t be afraid to correct misinformation in a polite way. For example, if an angry customer doesn’t like that all your products are red, even though you also offer blue ones, feel free to say so. Here’s an example:

@example: I hate @company’s selection! All I find is red products!

@company: @example, we recently added new colors to our lineup, you can find them here: example link

If you are noticing a common complaint with Twitter users, you can also create a blog post or infographic explaining why they are wrong or the steps you are taking to fix the problem. For example, if many people hate that all your products are red, you could respond: @example, we get that a lot. That’s why we are working on adding to our lineup. Take a look at our new lineup.

Why Response Time is Everything

When it comes to customer service online, response time is everything. Rumors and bad publicity can spread very quickly on social media, and the faster you are at responding, the easier it is to take care of the problem. Being available 24-hours a day to respond to tweets is a necessity for most modern businesses.

Never rely on automatic responses to perform customer service tasks. Every tweet needs to be treated the same way it would be if someone called you. Twitter users that contact you through tweets want to hear from you personally and want to make a connection with you.

 Where Help Desk Software Comes In

Most companies do not have a full customer service staff that they can dedicate to managing their Twitter account. This can cause delays in response time, which escalates the problems at hand.

One solution is to invest in a social media help desk. Help desk software helps you manage all of your customer inquiries in one place, allowing your service department to quickly see them. This means they don’t have to spend hours on Twitter. Instead, they receive a ticket that they can respond to.

Help desk software doesn’t just help you take care of customers on Twitter. It can gather your customer inquiries from all over the web and allow you to respond. Because you are gathering all of your social media, email, phone and website inquiries together, you can quickly respond to them one after the other.

If you run a very diverse company and there are multiple reasons why people might contact you, you can also sort these inquiries using algorithms. For example, when someone tweets that they just saw your blue product and want to order one, a sales representative can respond. If the user tweets that their product isn’t working, technical support can respond after they automatically receive the ticket. This saves time and significantly boosts response time.

Learn More about How Software Helps Companies

The right software can change the way you manage your social media accounts. It speeds up your response times and puts customers in touch with someone who can help them the first time. To learn more about how software can help your customer service department, please contact us today.