How engaged will your team be with the community and company?

Many companies are asking themselves how they should interact within social media channels. How should they engage with their existing community and build-up their community? Not by sheer quantity of interactions, page views, members or other metrics but by improving the quality of their interactions and providing value to a customer to gain and keep the customer’s loyalty.

In order to successfully interact with a community, a company must determine what role they wish for their “Community Team” or “Customer Support/Service Team” to fulfill. The characteristics of an effective team and the success of the team’s ability to execute successful customer service engagements is greatly dependent on how much the company supports the “Community Team”.

Characterists of an effective team to successfully interact with customers:

Purpose: What is the Customer Service (CS) Team’s purpose? Company’s? Customers? This will impact driving priorities, decisions and investments. Will this change as the community change and how will it change? (Focus on brand vs. CS)

Empowerment: Employees need to be trusted and trained to provide decision making solutions that will drive C-Sat without escalations. CS Team needs to provide expedient, efficient, pro-active and meaningful interactions. Customers need to feel empowered with up sell decision making. (Email signature line, inside product, remain unobtrusive – suggestions, deals and short-term offers)

Relationship: Focus on acknowledging customer needs, concerns and issues. They should remain transparent and communicate in a clear and ‘down to earth’ manner. Within the company, the CS Team needs to be active with, informed on and have a voice in company decisions that impact customers.

Flexibility: Providing flexible solutions to customer’s needs and issues. Interactions can be based on ‘cookie cutters’ but need to drive individuality. Company should support employees by providing ongoing training, insight into process improvements and company or employee demands. 

Optimal Performance: Focus on continual improvement by maximizing performance output through tools, cost-saving methods, having adequate support for demand and staying cohesive as ONE entity across all products and services (per company goals). Access to tools and resources that will meet or exceed the company’s needs will prove to be highly beneficial and cost worthy.

Recognition and Rewards: CS Team needs to feel supported, feel valued and be rewarded for meeting or exceeding requirements which can include: a handwritten note, certificate or newsletter/site highlight.

Morale: Happy employees will better engage with the customer. Many times they are the first impression into the company through their CS interaction. Team building events and recognition/rewards will keep employees engaged in the company and provide value in return.

What do you think about my ideas? I’d love to hear how your team interacts with your specific community and company for a follow-up post. Please let me know:

What works well?

Why it is successful?

What are the challenges?

How do you wish to change your engagement opportunities going forward?

Has anything been implemented (positive or negative; tools or resources; procedures or policies) that have increased or decreased your team’s success?

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