Retail Surgery: With so many online platforms available, how can I improve customer engagement?

Retailers’ relationship with their customers has been profoundly changed by social media. The emphasis on instantaneous responses and the public nature of social media create opportunities and dangers for businesses that engage with their customers on these platforms.

For example, an unaddressed complaint has the capacity to snowball, potentially damaging a company’s reputation.

Matt Price, vice-president of EMEA at customer service software provider Zendesk, says it is possible to minimise this risk by responding quickly, nipping complaints in the bud before they spiral out of control. He says: “There is technology that monitors social media sites to ensure that you know when and where your company is being mentioned, facilitating rapid response.”

It also helps to make sure the customer service team has all the information it needs to craft the most appropriate response.

Price says it’s important to make sure the response is the right one: “Any flat-footed or badly worded reply will be published for potentially millions to see.” It is also important for the customer service team to know when it is appropriate to direct a complaint offline. This is likely to be necessary when a query requires a complex answer or sharing personal information.

Price says: “Do not consider your social media engagement in isolation, the best customer service allows the consumer to contact a business and receive a response in whatever medium they prefer, whether it’s by Twitter or a letter.”