The staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there is the alter ego. Batman in reality is Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern is Hal Jordan, Spider-Man is really Peter Parker. When that character wakes up every morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man.
And it is in that attribute that Superman stands alone. Superman didn’t become Superman. Superman was born Superman (Kal-El to the true geeks reading this). When Superman wakes up in the morning, has his coffee and showers he’s still Superman. His alter ego, his costume, is Clark Kent.
If you are one of the many companies that is dipping your toe into the Social Media stream to see if it’s something you want to utilize as a customer service outlet then listen closely true believers; If you do take this heroic path make sure you build a Justice League style support team! Whoever your voice is, especially if you utilize Twitter, make sure they are a Superman at customer service. What do I mean by SUPERMAN? Funny you should ask:
Simply
Using
Personal
Engagement
Really
Makes
A
Negative Into a Positive!
By having someone at the helm of your guest relations social media who is authentic and doesn’t don a “costume” to fulfill a role, makes the greatest difference in the world! People can smell a scripted person who is just going through the motions and “sounding” polite while on the other end they are reading the horoscopes and eyeing the clock.
Especially on Twitter! If you are making the effort and investment to use Twitter as a customer service outlet to achieve real-time results, then you have to make sure that person has a “voice” that is going to be engaging, authentic and personable. If you are going to go through all this trouble to build a customer response presence in social media then make sure you are dedicating real heroes to upholding your companies truth, justice and philosophies way.
Ted Coine just wrote a great piece on his “21st century Leaders” blog about automated messages and what an impersonal thing they are in a world called “SOCIAL” media. The same, if not more importantly, must be said of, real-time customer service social media engagement. If you hit them with a “you matter to us” auto response message when they Tweet your business, guess what? They will RT (re-tweet) what a villainous maneuver you just pulled and the Breck Effect takes place. They tell two friends, and so on, and so on…
As I tell my customer service trainees/trainers for phone and online support at seminars, you MUST smile as you would if you were face to face with the guest. Believe me; they can “hear” it! A smile is not just a facial expression; it’s a tone of voice.
How your representatives “sound” can quell an irate customer just by “snake charming” them with their voice. Calm, friendly and sympathetic to the dilemma at hand saves the company time fixing an issue that could have been handled by the right and or well trained hero.
Now where is my cape? Anyone seen my cape? How about my boots? They’re red…Anyone?
How about my tights?
Check out these great posts on Social Media!
“The Rules of Social Media Engagement” by Brian Solis
“Don’t SPAM Me Bro!” by Ted Coine
“Let It Be- The Beatles take on Customer Service in Social Media” by Ty Sullivan