Social media the most ‘reliable’ form of customer service contact, but only 2% have used it recently
Around 80 per cent of consumers who have contacted a brand through social media platforms heard back from the company within 12 hours; compared with 37 per cent who contacted a company through email, eDigitalResearch has found.
The survey of 2,000 consumers found that how a customer contacts a brand is likely to have a large effect on their overall customer experience, with seven per cent of consumers who have used live online chat facilities in the past claimed that they did not hear back from the company.
Derek Eccleston, Commercial Director at eDigitalResearch, comments, “Whilst there are still a limited number of consumers using social media channels to contact brands (our survey showed that just two per cent have recently used their Facebook, Twitter or other social media accounts to get in touch with a brand), it is currently the only channel that ensures that all consumers receive a response following their contact.
“If a customer decides that they need to contact a company, their experiences should be the same no matter what channel they use. Obviously there are obstacles (such as the time delay with post) that some channels need to overcome or find a work around for. These results show that there are currently major disparities across customer touch points - measures should be taken to ensure that departments and teams work together to provide the best contact experience possible. Improving the customer experience should be a business wide operation.”
Recently, research from Ambassador found that 70 per cent of consumers helped via social customer service return as a customer in the future.