Social Networking to Marry Call Centers
June 12, 2009
Hmmm. Interesting concept. A big space like social networking marries below its station in life. Don’t think so, asserts this addled goose. To get the other side of this story you will want to read this summary of a consulting firm’s report. The title is “Social Networking and Contact Centres to Merge” here.
The passage that set my pin feathers spinning was:
When Oprah Winfrey and Ashton Kutcher start to use social networking services, it makes headlines across the globe and raises consumer awareness of these emerging communications channels. But according to independent market analysis firm Datamonitor, companies of all sizes have also begun to engage customers and prospects on social networking services.
Oprah! I found this segment interesting as well:
… complaints about products and services go viral very quickly. Ian Jacobs, senior analyst for customer interaction technologies at Datamonitor and the report’s author, said: “Given the boom in popularity of social networks, enterprises of all stripes have started to look for ways to market their brands to potential customers through these services. Whether it is through online contests, coupon and discount offers or just an extended presence to shine positive light on brands, social networking has become a darling of the marketing world.” The increased corporate presence on these networks has also led to service interactions between company and customer. Some of these interactions result from a direct contact from a customer to a company, akin to a phone call into a contact centre. But with new social media monitoring tools, companies have also begun to inject themselves into customer conversations. If, for example, a customer complains to the world at large about poor service, the company being complained about proactively reaches out to the customer to try to solve the issue.
I agree that some social networking services apply to customer support. I think the impact of social networks will be to give customers a way to get help without getting involved with an organization’s customer support unit.
Azure chip consultants are working overtime to whip up business, and I admire that. What makes me quack happily is the silly glittering generalities used to make the obvious momentous. I suppose I could call the consulting firm’s customer support unit. Oh, I forgot. Azure chip consulting firms don’t need customer support. Clients get a billable expert to resolve any sticky wickets. Billable is as billable does.
Stephen Arnold, June 12, 2009
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