As consumers we make a few large priced purchases that we remember and many small cost items here and there. For the larger items we expect personalized care and service, whereas the smaller purchases may be out of our mind just as quickly as we’ve purchased them.
There is another category and those are the purchases that we make each month, without even thinking about it. Subscription based services are great, you get your service when you want it, your account is auto charged each month, it’s pretty awesome. Until of course it stops working.
You may have had the same experience as I have where you call, furious that your cable or Internet stopped working and reach an automated system, or are put on hold for what feels like hours. Fortunately, social media has provided an opportunity for these seemingly “unreachable” companies to help customers in need.
In this post you’ll find three examples of subscription based companies that are using social media to answer the questions and concerns of their customers and keep them up to date on what’s new. Any company looking to better connect with customers can look to these organizations for ways to communicate properly with consumers using social media.
Sprint
Sprint uses the handle @sprintcare on Twitter to answer customer questions and field issues. The level of personality that comes through in their tweets feels very genuine and compassionate towards the problems of their customers. They even go so far as to use the initials of the person providing information at the end of each tweet. This way consumers are assured that they are getting help from a “real person” and not just from someone nameless within the organization.
Sprint’s Facebook page provides easy access to all of the ways customers can connect with the wireless provider as well as insight into some of their customer service team members and frequently asked questions.
Netflix
The majority of inquiries that Netflix receives on their @netflixhelps Twitter account are customers requesting that new titles be added to their content library or loading errors that they are experiencing. Netflix does a great job of pointing users facing issues to existing content on their website. For those looking for new titles, Netflix shares that while they have no control over when they receive specific titles, they are currently working with studios to secure the requested content.
While Netflix is not using Facebook to solve customer service issues they are taking the opportunity to inform customers of new titles and specials available on their streaming service package.
SiriusXM Radio
SiriusXM’s Twitter account @sxm_help is run by “Kate” and is focused on helping customers find radio stations they’re looking for and taking suggestions for new channels to add. As with Sprint customer help, SiriusXM makes a point of interacting with customers in a qualitative way.
SiriusXM doesn’t take any specific customer requests on Facebook but they do point to other helpful resources on Twitter, FAQ’s, and quick access to email them a question or comment.
Whether you’re providing a video service or subscription based marketing services, there is always an opportunity to provide your customers additional care using social media.
What companies have you found to provide good customer service by augmenting their strategy using social media.
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