Forrester Research commissioned by Conversocial predicts social customer service technology will become number one investment in 2014, as brands realise social networks are more than just a marketing tool

London Thursday 26th June 2014 – A Forrester study*, commissioned by the leading social customer service platform Conversocial, has revealed a lack of ownership and understanding of social media within organisations that could see brands fall behind in the overall customer service stakes. Over half (67%) of companies interviewed believed that social customer service is growing in importance and the most pressing short-term priority for contact centres in the US and UK.  However, only 33% of the social customer service solutions being used by those interviewed were actually selected by the Customer Service team, with the rest being obtained solely for marketing purposes.

Today’s social media users are more demanding than ever of the brands they know and love when it comes to customer service over channels such as Facebook and Twitter. As the social landscape evolves, customers are moving away from traditional communications methods such as email and telephone, and expecting more from the conversations they are having on social networks. However, the power struggle between the marketing and customer service departments means that there is currently a disconnect: businesses are failing to put the right technology in place to support the complex needs of social customer service.

Here’s what the social customer landscape currently looks like:

Between 2009 and 2012 the number of customers using Twitter for customer service has doubled to 22%
However, people still rate their experiences via telephone, websites, emails, IM/ SMS over using social channels such as Twitter and Facebook as a result of poor social media management
People are more satisfied with their experiences on the telephone, via email, or even going to the FAQ section of a brand’s website than through Twitter or Facebook
35% of social customer service agents have to restart the conversation with a customer every single interaction because they don’t have a record of conversation history
Conversocial Founder and CEO, Joshua March commented: “Businesses need to realise that social doesn’t just sit with your marketing team anymore. Social media is a primary customer service channel alongside email, phone and chat. Our platform alone handles more than 200 requests per minute and 275,000 requests a day, so brands cannot neglect these channels. We believe that Marketing and Customer Service departments should work closer together. But this comes through real human relationship – not by siloing social media into a single tool that doesn’t allow Customer Service to reach its full potential.”

Delving further into the key differences between all-in one social media management tools and dedicated customer service platforms, the report found that 45% of users of dedicated customer service solutions  (such as Conversocial) rated the productivity and efficiency of their agents as ‘Excellent’.  This compared to those using free solutions (10%) and more general social media management solutions (8%) where customer service effectiveness was much lower.

Clare Wilkerson, Head of Multi Channel Strategy at Direct Line: “There are many aspects of social media that make it different from traditional service channels, the biggest being - it’s so public! However, when a customer reaches out for help they don’t care about the channel, they just want a great service experience. Dedicated solutions allow customer service teams to do what they do best…serve the customer.”

* In partnership with Conversocial, Forrester Consulting administered a survey to 159 senior Contact Centre executives with headcounts ranging from 100 – 5000+ agents to better understand how dedicated social customer service solutions compare to Marketing’s Social Media Management Solutions (SMMS). The survey was distributed across Retail, Travel, Consumer Finance, Telecom and Utility companies.