Social Media Is Not From A Galaxy Far, Far Away!

Right now here on Earth....

No matter where you turn, you will hear some one talking about the importance of your company being on social media.  It has so much attention that companies are even going to the extreme of hiring VP's of Social Media, to head dedicated team to take care of all their social needs.  

WHY?!

Now do not get me wrong, I stress the importance of social media just as much as the next person.  But, my view on the support of this new communication channel is what differentiates me from most.  Personally I look at social communication as just another channel, like the phone, email, web chat, etc...  When you move your view of social into this context the way to support social becomes a much easier nut to crack.

But, social is so different from phone or email because all of it is public and online forever!

So many companies want to white glove social media because they believe social is the only channel that is out there forever.  My response to this is that, if they have a bad call you are almost 100% guaranteed that interaction is documented and also shared online forever, so how is it different.  The only thing that is really different is the time you have to respond, and the way in which you respond.  Beyond those two basic items Social is no different than me calling your company, just easier to do it.

So why are companies still struggling with social so much?

The answer to this really stems from how old the company is, and how much the structure of the business has kept up with the times.  What I mean by this is that social and really all online interaction has forced companies marketing, public relations and customer experience teams to really work together for the first time.  The problem in many organizations is that these departments tend to be extremely territorial, especially if it is a large old multi-national. 

The marriage of these departments is critical to a company’s success, but many organizations still keep these teams in silos, focused on specific goals that may or may not be in line with the other department’s goals.  To have success with social, you must get your marketing, public relations, advertising and customer experience teams working together.

Another interesting aspect of why companies still have issues with social is because they still have not embraced using standard contact center metrics to measure success.  For some reason beyond my comprehension companies insist that the old way of measuring success does not work on social.  To this I insist they are incorrect.  Your measurements may need some tweaking to compensate for responsiveness, response effectiveness, and social impact, but the foundational numbers like average speed to answer, average handle time and first interaction resolution rates still apply.  

Does this mean my call center team should just handle my social interactions then?

NO!  If your team has not already separated out verbal and non-verbal communications channels, that is the first step.  The skill set required to handle non-verbal communication channels like email, web-chat or social are 100% different than phone.  Much of this is because the skills required to communicate effectively verbally, are very different than those to communicate in writing.  

Time and time again I have seen companies try to put both verbal and non-verbal support together and end up getting mediocre support across the board.  Then when we work on separating out these teams, we quickly see huge quality jumps on both sides, and many times have a drastic increase in employee satisfaction.  Both, items a huge benefit to your customer!

Outsource or Insource?

--> I should mention that I do have a bias toward outsourcing as I grew up in the BPO world, and currently work for an outsourcer.  Please keep this in mind as your read this part of the article.

This is a very tricky question, because the answer is so dependent on what your company does, and how your customers look to interact with you.  My typical answer to this is build a team internally to get all your processes flushed out first, then bring in an outsourcer for scalability of your proven solution, but always keep an escalation team internally.  This way your outsourcer always has an expert they can go to for support, and your company can still have day-to-day interaction with your customers.

So what is next?

The next step is to layout your teams plan of attack and get going.  I still hear some many companies who believe doing nothing is the best solution.  The HUGE issue with this view is because it would be like saying we are not going to answer any more calls and hope people still buy from us.  Your customers are on Social talking about your business, and looking for your help if you like it or not.  The next steps for your team are to start interacting with them, after you created a plan.  

These are my steps to in-acting any new venture or project.  I call it... 

The Family Trip Project Plan:

1. Painted Picture - Write out what I would love for my social support environment to look like 5 - 10 years from today.

2. Road Map - What steps do I need to take in the next week, month, quarter, and year+ to reach my painted picture?

3. Navigators - Take your painted picture and road map and share it with 4 - 5 trusted advisors.  Take their input seriously and document everything they say.

4. A Better Route - After your Navigators have sliced and diced your plan look for the better route and write it out.

5. Fill The Tank - Now that you have the best route and your painted picture of where you want to go it is time to fill the tank of your team and get them on board.  This step is sharing everything you have so far and making sure you have their 100% buy in on everything.

6. Hit The Road - Now that your team is ready to go it is time to hit the road and start driving down the route you have laid out.

7. Mind the Potholes - No plan is perfect and you need to be ready to avoid the potholes along the way.  Don't be afraid to make adjustments to your route as you go, it is all part of the adventure.

8. Listen to The Kids - Make sure to listen to what your team is saying along the way.  Their input will be raw, and you must filter it, but their input will help you avoid future potholes.  This is because your team is on the front lines, and has better input than any report can provide you.

9. Take A Ton of Pictures - The most critical part of the whole adventure is documentation.  You need to document everything you do.  This way when it is time to scale the solution you have everything documented so you don't drive back through potholes you already went through or avoided. 

10. Send Some Post Cards Home - Make sure to keep your executive team in the loop all along the way.  You need their support and understanding of where things are going.  This way if you break down along they way they can be there to send extra money or make some calls for you.

To Your Success & Prosperity!