#TwitterSmarter Podcast: Using Twitter As Your Best Customer Service Channel with Dan Gingiss [Episode 46]

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Dan Gingiss is a Social Media and Customer Experience Executive, Author, Podcaster and Speaker. He’s currently working as Senior Director – Global Social Media at McDonald’s, responsible for global strategy and best practices sharing of social media marketing, listening, customer care, crisis management and insights/analytics.

Dan is the author of the book “Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media” and the host of “Focus on Customer Service Podcast”, presenting brands that focus on delivering outstanding customer service with social media.

He’s been invited to speak at internationally acclaimed conferences, such as Social Media Marketing World, Social Shake-Up, Corporate Social Media Summit, The Customer Service Summit and many more. You can find him guesting on a variety of podcasts and webinars, and referenced in books, articles and case studies on digital customer experience, social media, customer service and employee advocacy.

In this episode, Dan shares actionable tips for using Twitter as a channel for great Customer Service and Social Customer Care and how to make the most out of Twitter as your best service channel. He stresses the importance of managing and exceeding customer expectations, both offline and online, always monitoring conversations and mentions of your brand. He reveals why it’s important to jump in, listen to what people are saying about your brand (even if they are complaining), and engage proactively in the conversation.

Episode Highlights:

  • Learn what makes Twitter an important platform for great social customer care.
  • Dan talks about the importance of setting customer expectations on Twitter. When brands exceed customer expectations, it makes end users happy and more willing to share positive feedback and information about a brand.
  • Response time matters. One tip Dan shares is to be quick. It’s okay to respond before you’re ready to resolve. If the question is going to take some time, it’s much better to respond quickly and say, “Hey, we’ve got your question, we’re working on it. We’ll get right back to you.” That’s good enough for the customer. It will make them very happy.
  • When you hire people to work on your Twitter account in customer service or community management, make sure you test them for writing. Dan tells us understanding how to write “tight” is really important. Spelling and grammar matter because it’s a reflection of your brand.
  • One thing Dan stresses, “Always Show Empathy.” Be proactive and get in front of issues before they happen. And respond to everyone, whether it’s a compliment, question or a complaint.
  • Use social listening on Twitter not only to listen and respond to individual customers, but to also bring these insights back to the business to upgrade, improve services and products. It gives out the signal, “we heard you and we fixed it.” This can be a huge win for your brand.

My Favorite Quotes:

“Twitter is really four things that other service channels are not – it’s public, searchable, shareable and permanent. That’s why Social Customer care is so important on this particular channel”

“Expectations + emotions = a willingness to share.” click to tweet Tweet: “Expectations + emotions = a willingness to share.” -@dgingiss from #TwitterSmarter podcast https://ctt.ec/tiV2P+

“Twitter is a key channel for social customer care.”

“Setting your hours or availability is about setting those customer expectations. It’s OK if you’re not 24/7, but you need to tell people when you’ll be there to respond.”

“Always show empathy for the situation and be friendly.”

Tools, Links and Apps Mentioned:

  • Buffer – Try out this powerful content curation tool. It’s a smarter way to share on Social Media.
  • Hootsuite – Check out this social media management tool created to help businesses grow their social media presence.
  • Tweetdeck – Social media dashboard application for management of Twitter accounts.
  • Spredfast – Enterprise social media management software that makes it easy for marketing & support teams to deliver the best customer experiences on social media.
  • Sprinklr – Social media management platform that provides digital transformation for enterprise businesses, with a focus on customer-first.
  • Conversocial – Test any brand’s customer service performance on Twitter.
  • Sparkcentral – Social media based platform and Service Support Software helping you to increase your business’s customer engagement.
  • Lithium – Social media software provides on-demand, hosted forums, chats for businesses.
  • Book: Winning at Social Customer Care:  How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media
  • Podcast: Focus on Customer Service – The first and only known audio podcast dedicated exclusively to social media customer service, featuring interviews of leaders from top brands.

Examples Mentioned:

How to Reach Dan:

You can reach Dan on Twitter @dgingiss, LinkedIn or through his website, www.winningatsocial.com. And be sure to check out his podcast Focus on Customer Service and his book Winning at Social Customer Care.

Your Call-to-Action:

Your call-to-action for this episode is to start using Twitter for social listening. You need to jump in, see what people are saying about your brand and engage in the conversation. Make sure to respond to everyone, whether it’s a compliment, a question or a complaint. Follow the tips Dan discussed in this episode and start implementing them for better customer service. Send me a tweet @MadalynSklar and tell me how these tips have helped your business. I want to hear from you!

Ask Me Anything!

I want to answer your questions about Twitter. Leave me a voicemail at MadalynSklar.com/speakpipe and I will pick a few to answer on the show. Don’t be shy. I want to hear from you.

Share Your Love For This Podcast:

Want an easy “one-click” way to Share Your Love for this podcast? Go here: www.madalynsklar.com/love to tweet out your love.

Thanks For Your Attention!

I appreciate you listening to this podcast, and would be extremely grateful if you would take a moment to rate & review it on iTunes. By doing this, more people will be able to benefit from the tips and tools shared in this #TwitterSmarter podcast series. Please also subscribe to this podcast while you’re there. It will ensure you don’t miss an episode!

I read every review that comes in, so please know that you have my sincere thanks! Not sure how to rate & review a podcast? Click here to learn how.

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