Rick Cook from Inside CRM posted a primer for "Tweeting with Customers," in which he analyzes the ways that corporate customer service agents will have to adapt their communication to become more direct and relevant for social networking users. For example, Twitter limits communications to 140 characters each. Longer messages require URL shortening services, which can add a layer of complexity for users. Alternately, users can string longer messages across a series of tweets, risking a loss of context for users. With many CRM applications including support for Twitter and Facebook messaging, agents may require a crash course in succinct communication.
CRM software developers have already started to develop solutions that allow customer service teams to respond through a single Twitter account or through a series of individual agent accounts. Company leaders will soon find themselves answering questions about social networking usage, such as:
- When is it appropriate to push service alerts via CRM software through Twitter or Facebook?
- Should CRM software communicate exclusively via social networking tools, or should it alert customers to messages pending on a company's own internal system?
- What risks might connections between CRM software and social networks pose to customer privacy?
CRM systems in most organizations already coordinate communications where an e-mail is typically answered with an e-mail, and a phone call is typically answered with a phone call. Early corporate adopters of social media-enabled CRM systems have enjoyed success by proactively hunting for customers who use Twitter and Facebook to complain about products and services. Now, the challenge will be to determine how to serve customers who expect rapid communication on their preferred platforms.
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