Since all forms of social engagement are witnessed, the consequences of poor and excellent service are heightened. “No-one can hear you scream in the IVR” is a luxury social customer service cannot hope for.
Equally great service is ‘word of mouth’ goldust. Priceless is today’s world where marketers feel compelled to issue ever greater quantities of material to hit their marketing automation targets (just look at the explosion of posts currently swamping Linkedin inboxes). So any praise for the brand by the people who actually have currency with other customers is worth its weight in gold. So the question becomes is it being properly leveraged?
Legacy silo behaviour is incapable of grasping these threats and opportunities effectively. Deeper collaboration, shared objectives and a common approach to lifecycle management are some of the most pressing leadership challenges for social customer service leaders.
Opportunity also abounds. The value of social care becomes more evident to the rest of the organisation. Thus smart customer service leaders have a chance to escape the tyranny of only being valued for low cost delivery.
Who will grasp this first? Maybe the incumbents are the right candidates? Or maybe social customer service is opening the door to the next generation who hold new perspectives and ambitions. Time will tell but a new style of leadership is being born.
Other competencies in the framework for social customer service excellence can be accessed in ‘Related Content’.
