subject: Call Center as a Social Media Outpost [print this page] Call Center as a Social Media Outpost Call Center as a Social Media Outpost
Social Media offers consumer and business-to-business companies the opportunity to connect and communicate every day and get involved in the lives of people that either use their products or services. Online media that speed up the progress of conversation as opposed to traditional media, which delivers content but doesn't allow readers, viewers, and listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content.Social media has made to the forefront of people's attention because it's fun, wherein people could easily share their ideas, photos, videos, likes and dislikes, with the world at large.Because of this, social media is of particular interest to businesses.
Businesses of all sizes are experimenting with social media marketing, grappling with the question of how to get in a firm grip, on what appears to be an especially viral way to get their message and to promote there products or services online. To use social media marketing effectively, businesses have to be perceived as members of the social media community, willing to interact with other members. Having the right team, tools and timing is essential, as you have to be involved every day to listen, be present and be a part of the conversation. A contact center environment is an ideal place for this to happen. Agents can outreach and act as a "social media outpost" casting their net to capture conversations, hear, and deal with problems and people that impact your business products or services. Problems are inherent, in any business and it is essential that you are diligent in addressing and resolving them. Using a contact center as a "Social Media Outpost" is a good strategy to address concerns, bad press or consumer affairs issues that can plague the best brand management strategy.
To bring on a Social Media Outpost, with the right people, process and technology, it is essential to establish a set of rules to help guide this new conversation and interaction channel. Internet Protocol (IP)and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) have enabled multimedia channel support synergies that connect many people online. Some systems are proprietary, and others are open source. There are many websites featuring vendors like Skype, Broadsoft, which have established click-to-call buttons for making calls to contact centers. On the side of open source, there are things like RSS feeds, tags, and rich media functionality that rises the technology that underlies the whole scope of social media. The most fortunate aspect of setting up a Social Media Outpost, whichever way you go, is that much of the set up cost are open source and free. But such will not produce any tangible results, what you really need is to build a framework along with a suitable strategy, with a set of rules and exceptions to help guide the conversation. You will have to learn every aspect of the social media sites, tools, relevant sites to be on then move to the next stage, listen to the conversations, guide the responses and lead with insightful perspectives. Listening has always been the essence of effective communication. Just by doing so, you serve half the purpose of your Social Media Outpost strategy. But in the realm of social media, the process of listening is done somehow differently. Based on your contact center, you need to sweep, scrub and filter the information that is conveyed through your channels of communication. While monitoring such communications, you should trace who is saying what and where. By analyzing the information you will be able to address and guide the conversation. You could listen to your customer and they can be satisfied from every angle by being present on a social media channel.
