Webcare, online services. Tips to start.

Customers use the internet to contact companies. Through social media platforms as Twitter, Facebook and forums sponsored by television programs, customers ask their questions or complain. More and more organisations do "something" in social media and almost every month there is a congress to attend on the subject of social media. But these congresses are mostly about marketing. There is little knowledge about online service to customers. This online service is called webcare.

Social media are hot. Millions of people are actively involved on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Chances are that you are also an active member of one of these platforms. A lot of people use social media to blow off steam. Ask yourself this question: did you ever grumble online about a company? And did they react? A lot of organisaties just don't know how to react to statements - questions or complaints - from customers on online platforms.

Tweets

Search for any organisation on Twitter and you run into tweets which you could easily call complaints:

"OMG, Vodafone just took an awful lot of money from my bankaccount and I don't know why. #fail"

and

"@Playstation, ok so when are we getting back online? I love how you fail to mention an estimated date when service will be restored."

How to start with webcare

A few organisations in the Netherlands already respond online to tweets like these. This online service is called webcare. Webcare is a service which still needs to evolve. In a lot of organisations the responsible people are still questioning themselves on how to implement webcare. A few tips:

• The service department is responsible for webcare, not your marketing or communication department. Webcare is all about service.
• Agree on a tone of voice and agree upon the types of messages the employees are allowed to react to.
• The service employees are the online spokesmen for the company. Search for people with these qualities: strong customer focus, highly empathetic, focussed on solutions and knowledge of products and internal processes.
• Measure the NPS by using a short online survey. You want to know in which way webcare helps the organisation to achieve its goals on customer loyalty.

And last but not least a tip for the manager(s): connect with other organisations to learn from each other. Because on the subject of webcare we are all still learning.

Sources: www.todio.nl