Prank calling is one of those things we know is wrong, but it is hard not to laugh at a good prank call. It’s a similar feeling to slapstick comedy—you’re indulging in somebody else’s misery. Once upon a time, to enjoy a good prank call, you actually had to make the calls yourself. Today, though, YouTube offers a seemingly endless supply of prank calls at your fingertips. All of the laughs, and none of the guilt.
If you browse the prank calls posted on YouTube, you might find your company is on the wrong end of the joke. These interactions are generally benign (aside from wasting your money), and your company likely won’t come away with a tarnished reputation (assuming that your rep handled it as a normal call or at least exited the conversation gracefully). For now let’s entertain ourselves with perhaps the most adorable prank call ever, conducted by Little Becky (she’s a pro).
Now that you’re hopefully smiling, I must advise you on a darker version of service calls appearing on YouTube. If you click on the videos related to Little Becky, you’ll eventually land on a video of a call to customer service that wasn’t actually a prank. The purpose of this type of video appears to be to expose your poor service, and maybe provide a few laughs along the way, depending on the situation. And unlike a complaint on Twitter or Facebook, YouTube eliminates any doubt about how the rep handled the interaction.
YouTube isn’t mentioned in social media conversations as often as Twitter or Facebook, but if the average person spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube, then it’s certainly worth consideration. Before jumping into this space, though, there are a few key pieces of advice on social media involvement that I would give you:
Listen first, then act.
A great first step for social media involvement is simply to listen; have one customer service staff member spend 5–10% of their time monitoring the videos that appear. Understanding the types of inquiries you may handle will inform initial decisions such as staffing and developing interaction guidelines.
Start small.
Companies mature in social media interactions started with a single rep responding to individual customers’ negative feedback. Use these ad hoc interactions—and the potential customer recovery or word of mouth improvement that results—as the foundation for a business case to invest more resources in monitoring and managing social media.
Isolate service from marketing.
The role of customer service in social media should remain separate from that of marketing. To engage customers in a meaningful way, they need to feel as though the company is only there to solve a problem, not sell them a new product or advocate the brand image apart from providing good service.
For CCC members interested in learning about what other companies are doing to proactively service customers in social media, listen to our Webinar featuring Comcast, Bank of America, and Best Buy.
To leave on a positive note, let’s end with more of Little Becky.
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on November 15, 2010
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Now that’s excellent advice:
“The role of customer service in social media should remain separate from that of marketing. To engage customers in a meaningful way, they need to feel as though the company is only there to solve a problem, not sell them a new product or advocate the brand image apart from providing good service.”
I’ve seen far too many marketers try to spin an “answer” to my quest for help on sites like Yahoo! Answers or in comments around the web… there’s really a big brother feeling when that happens. A big turn off. But the times where someone (perhaps posing) from the C-level noting that they appreciate my attention to an issue, or the real help from customer service reps online — those things made huge impacts in my perception of brands… It really does matter where someone “comes from” when “answering” or responding to conversation online.
Thanks! Enjoying your blog… lots of great content here!