In a recent blog I presented a number of social media marketing stats taken from Neilson’s Social Media Report 2012. One stood out on a subject that is just starting to attract attention:

47% of social media users contact customer service via social media sites 

Many call this the Social Help Desk but the report used the term “Social Care” and Neilson defines it as customer service via social media and had some interesting statistics:

• 1 in 3 social media users prefer social care to contacting a company by phone (TWEET THIS STAT)
• 70% of social media users use social care monthly (TWEET THIS STAT)
• 29% of social media users contact customer care through Facebook pages (TWEET THIS STAT)

Dealing with customers through social media is far from ubiquitous but enhancing the customer experience through social media is growing. Adding to the data about the Social Help Desk is this great infographic I received from salesforce desk the other day. They dive into more specifics about managing the customer experience and how companies are using social media for customer support. Because I know we love to tweet these interesting and relevant statistics I’ve highlighted a few of the more relevant and interesting tidbits from the infographic for instant tweeting.

20 Tweetable Social Help Desk Statistics

1. 1 million customer service tweets a week and 80% are negative (TWEET THIS STAT)
2. Purchasing decisions of 38 Million Americans 18-30 are influenced by social media (TWEET THIS STAT)
3. Nearly half expect a company to read their tweeter complaints (TWEET THIS STAT)
4. Only 1/3 of twitter complaints are answered by the targeted company (TWEET THIS STAT)
5. 3/4 of twitter complainers are happy when a company responds (TWEET THIS STAT)
6. 59% of consumers switch brands for better service (TWEET THIS STAT)
7. 50% of consumers give a business 1 week to respond before dropping them (TWEET THIS STAT)
8. Social Media users will spend 21% more for good service compared to 11% for non-users (TWEET THIS STAT)
9. Social Media users tell 42 others about good service & non-user tell only 9 others (TWEET THIS STAT)
10. Social Media users tell 53 others about bad service & non-users tell 17 others (TWEET THIS STAT)
11. 50% of customers on social media want an actual response about service complaints (TWEET THIS STAT)
12. 48% of customers on social media praise a company for outstanding service (TWEET THIS STAT)
13. 42% of customers on social media vent about poor customer service (TWEET THIS STAT)
14. 47% of customers on social media share their experience with others (TWEET THIS STAT)
15. 43% of customers on social media ask others about getting a better experience (TWEET THIS STAT)
16. 43% have cancelled an online transaction because of poor customer service (TWEET THIS STAT)
17. 59% of small businesses respond to positive comments on social media (TWEET THIS STAT)
18. 60% of small businesses respond to negative comments on social media (TWEET THIS STAT)
19. 51% of your customers are on social media (TWEET THIS STAT)
20. Over 15 million refer to social media before making purchase decisions (TWEET THIS STAT)

What does the Social Help Desk mean for your business or company?

Every company should be monitoring the social and online networks and listening to what people are saying. Any company that is doing any kind of business online should be prepared to deal with customer complaints, questions and praise online and in social media.

• Responsibility: Someone in customer support should have responsibility for monitoring and responding to all inquiries, not just what comes over the phone line or complaint forms.
• Listen: If you have any social media accounts they should be monitored daily. Set up Google Alerts and Twitter searches for your company and brand. If someone complains they may not tell you first before they tell the world.
• Respond: You will need to determine the best way to respond to complaints. Sometimes it is best to respond in a quick and public way to assure the customer and others that you are aware of the problem and you will deal with it. Other times it is a good idea to get the discussion off-line. Invite the customer to contact you directly. Never respond negatively to anything on social media.
• Have a plan: Develop a response plan for complaints and praise and let everyone in your company know about your policy. The last thing you want is to have someone who thinks they are defending your company’s honor send out an insulting tweet or Facebook update.

Enjoy the infographic and let me know how your company is working the Social Help Desk.

Click to Enlarge Image

The Social Help Desk Revolution — Brought To You By Desk.com

How is your company handling online complaints? What is your policy? Share what you are doing in the comments section. If you are a company that has questions about using social media sign up for our free social media marketing evaluation.