Customer service used to be a more private affair than it is today, with in-house teams taking phone calls, letters and emails from customers with complaints and compliments.

Today, these methods obviously still take place, but the social web means that customers also talk about brands, for better or worse, online. Many brands have embraced this evolution of customer service to great advantage, recognising that online, customer service also encompasses reputation management and customer engagement.

Binding your customers together
Using blogs, social websites and social networks like Twitter and Facebook to allow customers to ask questions, post their point of view doesn’t only allow the brand itself to provide customer service – it allows other customers to respond also, creating a community of customers bound together by their brand experience.

A good example of a customer care community many organisations use is Get Satisfaction, a “friendly online environment to encourage people to answer each other’s questions, pitch in and solve problems… it powers 65,000 customer communities for companies of all sizes”.

Useful links

Get Satisfaction
http://getsatisfaction.com/
Get Satisfaction is the leading customer engagement platform that helps companies build better relationships with their customers and prospects, and better relationships mean better business.

Well’s Fargo case study (slideshare)
http://www.slideshare.net/joolliee/wells-fargo-social-media-case-study-10882165
Powerpoint presentation with details of Well’s Fargo and their online customer service initiative.

Why Dell is still a good case study
http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/social-media-marketing/why-dell-is-a-great-case-study/
Article discussing why Dell is still a great case study in customer service after all these years.

Dell’s evolution on Twitter
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/6090-case-study-dell-s-evolution-on-twitter
Article discussing the evolution of Dell’s Twitter presence and how they made it work after initial teething problems.