If there’s one reason why Twitter is a smash among 80% of affluent millennials, it’s because people like to ramble on about what they’re doing, what they’ve had for lunch, or why their job stinks. The best part about this collective exchange of not-so-pertinent information is that you might find a few hidden gems — some of which might help you outperform your business competitors.
Opportunely, social media has become an essential tool not only to keep us constantly up to date with what matters to us, but to be a part of the competition’s formerly internal metrics, in a less sophisticated way. Just a few tweets, and you’ll know exactly who’s been keeping customers on hold, and for how long.
But how can we be so sure that Twitter will useful in this department? Let’s jump right into it.
Companies will never publish their hold times
Exact, numerable data will only be found within a company’s four walls. Unless an employee is bold enough to share numbers on social media, which is unlikely, you’ll never have access to solid analytics. The good news is that you don’t need them.
The traditional way to keep track of competitors’ hold times is to put your prospective customer abilities to work, and call their customer service at different times throughout the day, and even during late hours to test the 24/7 availability. It’s still important that you experience it for yourself and check whether the companies have implemented any advanced customer service solution to expedite processes, or if they just stick to old-fashioned methods, in which case, you win. But only if you find a way to do better.
Despite the term “advanced”, this feature is helpful and easy to use. Visit twitter.com/search-advanced, and you’ll find blank spaces, each with different purposes. For this specific search, you’ll only need to fill in the first box that reads “all of these words.” If you type in the company of your choice with the word “hold” or the words “on hold,” you may find that their customers are less than satisfied. You can even add the words “rude,” “hang-up,” and “hours” for that extra bit of information regarding hold time and customer experience. Some customers are bold to the point of directly mentioning the companies and using daring hashtags such as #poorcustomerservice, and rightfully so. They deserve a compensation for the loss of valuable time, at the very least.
If you want your company to go down a different road and avoid this type of careless mistake, it’s time to start outsourcing.
Virtual queuing: the solution that eliminates tedious waits
If you head over to brightpattern.com, you’ll find an array of solutions to step up business operations, boost the morale of customer service representatives, and enrich customer experience by taking it to a whole new optimization level, including virtual queuing.
By deploying a virtual queuing service, peak calling hours will no longer be a nuisance. Customers may call anytime, and if no agents are available for their issue, they’ll get a callback at a more convenient moment. No hold, no stress, and no friction, thanks to interactive voice response systems that collect customer data for refined and quicker communication.
When long holds become routinely in a company, its reputation is at great risk. If you don’t want yours to end up in a “worst customer service” ranking or want to top your competitors, you had better do your homework to avoid hang-ups and rants. Luckily, Twitter will be your best resource.