How Charter Uses Social Media to Enhance Customer Relations
Category: Susan Cline, Social Media
If you attended or watched our webinar, “Social Media Survival Guide,” you may recall me highlighting Charter Communciations' use of social media for better customer relations. I singled out the communications company to demonstrate how a corporation can harness the power of social media for good. Charter is a great example because they get it. I should know. I experienced it firsthand.
In my case, I was working from home and my Internet service became very flaky. I called Charter’s support line and found myself arguing with their automated, digital representative. Frustrated, I turned to my phone and tweeted:
It didn’t take long before George Vick, social media communications specialist for Charter Communications, came to my rescue. Within minutes he tweets me asking if he could help. I was stunned. I didn’t “mention” (Twitter term meaning the exchange of a public message with individual users) Charter. How did he know I was upset?
He knew because he is part of Charter’s Social Media Customer Care team. In 2008, the communications company enhanced its customer service experience by listening to our conversations on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. While I am not privy to its exact method, Charter is more than likely conducting keyword searches via social media tools that mention different aspects of its brand and services and then responding as needed. I can’t help but have this visual of the Batman distress signal alerting its specialists everytime Charter’s name is mentioned.
In the end, George did help me with my problem. He ran tests and set up a technician appointment for me. It was easy. So easy in fact, that I completely bypassed Charter’s call center and tweeted him directly when our DVR wasn’t recording our shows correctly. Guess what? He was there listening and ready to help.
Joe Stackhouse, senior vice president of customer operations for Charter, said in an official company press release, “Charter is committed to improving the customer experience by communicating in whatever way our customers want.”
The choice to extend its reach into social communities like Twitter has paid off. Stackhouse mentioned he regularly sees customer praises in return tweets like: “You guys seem to actually CARE,” “That’s a great attitude,” and “Thanks for the extra support.” The best reward is when a customer sends out a tweet touting Charter’s service to other customers. You can’t ask for better marketing than positive word-of-mouth.
So what’s the moral of this story? Charter’s ability to listen, learn and react using social media should be an example to all companies who wish to better enhance its customers' (and potential customers') experience. This not only shows people that the company is human in a sometimes cold, cyberspace world, but it also shows that they are serious about customer service.
Share Your Thoughts
Do you have a great example of a company who “gets it?” If so, share your story with us. Or, let us know how you are using social media for your business? Are you trying to build awareness, be more human, more responsive? What are the results? We want to hear from you.
Posted By: Susan Cline | Date Published: 5.6.2010 | Comments (0)