I’m writing from Orlando, FL, the venue for the Call Center Week’s “The Summit” where I participated on a panel discussion “Right Shoring and Right Sourcing” with Tim Searcy, CEO of American Teleservices Association, Jasen Shirley of Cross Country Home Services and Darren Lyons of 1-800flowers.com. It was a lot of fun!
While here, I’ve taken advantage of the opportunity to attend several of the sessions. I’ve been drawn to the Social Media track. It was interesting to hear how other companies like Best Buy, Thumbplay and Qwest are approaching social media in their companies, along with hearing from several peers in a roundtable discussion. Gauging the audiences reactions, it seems like some companies are still holding back trying to figure out what it means to their business; whether it’s truly a contact deflection strategy, an acquisition/marketing channel and are looking for help determining the ROI (Return on Investment).
Those in the know where very clear: Our customers are out there talking about their experiences and we need to be there too. I picked up a couple of interesting nuggets from the keynote speakers that I thought I would pass along; 1) Best Buy has up to 14 social media “connectors” compared to 5000-6000 contact center representatives at their peak which confirms to me that it doesn’t take a huge investment to make a positive impact in the social space, 2) Thumbplay uses social media to capture the buzz in their industry and report it to executive management weekly, including the “voice of the customer” and scoop on their competitors, and 3) Qwest offered a really simple approach, “LEAF”, Listen, Engage, Act and Follow-up.
So, if you aren’t out there actively engaging yet, at least start listening because your customers are talking!
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