“Best Social Media Customer Service” Finalists Discuss Their Success [INTERVIEWS]

As social media usage becomes more mainstream among businesses, customer service is among the top five reasons businesses give for partaking in social media, according to eMarketer.

Acting on this essential business area in social media, we added the “Best Social Media Customer Service” category to this year’s Mashable Awards, our annual contest highlighting the very best the web has to offer.

Mashable readers spoke loud and clear, nominating five finalists to the category: Aramex, Boingo, Eurail.com, Hewlett Packard and ZocDoc. We interviewed each of the finalists to get an inside look at why you, our readers, chose these companies as your top picks.

Check out the interviews below, share your thoughts in the comments, and most importantly, vote to help choose this year’s “Best Social Media Customer Service” winner at the Mashable Awards.

Aramex

It’s advisable for brands interested in getting involved in social media to have a real reason to get started. That’s why we admire companies like global logistics and transportation provider Aramex. When we asked Aramex’s Online Conversationalist Feras Hilal what inspired the company to start using social media as a customer service tool, he answered logically:

“We identified where customers communicate and interact, and found that our customers were talking about us online. We went where our customers are, and social media is a channel that enables us to tune in to their issues, so we can provide them with solutions. As a customer-centric company, our approach is to listen to customers and adapt to their needs.”

Simply put: go where your customers are. And when you get there, do it right. Hilal believes that Aramex’s success is based on social media being a natural extension of the company’s culture and values. Through social media, Aramex reaches customers in a timely and relevant way, helping it “research customer needs, improve our services and really know what our customers (and employees) need,” said Hilal.

Aramex stands out from other nominees on the list, because it is notably the only one based in emerging markets. Hilal notes, “We were among the first adopters of social media as a powerful tool for customer engagement in the Middle East, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.”

Boingo

Gearing up for the new “Best Social Media Customer Service” category, Mashable’s Meghan Peters recently outlined three examples of stellar social media customer service. One of the companies outlined was Boingo. Citing the Wi-Fi service’s knack for technical support, customer engagement and community building, Peters deemed Boingo one of the top players in this area. Mashable readers agreed, nominating the company into the finalists.

We spoke with Boingo’s PR and social media manager, Baochi Nguyen, to get the inside scoop about Boingo’s social media strategies and philosophies. Nguyen was quick to clarify:

“We believe there’s a distinction between customer ’service’ and customer ‘care.’ Customer service means you’re doing just that — servicing a customer. It’s old school. It’s doing the minimum. We like to think of ourselves as being in the customer care business. We want to create connections with folks. We want to foster meaningful relationships. We want people to know we’re grateful for their business and the opportunity to serve them.”

Regardless of how customers are connecting with Boingo — whether that be via a “traditional” channel (phone/e-mail/chat) or a “new” channel (social media), Nguyen noted that great customer service is “all about being available to help, no matter where that conversation takes place.”

So what makes Boingo stand out from the other nominees on the list? Nguyen pointed out two areas:

• Being proactive. “We don’t wait until a complaint makes its way to us to address it,” says Nguyen. “Instead, we are proactively scanning for comments and conversations to jump in and help. Because of the nature of our service — people using the Boingo Wi-Fi network are generally very pressed for time — we need to be helping ‘real time.’ It doesn’t help if someone tweets a complaint and we show up 30 minutes later to help, because by then their plane may be boarding or they have to leave the coffee shop. So we need to be extremely responsive.”
• Being authentic. “The other thing which may set us apart is our commitment to authenticity. We don’t hide behind our brand. We use our real names, give our real e-mail addresses and encourage our employees to engage with customers in ways that feel true to them and their style.”

Nguyen concluded that great social media customer service is “authentic both to the brand it represents and to the person representing the brand. It’s incredibly responsive. And it goes way beyond just ‘customer service.’ It’s customer care.”

Eurail.Com

Chantal Sukel, campaign manager for Eurail.Com, an e-commerce site for Eurail train passes, told Mashable that when the company began its endeavor into social media three years ago, it was focused on “interactions in general.” Since founding a social media presence, however, the company has come to realize that customer service is one of its biggest reasons for staying involved in the social media space.

“Soon we noticed that customers knew where to find us to discuss travel plans, ask questions and get inspired by others’ experiences,” said Sukel. “When the number of fans and interactions grew, I set up a small and dedicated team of travel professionals who since then assist our fans. Social media works faster and more effective than e-mail support, which is why this way of communicating has rapidly become an important part of our customer service.”

Sukel believes that Eurail.Com benefits from the personal touch that its agents add to its social media presence:

“Eurail.Com is lucky enough to have extremely dedicated agents that strive to answer all questions within eight hours or sooner. Not only in English, but also Spanish and even Dutch or German! Our fans receive a personal reply, not a script. They talk to an actual human being who can give them anecdotes and tips from their own rail travel experiences.”

When evaluating customer service, Sukel believes that personal assistance is key. “Respect, transparency and attention are among the most important things in life, so why not in customer service?”

Hewlett Packard

Like Aramex, HP entered the social media space inspired by its customers. “Increasingly, our customers are using social media to get their needs met. If we’re not there, we’re not meeting our customers’ needs,” stated HP’s Lois Townsend, manager of global social media strategy.

Townsend noted that HP sets itself apart from others in the social media space by utilizing customer feedback about its products and emphasizing community engagement.

• Product Feedback. “HP builds technology hardware and software,” she said. “Through social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and our HP Support Forums, we are garnering valuable feedback from our customers about our products. HP provides that feedback to our product and content teams, which goes directly into the building of future technology.”
• Community Engagement. “We also put a big emphasis on community engagement and even hire folks to manage this — creating ways to provide value to our community, and to recognize folks who are actively assisting fellow community members.”

Highlighting HP’s community engagement efforts, Townsend noted its brand advocacy program: “We’ve recruited over 100 HP experts to serve as ‘Ambassadors,’ reaching out and helping our customers every day. For example, one of our Ambassadors reached a customer via Twitter to help them obtain English-speaking support while on holiday in Spain.” She also pointed out that HP hosts online Expert Day events to provide free, 24-hour real-time access to large teams of experts on various topics of customer interest. “These online events attract hundreds of thousands of customers — think of it as the ‘Super Bowl’ of expert assistance,” she said.

Townsend shared that HP’s data shows that increasingly, online channels are a preferred method for its customers in finding answers to questions about HP products. The company plans on continued social media integration to support this need. Townsend imagined a future possibility: “Next steps include enhanced integration of social media channels so that, for instance, you can post a question in Facebook that can automatically tap into the experts out in our HP Support Forum.” She also told us to keep an eye on a “revamped, very cool recognition program for our top community contributors.”

When it comes down to it, Townsend believes that great social media customer service is about “Lively, quality, and active participation among the customers, and the host company.” She thinks that it should be a forum for “honest conversation that allows for both ‘good and bad’ to be discussed, with a focus on getting to a constructive and timely resolution for any issues.”

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ZocDoc


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COO and founder Oliver Kharraz, MD, told us that social media was instinctive for free online doctor booking service ZocDoc. “The ZocDoc philosophy is that people should have faster, easier access to healthcare. It only made sense to us that our users should also have fast, easy access to us.”

ZocDoc is in the business of making it easier to find and book appointments with local doctors, taking into account insurance considerations. By filling in four pieces of information, users are quickly on their ways to finding an available doctor. This focus on healthcare may be the most compelling reason to vote for ZocDoc for this Mashable Award category, said Kharraz:

“We work in the public interest. Every day we get hundreds of tweets, e-mails, and Facebook messages from people thanking us for helping them find a doctor when they needed one. From tourists on vacation to parents with sick children, ZocDoc has been the service to make people’s lives better.

People should vote for ZocDoc if they believe that healthcare is an industry worth improving. Our goal is to bring customer service to the doctor’s office, where it’s never been before.”

Focusing once more on ZocDoc’s customers, Kharraz explained that the success of a social media customer service program can be measured by “people’s responses.” He noted, “We get very excited when people choose to take the time to thank us or recommend us to their friends. They’re letting us know that we’re doing something right.” While it may not be the most scientific measurement, we’re always down for happy customers.

What are your thoughts on the finalists for The Mashable Awards’ “Best Social Media Customer Service” category? Let us know in the comments below.

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The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)


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In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances.

Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week)
Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm PT
Location: Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, New York New York Hotel, Las Vegas
Agenda: Networking, Open Bars, Acts, Surprises and the Mashable Awards Gala presentations
Socialize: Facebook, Foursquare, Meetup, Plancast, Twitter (Hashtag: #MashableAwards)

Mashable Awards Category Sponsor:

BlackBerry is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform and the new BlackBerry PlayBook. For the latest on the BlackBerry PlayBook visit the Inside BlackBerry Blog.

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More Business Resources from Mashable:

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- HOW TO: Define a Social Media Strategy for Enterprise
- Social Media Success: 5 Lessons From In-House Corporate Teams
- HOW TO: Get the Most Out of a Coworking Space
- 5 iPhone Apps For Avoiding International Business Faux Pas
- How the Fortune 500 Use Social Media to Grow Sales and Revenue

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, geopaul

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