The new girl has joined a seemingly interesting job recently. She is never too idle for a gossip, or too keen on making unwanted friends around. She seems to be a socially attractive personality though. Her neighborhood stardom seems to be like a silent thunderstorm, waiting to pour anytime she gives into it. They say she is a popular girl, but I never see her hanging around unnecessarily with friends either. Her gestures are humble and her confidence is inspiring. Her integrity and strength is self-evident. There sure is a mystery behind her. She is a social media expert, they told me a few days back, the "digital service providers". She is the social media face of a brand, they say.
The social media contact center is the new furor that integrates customer service with the social media channel to provide timely support for customers, irrespective of the size of their customer base. Since social media affects the decisions of customers in a large way, ignoring it might result in a loss of potential customer market.
A number of software and tools are used for integrating social media with customer care services. Some of the facts about why and how social media is important for businesses are discussed below.
- Preferred interaction medium: Customers prefer social media because it provides an easy and comfortable medium of interaction. Customers can speak their minds over social media, which can also have an influence on the decisions of others. Ignoring social media for customer servicing can mean giving a deaf ear to a market segment, which may cause losses for the organization.
- Decision makers on social media: The audience on social media is not just the young and immature, but also the influencers who affect purchase decisions. The power of social media can be channelized effectively to the benefit of the organization by careful monitoring and proactive customer servicing online.
- Customers expect services 24×7: Customers expect customer support services to be available 24×7. To create a service parallel with the voice, email and chat process, service providers have to monitor social media continuously. A crisis situation can arise anytime for an organization. Service providers that monitor the social activities carefully can reduce the crises for their clients by proactively responding to the situation.
- Creates an engaging and personalized interaction: Since the social media provides a lot of information about customers, which can be used effectively to create a personalized experience for customers. Regular interactive posts on social media by service providers can keep the customers engaged with the organization and help in building loyal customers.
- Reduces unproductive interaction: Social media helps the service providers in knowing their customers better. Analyzing their information can help the organization in identifying the key focus areas relevant for interacting with customers and reducing unproductive communication. This ensures more satisfied customers.
- Companies monitor more than one social media site: With the numerous social media sites available, service providers monitor more than one social media site to get a complete view about their customers. Monitoring just one social media site, such as Facebook or twitter can provide a myopic view on customer sentiment.
With the rise in expectation of customers, the need for call center representatives has also increased. Careers in call centers are expanding with the advent of e-CRM that includes a whole gamut of services like voice processes, backend support and social media monitoring. Youngsters who have been social media enthusiasts, or who have a large following, can look for probable opportunities in this growing industry.
Working in a call center is one of the most exciting careers for young who want an early start in their career. This is a stable industry with an expertise of more than two decades in India. The procedures are streamlined and ensure efficient services with the help of software support and analytics. Call centers have been engaging employees from diverse academic backgrounds and professions. Some of the popular skills required for call center jobs include verbal communication, customer service and customer relationship management.
Career opportunities in a call center include roles for voice agents in processes, such as a domestic process, international process, inbound process or an outbound or sales process. Other opportunities include backend processes such as email, chat or social media monitoring. Technical support services and analytics engage technically qualified personnel in the call centers. Also, internal promotions can take a career higher up in the hierarchy. Positions in other verticals like quality and training are good options for tenured employees. The advancements in the field of data analytics and mining, has improved the understanding of the customers' needs and has helped the production companies with product improvements and innovations.
With the favorable government policies and advancements in technology, the call center industry has a lot more to offer in the coming years. The power of youth can be effectively capitalized by the industry that is 24×7 ready to serve its customers.
Contributed by http://www.vcaretec.com/
