Social Media has become the channel of choice for an increasing number of our customers, so utilities should take notice of those critical digital platforms including Facebook, LInkedIn and Instagram to amplify their social presence. A study by E Source found that utilities with strong social media presence achieved a much higher CSAT score than utilities not on social media. So, to help you amp up your CSAT scores, we offer our top 3 ways to use Social Media to improve Customer Satisfaction:
- Social Customer Support - We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, but your customers already expect customer support through social media. If you don’t believe us, check your social account comments. Creating a dedicated social media customer support team to monitor your social media channel for support questions, and promptly reply to customer inquiries, complaints and service related issues will pay major dividends in customer satisfaction and demonstrate to your customer that you want to meet them in their channel of choice.
- Educational Content and Energy Efficiency Tips - Share informative tips and links to special offers and rebates for EE devices on your social media account to maximize exposure for these appealing programs. Social Media allows utilities to create engaging and attractive content and capture customer attention and engagement more easily than email and direct mail, so put that dynamic channel to its best use promoting energy efficiency and conservation. Your customers and your regulators will take notice.
- Outage Updates - Social Media provides an incredibly efficient platform for utilities to communicate transparently with customers during service disruptions and outages, as most customers consume social media on their phones which are always on their person. Utilities can use social media to provide updates on restoration of service, recovery times and safety measures, which customers can share with their other social contacts, amplifying the network effect of your messaging. Proactive and timely social messaging about outages will meet customers with relevant and timely information they value, proactively engage on a critical issue, and reduce their anxiety and frustration, which improves customer satisfaction and positive perception of the utility.
Your customers already depend on social media to engage with companies they trust and value, so make a plan to leverage this powerful communication channel to engage and stay connected with virtually your entire customer base. Using social media to support customers, engage them about energy saving strategies, and help them at critical moments like service interruptions builds strong relationships by demonstrating that the utility understands their needs. You’ll find customers have more interaction and more positive perceptions of your utility if you use Social Media wisely. Good luck.
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