Customer service innovators have begun responding to customer queries via collaborative tools such as Twitter and Facebook. However, many enterprises still lack knowledge about the benefits of social media, and the supporting technologies are immature.
In addition, new social media regulations will hinder uptake in the contact center as enterprises are concerned with meeting requirements. Highly regulated industries, such as healthcare, government, financial services, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals, must address compliance issues while ensuring that social customer support remains informal. Despite this, Ovum believes that regulation is important when establishing any new channel for customer service.
Enterprises must record and retain social interactions
In January 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the US stated that all communications through social media must be recorded and retained. The need to record interactions is not a new concept for financial services organizations, which have been using call recording technology and email management systems for a number of years. However, the implication of this new regulation is that they must also invest in solutions that store and archive social media communications. This extra technology is an added barrier to the adoption of social tools in the financial services industry, along with security fears and lack of understanding of their value.
Regulations are important to ensure data is used appropriately
We believe that regulations are a natural step in market evolution. They are necessary to ensure that organizations and their employees protect sensitive customer data. Enterprises need to monitor interactions on the Web to ensure that when partaking in peer-to-peer support customers do not unintentionally provide incorrect information. The social world makes it more imperative to regulate communications; inaccurate data can easily and quickly reach millions of web users and both data theft and hacking present risks to any online organization. We expect to see further regulations announced during the next year, particularly in healthcare, government, and telecommunications. Internal company regulations will also be necessary to determine how employees should respond to customer queries through emerging channels. Enterprises will need to develop these alongside regulations from authorities and government agencies. Each industry will have unique needs to address depending on its priorities - for example, patient records in healthcare or billing details in telecommunications industries must be kept confidential.
Regulations require companies to stop experimenting and start defining social media strategies
The introduction of regulations around social media dictates a new era of maturity. Organizations need to move from an experimentation phase to strategizing about social media and determining its value. Early adopters scrambled to find dedicated social media experts to handle inquiries and as a result succeeded; customers enjoyed faster response rates and exceptional service. However, as more customers interact with organizations and their peers via the Web, the volume of queries may become too much for the social media specialists to handle. Contact centers will need to train agents to handle questions from Twitter and forums, in the same way that they currently answer phone calls and emails. Not only will interactions need to be recorded and retained, but they will also need to become part of the quality monitoring and performance management processes.
But social media is meant to be informal and fun
The advantage of social tools over traditional contact center channels, namely voice and email, is that they provide informal environments where customers can share and find information quickly. Customers often get faster responses to their queries as they can connect to a network of people around the globe. Enterprises face challenges in trying to regulate these communications, particularly interactions that occur between customers about their organization. If consumers believe that their every tweet or status update is linked directly with their customer account, they will be less willing to communicate. It is important to protect data and provide accurate information without preventing customers from connecting and expressing themselves. As regulatory authorities and enterprises develop regulations, they must consider the traits of social media. These tools cannot be treated in the same way as phone and email, since information flow is so much more complex.
Aphrodite Brinsmead is an Ovum Analyst.