Focus on Customer Service Podcast

Hello again, loyal FOCS listeners! I wanted to share the news of my brand-new book, The Experience Maker: How To Create Remarkable Experiences That Your Customers Can't Wait To Share. If you loved this podcast, then this book is for you! Listen to this special 3-minute episode for more details and the opportunity to get 3 free bonuses with your book purchase.

After two years and more than 50 episodes, the first known podcast dedicated solely to customer service in social media is saying goodbye. The Focus on Customer Service Podcast officially ends its run today as a new podcast about customer experience is also launched. Sponsored from its inception by Social Media Today after its late founder, Robin Carey, took a chance on two guys named Dan with no podcasting experience, FOCS featured interviews with top brands making waves in social media by engaging with customers – answering complaints, questions, and compliments. What made the podcast unique was that its hosts were also social care practitioners at large brands, and many of the brands featured were recommended by listeners for their great service. The podcast spawned a book, Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media (available on Amazon), which details learnings and best practices from more than four dozen interviews with brand leaders. INTRODUCING: THE EXPERIENCE THIS! SHOW As one podcast ends, another one begins. A new show, called Experience This!, has hosts Joey Coleman and Dan Gingiss trying to create a remarkable customer experience out of… listening to a customer experience podcast. There are no guest interviews, no singular topics, and no boring commercials. Instead, Experience This! features a rotating set of fast-paced segments that touch on real customer experiences with real takeaways that can make any company better. Segments include “CX Press,” where the hosts read and explain the latest customer experience articles “so you don’t have to”; “This Just Happened,” which details real-life experiences that leave a lasting impression; “Required Remarkable,” which features required parts of the experience that could be boring (think legal disclaimers and flight safety videos) but are instead fun and memorable, and “I Love It!/I Can’t Stand It!” where the hosts look at all of the positive and negative aspects of a particular industry’s experience, gaining input from listeners’ own experiences along the way. Even the sponsor message is the unskippable “Check Out This Number,” sharing a critical customer experience statistic that every practitioner should know. Experience This! can be found on iTunes and other favorite podcast apps, and show notes are at www.experiencethisshow.com.

Imagine you make a large purchase after working with a salesperson. Maybe it’s a new car or windows for the house. The salesperson makes lots of promises that the “account manager” or customer service representative can’t keep. Sound familiar? It did to Joey Coleman, a customer experience expert and keynote speaker who learned that in virtually every industry, between 20% and 70% of new customers will leave a business in the first 100 days. That’s a lot of unkept promises. “Basically, companies are hemorrhaging,” he says. “They’re spending all this time, effort, and money acquiring new customers, but not spending a fraction of that time, effort, or money keeping those customers.” “Getting customers is important, but keeping customers is even more important,” he adds. Coleman took time out of his busy schedule to talk with me for Episode 51 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. His passion and enthusiasm for the customer is contagious, which resulted in a lively discussion.

The Focus on Customer Service podcast celebrates its 50th episode with co-host Dan Moriarty returning to talk about his new role at the Chicago Bulls, and interviewing co-host Dan Gingiss about his new book, Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media (available on Amazon).

Although “marketing” is its name, the annual Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego had much to say about social customer care. In addition to the official Customer Service track consisting of six sessions, many marketing speakers spoke about the importance of customer experience and customer service. Episode 49 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast offers up a first-hand account of the customer taking center stage at #SMMW17, including highlights from a dozen speakers.

Take a moment and think about the two or three very best companies in the world at customer service – the ones that are cited over and over again by speakers and authors as being truly unique. These are the companies where customer service is so engrained in the culture, that when social media burst onto the scene they immediately seized the opportunity to show the world their competitive advantage rather than fearing what could happen if customer service were practiced in public. Chances are that your list includes this week's guest!

eBay, the online marketplace, is in a unique position: It sells billions of dollars of merchandise each year, but none of it is their own. So when customers reach out on social media, they are either buyers or sellers on the platform, and eBay stands in the middle. “We can't be too biased on the buyer side and we can't be too heavy on the seller side,” says Dallen McKee, Global Social Media Customer Care Team Leader at eBay. “We have to create a good experience for both.” Here are the key moments in the episode and where to find them: 1:36 Dallen shares eBay’s core philosophy toward social customer care 4:40 How eBay gains product insights from social media listening 8:36 How customer feedback has become ingrained into eBay’s culture 12:56 Balancing the need of eBay’s buyers and sellers in social media 17:26 Dallen describes the new eBay ShopBot on Facebook Messenger 18:25 How eBay decides which platforms to be on from a social care perspective 22:13 The sales pitch to executives about increasing customer service volume in social media 27:21 Dallen’s top learnings from working in social customer care

At Dell, social media has been around much longer than Facebook or Twitter. The popular Dell Community Forum was borne out of the original Dell.com website, so its community is well established. It’s a user-to-user forum where anyone – including Dell employees and other customers – can answer a user’s question. “Facebook and Twitter are typically folks that are having issues at the moment that just want to be heard,” says Amy Bivin, manager of community outreach for Dell. In contrast, the Forum often features more complex or esoteric questions, sometimes from owners of older legacy systems. Bivin took some time out recently to discuss Dell’s integrated social support model on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast.

To understand how some people just have an innate sense for great customer service, you need only look back at Shep Hyken’s job during college. Before Shep became a world-renown customer service expert and best-selling author, he worked at a gas station... Today, Hyken consults with many companies and teaches them how to employ this same mindset to what is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage... Hyken graciously talked with me for Episode 45 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Here are some of the key moments of the interview and where to find them: 1:17 How Shep’s childhood shaped his customer service expertise today 6:38 The cost of doing business and the cost of not doing customer service well 7:45 Managing customer expectations 12:06 Are all companies in the customer service and customer experience business? 14:57 Examples of great experiences that don’t cost a lot of money 18:30 How has social media impacted customer service overall? 20:41 Customer surveys and what it means to deliver “10” service 24:46 Why companies should respond to every single comment on social media 29:05 How companies can build relationships with customers in digital channels and raise expectations for everyone else 37:35 Where is social media customer service going next?

Fitbit, a global leader in wearable fitness technology, has made it easier and more fun for millions of people to live a healthier life. And they’ve done it by focusing on the experience. “Customer experience is really paramount to everything we do here,” says Allison Leahy, the director of community at Fitbit, adding that in the online space, “Fitbit is trying to be everywhere you are and more”. The company employs a bilateral approach to online customer care, focusing separately on social media and communities, though both groups report up through the same department. Leahy joined me for Episode 44 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast, sharing Fitbit’s best practices for being successful in both social care and online community management. Here are some of the key highlights of the episode and where to find them: 0:38 Allison talks about her background and Fitbit’s social media philosophy 3:45 How social care and community care operate together 6:50 How Fitbit uses customer listening to improve its products and services 12:07 How the Fitbit social media and community service teams are organized 16:09 How digital customer service integrates into traditional customer service 18:13 Allison shares some memorable customer experiences 22:50 What Allison has learned along the way and her advice to others

Intuit, long known for its community help forums for TurboTax, noticed that its small business clients were seeking help in a new place. “There was a lot of conversation happening on non-owned channels,” says Mark Obee, Group Manager of Social and Community Care for Intuit on the QuickBooks brand. “The accountants were out there having those conversations without us.” Non-owned channels included private Facebook and LinkedIn groups, which caused a dilemma for a big company like Intuit. Obee knew that these sorts of groups were private for a reason – they didn’t want big brands infiltrating with unwanted marketing messages. Here are some key points of the episode and where to find them: 0:52 A quick look at Intuit’s products and Mark’s background 2:53 Mark discusses the QuickBooks “Social Evangelism” Program 5:04 How the brand gains the trust of a private group 7:18 Intuit’s culture of community-based solutions and how it’s evolved 9:48 How communities affect customer service staffing needs 11:11 Comparing owned communities, private groups, and social media channels 15:07 Dan talks about re-using help content 16:25 How direct messaging is playing into the QuickBooks customer service strategy 19:35 Mark shares a memorable interaction with a customer 21:44 Mark’s key learnings from his time working in social care Intuit and QuickBooks were chosen for the podcast because of readers and listeners like you suggesting great brands who are changing the game in social media customer service. Please send a tweet to @dgingiss using hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get your favorite brand on a future episode! Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud.

As a young entrepreneur, Davy Kestens didn’t quite know what to do when Volkswagen called and was interested in becoming his first big customer. “When you’re a one-man show, you try to do everything you can to not come across as a one-man show,” Kestens recalls. That “failed miserably of course,” he adds. Kestens, the founder and CEO of customer service platform Sparkcentral, now leads a 100-person company based in Silicon Valley and his native Belgium. Sparkcentral seeks to “optimize the customer service experience and customer engagement workflows over social media and mobile messaging channels,” says Kestens. Today, as social care has migrated from the Marketing department to Customer Service (“75% of our customers live in the contact center,” Kestens reports) the focus is more operational – and that means convincing executives that putting resources behind a comparatively small customer service channel is a good idea. “Even though the volumes are fairly low, there’s [something] to be said about the ROI in regards to saving money, preventing people from actually calling and using the more expensive communication channels within your contact center,” says Kestens, adding that social media usually represents “less than 2%” of all customer service. “Companies are starting to realize that it’s a leading indicator of a much larger problem or a much larger opportunity.” So what does he tell the C-level executives that he meets? “It’s not about social care. It’s not about Twitter. It’s not about Facebook. Stop thinking about those channels as a new problem to solve… [these are] merely the most prominent examples of how the expectations and the behavior of the modern consumer has changed.” Kestens explains that customers have flocked to social media to circumvent an archaic telephone customer service model that “has been broken for the last few decades”. “Social was the first wave of that,” he says. “Now the whole mobile messaging explosion worldwide is the second wave of that. But it’s not going to stop there. It’s really about the way consumers communicate has shifted, and their expectations that come along with that.” They key for companies, he adds, is “to reduce the amount of effort that customers have to put in to get issues resolved”. With the proliferation of messaging apps around the world, Sparkcentral’s goal is “to enable brands to talk to customers across any channel because really it’s not about the channel, it’s about the customer,” Kestens says. Messaging bots, which have received a lot of media attention recently, run the risk of becoming a “modern IVR” [Interactive Voice Response system, also known as the phone system that never seems to recognize pleas for help from a live agent] if companies don’t build them correctly. “Consumers are using these communication channels to talk to a human being,” Kestens warns, “so you shouldn’t be doing the exact opposite with bots.” Kestens met with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 42 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast to discuss the 5-year evolution of social customer care and the technology that is attempting to help brands keep pace. Here are some key moments of the podcast and where to find them: 1:17 Background on Sparkcentral and Davy’s career 7:00 How a young entrepreneur handled his first major client 9:36 The evolution from marketing to customer service owning social customer care 13:30 How Sparkcentral convinces call centers to purchase a platform for social media when the volume is so much lower than other customer service channels 20:02 Davy’s perspective on the ongoing shift into private messaging for customer service 27:16 How messaging bots will affect the customer experience 33:06 What keeps an entrepreneur up at night? 35:07 What Davy knows now that he wishes he had known when he started the company

Can a federal government agency be good at customer service? The Transportation Security Administration – better known by its acronym, TSA – is setting out to change perceptions and make traveling easier by answering all sorts of questions on social media. The agency, which screens 2.2 million passengers and their luggage daily, while also protecting train stations and ports, launched the AskTSA Twitter handle last September with little fanfare. “The audience was there,” says Jennifer Plozai, Director of External Communications. “We didn’t promote it…Right when we launched, we had passengers sending us good questions on Day 1, and it’s just grown from there.” The most common questions include permitted and prohibited items, what types of ID are accepted, the popular TSA Pre✓® program, and people traveling with disabilities or medical conditions. TSA’s goal, says Plozai, is to “provide guidance, clarify our policies, answer questions, [and] resolve issues.” “This was a win-win for TSA to be able to launch a customer care account and help passengers be less frustrated with the process and have an better overall travel experience,” Plozai says. Since the TSA is one of the first government agencies to establish a customer service handle on social media – the United States Postal Service was another – Plozai had to learn from other sources, most notably airlines and airports. She and her team spent just four months from internal approval to launch, creating an answer database and establishing a social media policy. “There wasn’t one that we could find already existing in government,” Plozai says of the policy. “We needed a very well-defined policy for managing this program.” She has since shared the policy and best practices with other government agencies. TSA’s staffing model for social customer service is unique – and corporations should take note. The team uses a rotating group of TSA employees on “detail assignments” – that is, this isn’t their permanent job. The result is a unique mix of “very diverse backgrounds”, including airport officers, trainers, federal air marshals, and global strategists. “They all bring different expertise to our team and are able to help customers in a better way,” says Plozai. Each employee completes a four-week training program which focuses on social media, customer service, and combining the two. Plozai says the agency also uses social media to “have the pulse of the traveling public” and “to identify trends in operational issues by hearing the concerns of the public and being able to address those.” Results so far, she says, have exceeded expectations. “Interacting with the passengers in real time, whether it’s before, during, or after their travel experience, the appreciation that we’re there to listen… we’re just really pleased with the program and how it’s gone so far,” she says. Plozai met with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 41 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Key moments in the episode are below: 1:03 A brief overview of the TSA and Jennifer’s background 2:17 The recent launch of the Ask TSA program 4:35 How TSA was able to obtain leadership buy-in to start their social customer service program 7:26 Jennifer describes the process of setting up a pilot program 9:43 The types of questions that TSA sees in social media 14:16 The TSA’s expansion into Facebook Messenger 15:25 How recent negative press affected the questions TSA received on social media 19:55 Jennifer shares a memorable customer interaction 21:14 What Jennifer wishes she had known when she started Ask TSA 22:42 What the future looks like for TSA in social media Additional episodes of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast can be found on iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundcloud. If you have experienced great customer service from a brand on social media, please let us know in the comments below or tweet me at @dgingiss.

Topgolf, the golf and entertainment venue “for all ages, all skill levels, all year round,” has built its brand by integrating social media into the live experience. “We’re very lucky that our brand has such a natively social element to it,” says Director of Communications Adrienne Chance. “We see a lot of social media activity without having to push for that.” The rapidly expanding company – it currently lists 26 locations on its website but Chance says 10 more are being added per year – promises a fun and challenging game for amateurs and pros alike. “You don’t have to be a good golfer to be good at Topgolf,” says Chance. The setup involves golf balls with microchips that track accuracy and distance, and special targets throughout the course that award points. Unique to the experience is that social media is built in. Each venue has a “social wall” on which live tweets are streamed, encouraging patrons to tweet and see their post on a big TV screen. In-house DJ’s seek song requests by tweet, social contests can allow lucky patrons to skip the line, and the company has seen successful engagement with Snapchat filters even though it doesn’t currently have a corporate Snapchat account. Topgolf’s goal, says Chance, is to “merge the online and offline audiences”. Of course, the company also practices traditional social customer care, “constantly responding to guest questions” and proactively engaging with Topgolf references that are not aimed directly at the brand. Interestingly, posts are answered at the local level by “marketing managers” who are responsible for all marketing of the venue – social and non-social – plus customer service. Another refreshing difference is that Topgolf almost exclusively looks at qualitative measures of success on social media. “We’ve measured our success by the type of engagements we’re getting per post, what’s the number of engagements per post, [and] the quality of interactions that we’re having,” says Chance. Chance took time away from her golf game to chat with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 40 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Highlights of the episode and where to find them are below: 0:38 What is Topgolf? 3:00 How Topgolf merges the offline and online experience 7:07 Which social media channels are most important to Topgolf? 8:50 Exploring Topgolf’s decentralized social model, in which each location has its own accounts 11:35 The role of the “marketing manager” as both multi-channel marketer and customer service agent 13:25 Answering social media questions about Topgolf’s expansion plans 14:48 Topgolf’s focus on qualitative social media metrics 17:38 Adrienne shares a particularly memorable interaction with a customer If you’ve seen other brands successfully integrate the offline and online experience, or if you’ve experienced great customer service from a brand on social media, we want to hear about it! Please tweet using hashtag #FOCS and we will invite that brand to a future podcast episode. Subscribe to the Focus on Customer Service Podcast on Soundcloud, iTunes, and Stitcher.

Although it’s one of America’s oldest companies, Wells Fargo has become one of the industry’s most forward-looking thinkers when it comes to social media and customer service. That’s thanks in part to Kimarie Matthews, Senior Vice President of Social Care and Capabilities, who has been building out Wells Fargo’s social care program since its first Twitter handle launched in 2009. “I really craved working on something that’s meaningful and important,” Matthews says. Wells Fargo, a banking institution with more than 80 different lines of business, has been around since the days of the Pony Express – more than 160 years – and currently serves more than 1 in 3 U.S. households. The complexity level is high, which is what makes Matthews’ work so important. “We want to be where our customers need us, in the ways that they need us,” she says. “Having a coordinated enterprise approach in social media was a real priority.” That coordinated approach encompasses both the marketing and customer service facets of social media. On the service side, questions are triaged to the right person to “get the answer back in an efficient manner”. But on the marketing side, Wells Fargo is taking a unique approach. “We’re now folding the social marketing functions back into the traditional marketing functions so they’re not separate,” Matthews says, adding that the same trend is likely to occur on the service side eventually. “The future is not that social is separate. It’s really that there are a lot of different digital text-based tools, like chat and SMS and social, and they really need to be treated together and holistically.” One key reason for an omni-channel customer service view is that “customers sometimes want to move between channels,” Matthews says. “We need to be able to enable these agents to start in one channel and then move with the customer to the other channel….There needs to be a lot more fluidity in terms of how we use these different channels.” As with many large companies, Wells Fargo is seeing increased customer usage of Facebook Messenger for customer service inquiries. One big benefit of this new channel? “We’ve seen a big decline in customers going to our public Facebook page with a customer service question,” Matthews says. Wells Fargo is also experimenting with chat bots on Facebook Messenger, not to replace human customer service but for proactive alerts such as low balance notifications or for simple service questions like finding the nearest ATM. Matthews was kind enough to sit down with me and Dan Moriarty to discuss her pioneering career in social customer care and look toward the future of what customer service might look like in the coming months and years. Here are some highlights of Episode 39 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast and where to find them. 0:57 Kimarie’s background 2:55 A bit about Wells Fargo 4:00 A look back at 2009 and the dawn of social customer care 6:21 Choosing the right technology for both marketing and customer service 8:59 How Wells Fargo’s organization integrates social media marketing and service 13:08 Developing an omni-channel view of the customer 15:33 What types of characteristics does Wells Fargo look for in hiring social care agents? 19:42 How Wells Fargo is approaching private messaging as an emerging customer service channel 23:00 Preparing for a future with chat bots 26:31 Kimarie describes how a chat bot engagement might work 32:30 Recalling a memorable interaction with a customer 35:53 What Kimarie has learned after 7 years in social care that she wishes she knew at the beginning

Unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows to any device for a monthly fee – sound familiar? Up until recently, this service that Americans take for granted wasn’t available in many countries throughout Asia. Enter iflix, a Malaysian-based video-on-demand startup that aims to “bring the world’s best content to emerging markets at a price that everyone can afford,” according to Philippines Country Manager Sherwin Dela Cruz. That affordable price, by the way, is just $3 a month for content from 150 sources that ranges from the most popular television shows in the U.S. to local Asian favorites. Dela Cruz, a self-proclaimed “serial entrepreneur”, and Jeremiah Carcellar (pronounced “Car-seh-yar”), iflix’s communicatons manager, oversee customer service operations in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. The company is looking to expand its offering to Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Middle East and Africa by year-end. Operating on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, iflix uses three guiding principles in its approach to social customer care: Effectiveness (actually addressing the customer’s concern), Creativity, and a Personal Touch. “We really try and practice as much as possible to have that personal touch, human-to-human conversation,” says Carcellar. He says the company handles about 3,000 posts a week in the Philippines alone, representing about 50% of all customer service inquiries. The brand demonstrates a friendly demeanor online, often employing emoji and retweets of compliments to “make sure that customers are left with a better impression of our company.” “If we can get to the point where we’re part of their everyday conversation, [where] we end up talking to them because we’re a part of their life, then in that sense we’ve achieved something and we end up building a trusting relationship which can go a long way,” adds Carcellar. As with many brands, speed of response is critical. “This is the world we’re living in now,” says Dela Cruz. “Everybody’s expecting an answer almost immediately.” Carcellar adds that iflix’s customers are showing lots of appreciation for the startup’s efforts in social media. “People really respond positively to the genuine effort and attention you give them,” he says, explaining that even when they experience issues with the service, the company has earned “the benefit of the doubt”. With the company expanding rapidly into new countries which require additional language capabilities, Dela Cruz and Carcellar are trying to duplicate their success. With their relentless focus on the customer, they are confident they will succeed. “The heart of the whole company is the customer,” says Dela Cruz. “If that voice goes unheard, then we’ve lost that customer.” The Focus on Customer Service Podcast featured iflix in its most recent episode. Here are the highlights of Episode 38 and where to find them: 1:15 The lowdown on iflix 4:20 What iflix is doing in the social customer care space 8:37 How iflix decided to make the investment in social customer care 11:43 What types of questions iflix sees in social media 12:45 The most popular video content in Asia 15:08 How iflix handles inquiries from multiple countries and multiple languages 16:36 The role of Instagram in social customer care 18:11 How social media integrates with other customer service channels 19:28 The future of social customer care for iflix 21:45 Sharing a memorable interaction with a customer 23:01 What the iflix team has learned in its first year of social customer care

When you consult almost any list of top companies for customer service, USAA’s name will be front and center. The financial services company founded by and for military veterans and their families has a fiercely loyal customer base, in large part due to the exceptional service they are provided in every channel. So when Richelle Caroll, the Director of Social Servicing for USAA – also an Air Force veteran and 23-year employee – was tasked with starting a social customer service practice, she knew she had big boots to fill. “USAA takes a lot of pride in being leaders in the industry for customer service, so delivering an exceptional and personalized member experience is key to being successful,” says Caroll. “We wanted to make sure that our members got to engage with us in the channel of choice.” The 22-person social customer service team started early last year with the goals of providing exceptional service, “making it simple,” and ensuring members can reach them wherever they are in the world at any time of day or night. Like much of the rest of the company, it’s staffed by many veterans and military spouses – making it easier to relate with customers. “We really want our employees here to have a better understanding of what our membership goes through day in and day out, some of the challenges they experience, so we can relate and provide a better member experience,” says Caroll. “We take a lot of pride in things like honesty, loyalty, integrity, service” – just like the military, she adds. USAA’s social customer service agents are highly-skilled individuals with extensive product knowledge and usually a long tenure at the company. The team works closely with other departments such as PR, marketing, strategy, governance, and the line of business product teams to ensure a positive experience and to identify and fix customer pain points. “One of the secret benefits of operating in the social media space is it really provides us with the opportunity to bubble up those things that our members are talking about or concerned about, and provide better experiences or even products and solutions,” Caroll says. Since social media is often “the quickest way to engage” for active military members who are traveling all over the world, customer service on the channel should be “at parity” with other channels and never a “channel of last resort”, she adds. In fact, customer satisfaction in social media is evaluated in the same way as it is with other channels. What really separates USAA from its peers is the deep connection to its members. Service – and especially military service – is “entrenched in our daily lives,” says Caroll, and more than once she referred to it as an “obligation”. “Our members have sacrificed a lot for our country. Having the ability to empathize with them, making sure we’re meeting them where they’re at, is one of the key components of entering into social the way that we did.” Richelle joined me for Episode 37 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Highlights of the episode and where to find them are below: 1:02 Richelle’s military background 2:23 A quick overview of USAA 3:05 What is USAA’s customer service philosophy ? 4:25 Does USAA have an advantage by focusing only on military families? 7:07 How the company started its social customer service practice 9:43 The social care team and how it works with other areas of the business 12:40 Is social media the customer service channel of last resort? 14:19 Operating in a regulated industry 17:22 What has changed in the last year of social customer service 18:57 Metrics that are key to success 22:22 Richelle shares a favorite member interaction in social media 24:59 Richelle’s one piece of advice for starting in social customer service

As social customer care is still in its nascent period, it’s not easy to find someone who’s been doing it for even five years. Well, after interviewing Joshua March on the technology side for the last Focus on Customer Service podcast episode, we’ve found a second person, Delfin Vassallo, on the brand side. Delfin (pronounced Del-feen), a 20-year marketing veteran, started in social media seven years ago and in social care five years ago. He helped build the successful social care programs in Europe at Barclays Bank, Nokia, and Microsoft. Delfin recalls spending an incredible amount of time trying to convince management that social customer service was a thing five years ago. “Our customers are on Facebook, [they] are on Twitter,” he would say. “We have to be there. We must be there.” And Delfin has been there, working with three major companies to start and grow their social customer care practice. At Nokia, he ended up managing 67 Facebook pages and more than 40 Twitter handles. A major focus has been on proving the ROI of delivering customer service via social media. At first he convinced executives that despite a plethora of early complaints, the company was “going to save some money by broadcasting all this information” because “there are many other customers watching.” But in time he developed calculations to determine the “cost per issue” as a measure of comparison to a traditional call center. At one company, he found that Twitter’s cost per issue, in Euros, was half the cost of the telephone. Online customer communities delivered even better cost savings – a fraction of the cost of Twitter. What’s changed in the 5 years since “social customer service” entered the lexicon? “Understanding at the executive level has increased so it’s easier to sell in,” says Delfin. “The awareness of social care is even bigger [and] the technology has advanced a lot.” Delfin joined me and Dan Moriarty from his current home in Finland to discuss his vast knowledge of all things social media. Here are some key points in Episode 36 and where to find them: 1:03 Delfin’s professional background 2:32 Delfin discusses launching a social care program in regulated industry 6:16 Convincing management that social care is a good idea even with many complaints 9:37 Calculating an ROI on social customer service 12:37 How to handle agent workload before a program gets to scale 17:15 What has changed in the 5 years that Delfin has been involved in social customer service 19:33 Delfin discusses balancing the many technology options available today 23:38 Integrating social customer service with a company’s CRM system 27:10 Delfin recalls a memorable customer interaction In the next Focus on Customer Service episode, we will return to highlighting a single brand with an award-winning financial services company. If you’ve had a great experience with a brand on social media, we want to hear about it! Please use the comments or tweet using #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on a future episode. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and Soundhound.

When Joshua March built an app for the new Facebook Application Platform in 2007, “social customer service was not a phrase,” he says. But March, now CEO & Co-Founder of Conversocial, saw an early opportunity. “I thought this was a really exciting opportunity for brands to engage with customers in a way they never had before.” Conversocial, a digital customer care platform, aims at “bridging the gap between the rapidly shifting worlds of social media and… the discipline of a large-scale customer service platform,” according to March. As someone who lives and breathes social customer service every day, March prides himself on being an early adopter of new technology. And while many companies are just starting to pay attention to messaging apps, March has been working for months with brands like Hyatt, Sprint, and Alaska Air to pilot customer service for Facebook Messenger. He calls messaging apps “the future of customer service... they’re really exciting in lots of ways.” Advantages of Messaging Apps for Brands March cites two big advantages that messaging apps bring to brands that “traditional” social media channels do not: 1) Private vs. Public: “One of the big hesitations that a lot of companies have had in promoting social as a primary customer service channel has been the very public aspect of it… The great thing about [messaging apps] is that you can have a ‘Message Us’ button and really promote this as a one-on-one, private channel.” 2) Persistency: “Messaging is a persistent conversation between you and a brand. You can have a real-time chat with an agent, then you can go away and come back a day later and see the history… That’s really exciting because that starts to have an impact on consumer behavior.” In their beta testing with Conversocial, Sprint saw a decrease in public complaints on Facebook as messages on Messenger increased. As a result, Sprint now lists its social customer care options – including the “Message Us” button – above the phone number on its website. March is expecting 50+ more clients to launch live chat via Messenger this year and “thousands” overall. Are the Bots Really Going to Take Over? March also had a lot to say about Facebook’s recent introduction of the “Bots for Messenger” Platform. He says that bots will be useful for certain types of transactions and “can help contact centers become more efficient by making things easier for agents.” But, he cautions, “we are not at the stage yet where you could have a really comprehensive chat bot for customer service.” One challenge that bots will face, he says, is that messaging is already less expensive and a better customer experience than on the phone, so moving to a bot runs the risk of worsening that experience and creating additional phone calls. “A lot of people turn to social because they’re fed up with the ‘computer says no’ attitude or big, complex IVRs [Interactive Voice Response systems on the telephone], or the bad experience they’re getting through these other channels and they want to connect with brands in a more human, engaging way,” March says. “And that’s really, really important that brands don’t forget that.” Here are some key moments in Episode 35 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast and where to find them: 1:45 A background on Conversocial 3:00 Conversocial’s (very) early entry into social customer service 7:00 The intersection of Marketing and Customer Service 11:23 The emergence of messaging platforms for service 15:21 What does the rise in messaging apps mean for companies? 22:57 Are messaging bots going to take over customer service? 30:55 Public vs. private customer service 34:43 What’s the future of peer-to-peer support? 40:00 What will be different in social customer service in one year? To hear more Focus on Customer Service, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or SoundCloud.

With the seemingly endless popularity of puppy and kitten pictures, videos, and memes on the internet, it would seem that the social media script for America’s largest pet pharmacy could basically write itself. But while the customers of 1-800-PET-MEDS do like to post lots of photos of their pets, the company itself is serious about its business and about providing exceptional customer service. “We’re a really fortunate brand in that we get a lot of people who love the content that we share,” says Vanessa Penagos, content and inbound marketing director at 1-800-PET-MEDS. But “we definitely don’t go out of our way to [post puppy and kitten pictures] just because we can.” With more than 8 million customers, 1-800-PET-MEDS operates in a regulated industry in much the same way as traditional pharmacies do. So while they can help customers with their orders, there are certain topics that are off-limits. “We certainly want to be helpful, but we can’t just be giving out medical advice,” Penagos says. Still, the company differentiates itself with its friendly interactions and personal touches – like including a free dog or cat treat with every order (which results in a lot of social media praise) or remembering a pet’s name in a future interaction after a customer has mentioned it or posted it with a photo on the company’s Facebook page. A smooth customer service interaction is important because pet owners are particularly emotional about their animals. “We strive for fast, easy, helpful service” that is “100% consistent” across channels, says Penagos. Most customer engagement and customer service inquiries come on Facebook, though Instagram and Twitter are also popular channels. Customer service agents are trained to “put themselves in the customer’s shoes” so the emotional aspect is expected. “A lot of times customers just want to be heard” when it comes to complaints, Penagos says, recounting a time when a customer ended up deleting a negative post after the brand responded because the customer hadn’t expected a response. As part of its customer service promise, the company offers a 100% money-back guarantee with “no questions asked” on non-prescription items such as treats and toys. All returns are donated to animal shelters, likely resulting in even more photos of happy puppies and kittens. Vanessa joined me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 34 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast, sharing her experience as a marketer, SEO expert, and social care leader. Here are some of the key points in the interview and where to find them: 1:15 The background on 1-800-PET-MEDS 1:55 The company’s approach to social customer care 3:45 How the social media team is organized 4:32 The intersection of social media and SEO 7:05 The kinds of social media posts that 1-800-PET-MEDS sees from its emotionally-invested customers 8:49 Why 1-800-PET-MEDS maintains a “pharmacy first” approach even in the midst of lots of puppy and kitten pictures 10:20 Managing marketing and customer service in a regulated industry 15:58 Which social media channels are biggest for a pet-related company? 16:43 The potential role of Facebook Messenger for customer service 17:45 How 1-800-PET-MEDS engages with animal shelters 18:48 How a social CRM might prove helpful in social care 19:39 Vanessa shares a memorable customer interaction 21:20 The one thing that Vanessa knows now that she wishes she knew when she started in social care If you’ve had a great customer service experience with a brand on social media, please tweet us using hashtag #FOCS so we can invite that brand on a future episode. Subscribe to the Focus on Customer Service Podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, and SoundCloud.

When Duke Energy, the largest utility in the U.S., decided to launch a Facebook page, it started as simply a marketing effort. “What we didn’t expect was all the customers coming back at us,” says Madeleine Aman (pronounced “ah-min”), social media strategist for Duke Energy. So began the process of developing a social care strategy. The utility, technically a “regulated monopoly,” operates in six states and supplies electricity to 25 million customers. Still in a pilot phase but already seeing incredible success, Duke’s social care program started with this question, says Aman: “How are we going to serve our customers in a really seamless way that would mirror the call center?” “We want to get it right, so when we start going public, we have it figured out and we’re not causing our customers any angst and it’s a really seamless, happy experience,” she added. The strategy is unique – the social care team is co-located with the Corporate Communications team and they “share the channels”. “Things can change really quickly,” says Aman. “A customer interaction can become a brand reputation action really quickly.” As the team figures out how to scale, they are leaning on call center people who have knowledge of the business and are “teaching them social”. Common questions include bill inquiries, “vegetation management” – a fallen tree on an electrical line, for example – insulation and construction, and small business issues. The team has to be prepared for a rapid onslaught of inquiries in the event of inclement weather. “We’re very weather based, so if there’s a storm we need to ramp up really quickly and respond,” says Aman. “But then if it’s blue sky and the weather’s good, we might not hear from a lot of people.” During service outages, customers take to Twitter first, then Facebook if it’s a prolonged issue or to provide additional details. Duke is finding that customers are appreciative of the social care team’s efforts. “We’re starting to see repeat customers because we were able to serve them in the channel of their preference,” says Aman. “If we can pick up on an issue, get it fixed, and let the customer know that we’ve heard [them and] we’re on it, it makes a big difference. We’re seeing customers notice that and thank us for that.” Aman says that the company has also found success from proactive social media communications, especially in advance of a big storm. “We’ve seen really great results from doing that,” she says. “People in those situations feel like we’re there for them, we’re prepared. I think it helps build confidence in our brand, that we are giving them the tools that they need to stay safe and be prepared.” During the recent Social Media Marketing World conference, Aman joined me to discuss Duke Energy’s social care progress for Episode 33 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Here are some key moments in the episode and where to find them: 0:53 Some background on Duke Energy and Madeleine 3:42 How Duke Energy’s social care team fits in the rest of the organization 6:40 The types of inquiries that Duke Energy receives in social media and how they differ between Facebook and Twitter 10:16 How Duke Energy uses proactive “push” messaging to get ahead of customer service complaints 11:34 Reporting and social care KPI’s 14:15 How being a regulated monopoly creates a “shared learning environment” with other utilities 15:25 Madeleine shares a particularly memorable interaction with a customer 16:25 Madeleine’s advice for companies starting a social care program To listen to past episodes, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, or SoundCloud.

There is perhaps no physical possession about which customers are more passionate than their cars. At my first job at The Danbury Mint, I remember customers critiquing every last detail of the products – and those were 1:24 scale replicas of the real thing. General Motors understands this dynamic, which is why they have staffed a team of social care experts to represent their suite of car and truck brands in the world’s most public customer service channel. “We are the team minding the best interests of the customer,” says Whitney Drake, manager of social strategy and care. She works closely with both the Marketing team, with whom she shares “brand love” posts, and the Public Relations team, which helps with escalated inquiries and manages influencers. The secret to cross-functional success in social media? “Communicate, communicate, communicate,” she says. Social media communication is a consistent theme throughout the General Motors organization, as all new employees take a tour of the social command center during their first week – a tour led by the social care team. Drake is also working hard to increase the internal visibility of her social care agents, who “are the forefront of our company in the public eye.” “We’re striving to elevate the profile of these folks within the entire organization and I would challenge everyone who has a social care team to do the same,” Drake says. General Motors recently combined the marketing and customer care Twitter handles of Buick and GMC, much like Delta recently did when they stopped directing customers to a separate service account. The Chevrolet and Cadillac are maintaining separate handles – for now. “We don’t believe that customers actually identify, ‘I want marketing or I want customer assistance,’” Drake says. “They really just want to talk to the brand.” Drake sat down with me during Social Media Marketing World, where she spoke on a panel titled “Case Studies from Brands Excelling at Social Customer Service” (Not coincidentally, each of the four brands – General Motors, Hewlett Packard, OtterBox and JetBlue – have appeared on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast). The interview became Episode 32 of the FOCS Podcast, with highlights (and where to find them) below: 0:38 Whitney’s role and how social care is organized at General Motors 1:36 How Whitney’s corporate team interacts with local dealers and the car brand handles 3:10 The separation between marketing and customer service 4:34 How General Motors hires social care agents 6:48 Planning for a crisis 8:30 How Whitney is working to increase the visibility of social care in General Motors 11:44 What kinds of inquiries General Motors sees in social media 13:09 When to take a conversation offline 15:55 Attending the Social Media Marketing World conference 16:48 Whitney shares a memorable interaction with a customer 18:37 Whitney’s advice to someone starting out in social care Drake’s advice to companies just starting out in social care was poignant and relatable to every brand that’s been there for a while: “Sometimes you are building the plane while you’re flying it so you just do the best you can,” she says.

It’s rare that a company can so seamlessly integrate its product into social media, but Spotify's approach is music to its customers' ears. The popular music streaming company prides itself on what it calls “Random Acts of Kindness” – surprising the customer by sharing a song or a playlist based on their individual music tastes. The people behind the @SpotifyCares Twitter handle, where the bulk of customer service inquiries occur in social media, sometimes get so creative that the answer to the inquiry is actually spelled out in the playlist by reading the song titles in order. “We try to look for ways to put that special smile on customers’ faces,” says Chug Abramowitz, Vice President of Global Customer Service and Social Media. “We try to do things from within our product that accomplish that.” Service agents are based in Cambridge, England, and can handle inquiries in English, Spanish, Portuguese and German. Spotify trains its agents first on e-mail because the inquiries are more payment- and account-related with a 24-hour response time expectation, versus the more urgent requests (like a song not playing) that are seen in social media. “We don’t really let them get into social media until they no longer really have to be thinking about how to solve the cases,” Abramowitz says. Instead, agents can focus on executing quick responses and maintaining the brand’s tone of voice. “We’re really protective over tone of voice,” says Sam Thomas, Global Manager of Social Media Support. “That’s something we really try to monitor very, very closely.” Potential agents must submit to multiple writing tests and have high quality scores from their e-mail work before being considered for social media customer service. Good taste in music helps, too. Spotify has participated in early pilots with Twitter, presumably with some of the recent enhancements such as a prompt to direct message and a feedback mechanism to calculate Net Promoter Score or Customer Satisfaction. In addition, Spotify is looking at adding Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp to its stable of customer service channels, with Abramowitz even predicting that messenging apps will become the standard channels of choice for service in a few years. Abramowitz and Thomas met with me and Dan Moriarty live on Blab to record Episode 31 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Here are some of the key moments and where to find them: 1:25 Chug’s and Sam’s roles at Spotify 2:55 How the Spotify customer care team is organized 3:59 The social media channels where Spotify is active 5:27 The Spotify agent role and the difference between employee and outsourced agents 8:07 how Spotify integrates its product into its social media responses 12:40 The key traits of an ideal social customer service agent at Spotify 14:00 The onboarding/training process at Spotify 16:30 How the Marketing/Customer Service teams intersect 18:06 The technology behind Spotify’s social care program 19:00 What’s changed in social customer service and the role of messaging in the future 24:14 Memorable interactions with customers 27:32 What Chug and Sam have learned that would serve as advice for someone just starting out 29:25 Audience questions from Blab If you have experienced amazing customer service in social media, please let us know by tweeting with the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on a future podcast episode.

Western Union may be an old company, but it’s definitely not standing still. One of the original components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the company started more than 160 years ago with the introduction of the telegraph, leading to the demise of the Pony Express. “It has such a storied history, but it’s had a pretty successful history of reinventing itself as changes happen in technology,” says Tim Langley-Hawthorne, Senior Vice President of Technology Governance and Global Customer Care Operations. Indeed, the telegraph led to the telegram, which led to commercial satellites and now the transferring of money via social media. Today, Western Union operates in 200 countries with 500,000 physical locations. Its focus is on cross-border money transfer and bill payment, which presents an “interesting and complex customer care operation,” Langley-Hawthorne says. The Social Care team, managed out of an office in Mexico City, is a “small but growing part of the business,” employing 15 people who handle social media inquiries in 5 languages (Western Union provides voice support in 45 languages). Average response time is an excellent 11 minutes, a source of pride for Langley-Hawthorne and his team. Many questions can be answered publicly, such as those looking for the nearest Western Union location or inquiries about fees. But “you would be surprised about the level of personal information that some people put out there into the social media space,” says Langley-Hawthorne, noting that at that point customers are directed to offline channels for a resolution. In addition, money is often being sent for emergency, medical, or educational purposes, which adds an emotional weight to many inquiries. He added that while a large portion of Western Union’s customers are “unbanked” – without checking or credit card accounts – they almost universally have smart phones, so “social can become a very approachable means of customer care” for them. One interesting observation that Western Union has had is that its customer base identifies more with “their diaspora and their communities” vs. their country of residence. So a Philippino living in Canada and a Philippino living in Singapore would both rather visit a Western Union Facebook page targeted to Philippinos, Langley-Hawthorne says. This builds a “stronger bond and stronger affinity to our brand”. Just as Western Union has adapted to technology in decades past, so too is it adapting to today’s marketplace where e-commerce happens in real-time: Recently announced agreements with Viber and WeChat will allow customers to send money via social channels. This, of course, creates new social care challenges. “How do we provide care to this new Western Union consumer that is only going to use social to transfer money?” Langley-Hawthorne asks. “We see that as a really promising area for us. People who are sending money in these apps, they don’t want to pick up the phone or send an email. They want care in the app, or they want care through social.” Langley-Hawthorne spent some time talking about Western Union’s social care program with me during the 30th episode of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. Here are some of the key moments in the episode and where to find them: 00:46 Tim’s professional background 2:23 A brief history of Western Union 5:30 How the overall customer care team is organized around the world and where social care fits in 9:17 The argument to put resources behind social care when it’s so relatively small 11:21 The types of questions that Western Union sees on social media 15:42 What’s changed in the past two years that Tim has been managing social care 21:00 How Western Union handles questions in unsupported languages 22:54 The process of integrating social care with the rest of customer care operations 24:45 A particularly memorable customer interaction involving a famous band 27:33 Tim’s advice for starting out in social care

It’s not only possible to provide B2B customer service in social media, it’s possible to do it creatively with a “wow” experience. That’s the goal of Nextiva, a cloud communications company that provides more than 100,000 small and large businesses with cloud-based telephone systems. “We felt there was an opportunity to disrupt that market,” says Vice President of Marketing Yaniv Masjedi, citing the telecommunications market’s reputation for “bad customer experience”. Masjedi attempts to respond to all customer inquiries with personalized videos featuring any one of the company’s 500 employees. “If you tweet at Nextiva, or post a Facebook post on our Facebook page, you’ll more than likely get a response via video rather than text,” he says. “The main idea behind that is: video builds bonds.” The Social Care team started by shooting video with smartphones, but has advanced to having two full-time video producers on staff and much better equipment. What hasn’t changed is the genuine human connection that is established between customers and real Nextiva employees. “We don't have people at Nextiva who went to film school and are great in front of the camera, but the more you do it, you get comfortable with it,” Masjedi says. Video responses are shared publicly and posted on the company’s YouTube page, Nextiva Cares. Despite that, every question receives a personalized answer, even if it’s a repeat. “We'll make a new one, even if it's something repetitive, just because it's the first time YOU are asking,” Masjedi says. “We try to get a video out as soon as possible, build a bond, and bring a smile to someone's face.” In one case, for a recording studio client, Nextiva answered with a personalized freestyle rap. How do customers respond? “The response is always awesome,” he says. “The loyalty, the impact that you are creating with your brand and that individual, that potential or existing customer, is tremendous.” Some customers even reply back with their own videos. Don’t forget, this is a B2B company. It’s not the end user that is asking questions, it’s a representative from the corporate client. “At the end of the day, while it is B2B, they're still people,” says Masjedi. “However customers want customer service or want to speak to you, you have to be there.” Masjedi was kind enough to join us for a live Blab interview, which was turned into Episode 29 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Here are some of the notable moments in the episode and where to find them: 0:55 What is Nextiva? 1:22 Yaniv’s background and how he ended up working at Nextiva 2:40 The Social Care philosophy at Nextiva, which includes video responses vs. text 7:05 The approach to B2B customer service 11:13 what's the process for social listening and responding via video? 12:27 Which social media channels does Nextiva operate in? 14:07 The economics of responding to everyone with video 17:49 The game plan for scaling social care 19:40 Yaniv shares some memorable customer interactions 21:45 What has Yaniv learned during his time managing social care at Nextiva? Nextiva was nominated for the podcast by Micah Solomon, a customer service expert and frequent contributor to Forbes.com. If you have had a great customer service experience on social media, please let us know which brand provided it by using our hashtag, #FOCS, on Twitter. Listen to previous episodes and subscribe to the Focus on Customer Service podcasts on iTunes, Stitcher, and SoundCloud.

When you’re in the telecom industry, are known as the “Un-carrier”, and your CEO has 2.2 million followers on Twitter, you need to be ready for just about anything in social media. It also helps to be just a little “feisty”, says Director of Social Media Services, Michelle Mattson. The T-Mobile social care team – known as “T-Force” – certainly is, with Mattson leading 145 agents in six different call centers, operating 24/7 and handling brand engagement, customer service inquiries, and many interactions with CEO John Legere. T-Mobile is the third-largest wireless provider in the United States with more than 60 million subscribers, and recently ranked highest among wireless full-service carriers in the 2016 J.D. Power U.S. Wireless Customer Care Full-Service Performance Study. “We’re there, we’re responding, and we’re really good at the experience part of it as well, so we have a lot of repeat customers,” says Mattson. “We’re really focused on effort… it should be fairly effortless in what we’re asking you to do.” It all starts with training. “We’re really hardcore in how we hire and train folks,” Mattson says, adding that applicants must submit writing samples and the #1 requirement for employment is that “you better have good grammar”. A “passion for customer experience” and the ability to respond in just the right way are also paramount. “How do you respond to someone who’s being a smartass and match that without really stepping out of bounds?” Mattson asks. “I think that’s an interesting craft to have.” Response time is also critical to the experience. “I love to see when our customer surveys come back and they’re like, ‘Whoa, I did not expect you to respond so quickly,’” says Mattson. She adds that it’s a goal to “hit every issue every time [so] no one gets left behind”. Mattson brought her own brand of feistiness to the Focus on Customer Service Podcast, which was recorded live on Blab.im and then converted to an audio file. Here are some key moments in Episode 28 and where to find them: 0:50 Michelle’s role and team structure 2:57 T-Mobile’s social staffing plan 4:58 How T-Mobile prioritizes customer service inquiries vs. brand engagement 6:30 What are the most important skill sets to look for when hiring? 9:36 Is T-Mobile competing on customer service? 10:26 How the customer service team interacts with Marketing and a socially active CEO 12:09 How T-Mobile’s platform footprint has grown in the past few years 16:15 How does T-Mobile determine when to take conversations to direct message? 18:06 What T-mobile’s onboarding and ongoing training looks like 20:52 What are the key KPI’s the T-Mobile measures? 21:55 Michelle shares a particularly memorable interaction with a customer 24:03 Is the entire customer service staff located in a call center? (Audience Question) 24:45 How long will T-Mobile keep a conversation going with a customer, positive or negative? (Audience Question) 26:20 What does Michelle know now that she wishes she knew when she started? 28:10 What is the ideal role for a CEO on social media? (Audience Question) 32:00 How T-Mobile’s corporate culture contributes to the customer and employee experience 33:23 How does T-Mobile handle questions from disabled individuals? (Audience Question) If you’ve experienced great customer service on a social media channel, please let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us using the hashtag #FOCS.

It’s easy to understand that customer service in social media, as in any other channel, is conceptually a good idea. Assigning a quantifiable ROI to it, however, is another story. That’s what Wayne Huang, a researcher at Twitter, decided to tackle with what began as a pet project to examine that “electrifying moment of happiness” when a brand responds to a customer on Twitter. “The majority of people are not getting any responses from brands,” says Huang, which is something Twitter is trying to change. The goal of his research? “Prove out that customer service has actual value.” That value comes in the form of a significant increase in “willingness to pay” after a brand responds on Twitter – a willingness that persists even months later. “You’re just not expecting someone to reach out and help you on a public medium like this,” says Huang. “There’s definitely something that registers deep inside people’s emotions, and they remember it and are willing to pay more for it.” How much more are they willing to pay? $9 to airlines, on average, but if the response is super-fast – within 6 minutes – that number jumps to nearly $20. “To get responses back quickly – people remember that, because it’s just busting through expectations,” says Huang. But, he adds, “every minute really counts here” because the dollar amount falls quickly as the response time increases. Customers who received responses from brands “felt overwhelmingly much more positive towards the brand” vs. those who did not receive a response. “Even just acknowledging someone’s tweet, even if you can’t solve it at that moment, that can really add a lot of value,” Huang notes. “When you do respond, it’s a strong social signal that [your brand] really takes customers very seriously… It takes just a few seconds, but it makes a huge difference.” Huang’s research is important to Twitter because it also established a direct link between customer service responses and higher satisfaction with Twitter as a platform. “We just want to get users to have more positive interactions with brands because that’s really where we think the light bulb goes off for users and they’re like, ‘Oh, this is what makes Twitter so unique and different’” from other social media platforms, Huang says. When asked for his advice for brands, Huang quoted Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey: “Expect the unexpected, and whenever possible, be the unexpected.” Hear more from Huang’s interview with Focus on Customer Service co-hosts Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty by listening to Episode 27 below, or on iTunes or Stitcher. Here are some of the key moments of the interview and where to find them: 1:02 How and why Wayne decided to research customer service at Twitter 5:10 The paradigm shift of increasing customer expectations 7:57 The methodology of Wayne’s customer service study 13:28 How replying to Tweets can directly impact revenue 15:06 Why is customer service so important to Twitter? 16:32 How response time impacts revenue potential 19:18 What should small businesses take from this research? 20:54 How responding to Tweets drives higher satisfaction than other channels 22:56 The difference between response time and resolution time 24:18 Why satisfied Twitter users are twice as likely to talk about the brand with friends and family 25:37 What Wayne is looking forward to researching next 27:14 Wayne’s advice to brands given the results of his research 31:20 How is the customer service landscape going to change on Twitter? If you’ve experienced great customer service on Twitter or another social channel, let us know by tweeting with the hashtag #FOCS, and we’ll try to get that brand on a future episode.

“This is the greatest journey in sports history,” says Kevin Saghy, Manager of Communications for the Chicago Cubs, “and we want to see it through to completion.” He is referring, of course, to the Cubs being the odds-on favorites to win the World Series in 2016, something they haven’t done since Henry Ford produced the first Model T in 1908. Describing his role as part public relations and part social media, Kevin is in charge of “protecting the Cubs’ reputation” and defining the team’s public “voice”. Under his leadership, the Cubs’ social media accounts – which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and Snapchat – have become “a little edgier, a little wittier” – and the fans love it. In fact, a 2015 FanGraphs study named the Cubs the most engaging team on Twitter among all Major League Baseball teams. “That’s a stat we’re really, really proud of,” Kevin says. Kevin joined Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty for Episode 26 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Here are some key moments in the episode and where to find them: 1:05 Kevin’s role and how the Cubs’ social media team is organized 4:08 Kevin explains the line between fan engagement and true customer service inquiries 6:21 How the Cubs staff the social media team during games 8:07 How the team engages with fan questions about free agent signings, trades, etc. when they can’t share details 11:20 What the conversation with Cubs management is like when the social media team proposes something new 14:04 What kinds of customer service questions the team gets in social media 17:00 How the marketing content and customer service inquiries change during the offseason 20:03 Kevin shares some memorable interactions with fans 25:43 What Kevin wishes he knew when he first started in social care 28:02 Kevin’s outlook for the 2016 Cubs season If you’ve like to nominate a brand to appear on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast, please tweet us directly at @dgingiss and @iamdanmoriarty, or use the hashtag #FOCS. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher.

When Jay Baer set out to write another book following his New York Times bestseller, Youtility, he thought he was going to write about the need for speed in both marketing and customer service. But a proprietary study he commissioned with Edison Research pushed him a different direction. “While speed is important and is getting more important, it is not the most important,” Baer says. “What is more important is actually showing up.” With that, Baer changed his thesis. “Complainers aren’t your problem,” he proposes. “Ignoring them is.” Hug Your Haters was born. At least 1/3 of all customer complaints go unanswered, according to Baer, and “people are sick of being ignored”. Even when brands do respond, they are often not meeting customer expectations in terms of response time. For example, while 40% of people who expect a response in social media expect it within an hour, the average response time from brands is almost 5 hours. “It’s 2016 and while everybody assumes that everybody is good at customer service, turns out they’re not,” says Baer. His solution and the mantra to Hug Your Haters? “Answer every customer complaint, in every channel, every time.” “The customer is not always right, but the customer always deserves to be heard,” Baer adds. This is just some of the knowledge that Jay Baer shared when he took some time to talk with me and Dan Moriarty live on Blab about how to hug your haters. The recording was converted into Episode 25 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast, which is surely worth your time to listen. Here are some key moments of the episode and where to find them: 1:52 Jay’s transition from Youtility (a content marketing bible) to Hug Your Haters (a guide to great customer service) 5:02 Why Hug Your Haters was almost called 43 Minutes 6:15 Why a lack of response in social media is actually a response 8:43 Are there any industries which can afford NOT to have good customer service? 12:52 The difference between “onstage haters” and “offstage haters” including their very different expectations 15:46 Is there a difference in expected response between social media and forums or review sites? 16:34 What are the mental hurdles that executives need to overcome to commit resources to social customer service? 17:55 The metrics that are critical to measuring customer service success 19:30 How one company “turned hate into help” by asking their complainers for even more feedback 23:30 Enough about haters, what about lovers? 27:38 How important is response time in the social customer service equation? 36:21 The trend from private customer service (phone) to public (social media), and back to private but on public channels (Facebook Messenger) 39:30 Where is the customer service journey going? Members of the live Blab audience then got an opportunity to ask their own questions, which are below. 42:50 What’s the risk of responding to haters? 47:05 How Facebook and Twitter are focusing on customer service and what that means for businesses and consumers 49:24 Can you reduce the number of haters by communicating on the platforms that they want to interact on rather than the ones companies want to use? 51:20 How can livestreaming be integrated into customer service delivery? 54:52 How can companies ensure they resolve customer complaints rather than deflecting to other channels, especially when they can’t verify the authenticity of the customer? 58:22 Where should a company draw the line between engagement and customer service? Dan and I would like to thank everyone for listening to (and reading about) the first 25 episodes of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. We’re looking forward to the next 25! As always, if you have had a great experience with a brand on social media, let us know by tweeting at us or using the hashtag #FOCS. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

Most startups depend on word-of-mouth marketing to create awareness of their new product, and iOgrapher is no different. But what makes iOgrapher unique is its focus on customer service as a driver of that word of mouth. “The convergence of marketing and customer service is key for us,” says Founder and CEO David Basulto, who describes iOgrapher as “literally a garage startup” (and we can confirm: his interview on Blab was done from his garage!). iOgrapher sells a proprietary line of cases, lenses, microphones, tripods, and LED lighting to turn almost any iPhone or iPad owner into a traveling video producer. The company’s motto is “Life, Camera, Action”, and it counts Brian Fanzo, Mari Smith, the Miami Dolphins, the Boston Celtics, Manchester United, the BBC, and Harvard University as its fans. “You have to live and breathe and believe your vision, your company, 24/7,” Basulto says about being an entrepreneur. He has a background as an executive producer at Lifetime Television and more recently as a teacher, but today he spends much of his time personally responding to customers on social media. His goal on Twitter is to answer questions “within a few minutes” – “unless I’m sleeping”. Customer service is what caused Brian Fanzo (a Shorty Awards nominee for Periscoper of the Year) to talk about iOgrapher during a ’Scope at the Periscope Summit, and what caused fellow live-streamer Chris Strub to tweet about it using the Focus on Customer Service hashtag (#FOCS). A week later, iOgrapher’s founder and CEO is a guest on the Focus on Customer Service podcast – talk about word of mouth! Basulto’s newest fixation? Snapchat. For customer service. “I love the personal-ness of it,” he says, telling the story of how he easily rectified a new customer’s problem via the video platform because he could see that the man had plugged in his cables backwards. The result: A happy customer who tweeted “Wow, I just talked to the CEO and he told me how to fix it”. iOgrapher has also used social media listening to determine what kind of content to create, including tutorials on Snapchat and Instagram. “I’m providing an entire online film school,” says Basulto, adding that he tracks questions he gets on Facebook, and if he gets enough of the same one, he’ll create a video tutorial on YouTube and point people there. He has also used social media feedback for product development – including an upcoming line of Android cases. With its active presence on multiple social media channels, and Basulto’s willingness to engage with customers wherever they are, iOgrapher has created a community of influencers who “feel like part of the family” because the company continually engages with them with both text and video. Startups and existing businesses alike can learn a lot from Basulto’s approach to social media engagement and customer service, which he shares in Episode 24 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. Here are some of the key moments in the podcast and where to find them: 1:43 David’s background and how he developed the first product that became iOgrapher 4:35 How David ended up at “the right place at the right time” with the advent of livestreaming 6:06 How iOgrapher uses multiple channels – including video – for customer service 9:34 How David plans to scale social care to handle larger volumes 11:05 Using Snapchat for customer service 12:57 David’s strategy of using influencers for engagement for both marketing and service 16:32 How other brands might use video or livestreaming for customer service 18:53 (Audience question) The challenges of tracking customer interactions on Snapchat 20:56 The role of iOgrapher’s Facebook community in content creation and product development 22:38 What’s next for iOgrapher and why it’s the “year of customer service” 26:22 David’s advice to other entrepreneurs on how customer service plays a role in making a startup succeed

Quick quiz: What country has the 3rd largest Twitter population in the world, and the 4th largest Facebook population? If you guessed Indonesia, then you’ve been paying close attention to the exploding popularity of social media there. Its capital, Jakarta has more people tweeting daily than Tokyo, London, or New York. In fact, Indonesia has even been called the “social media capital of the world”. The leading online fashion website in Indonesia is called Berrybenka, and it sells a variety of clothing shoes, bags, and beauty products to a mostly-female audience. With only single-digit percentage credit card penetration in the country, most merchandise is sold C.O.D., or cash on delivery, even if it’s ordered online. Danu Wicaksana (pronounced “Dah-noo Wih-chak-san-ah”) is a managing director at Berrybenka, overseeing a customer service team that manages nearly 5,000 daily inquiries from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Line (a Japanese social media platform), plus SMS, email and live chat. His team takes a unique approach to servicing customers on Twitter, where many responses begin with a traditional greeting and then the customer’s handle – meaning every customer service response is tweeted out to all of Berrybenka’s 15,000 Twitter followers. “If there is a similar problem, then hopefully other people can see what has been answered before,” Danu says. A separate team of agents manages Hijabenka.com, Berrybenka’s sister site which sells Muslim fashion items. Though separate, the sites take the same approach to customer service. Agents should be “making emotional connections with the customers” and feeling “like they own the company,” Danu says, and the strategy is to understand the customer’s preferences in social media and be willing to open up new channels if there is demand. Danu was kind enough to take some time out of his morning (evening in the U.S.) to talk to us about his organization’s philosophy and tactics in the “social media capital of the world”. Below are some key moments in Episode 23 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast, and where to find them: 1:00 What is Berrybenka.com? 1:53 A primer on the state of social media in Indonesia 3:45 How Berrybenka is set up to handle thousands of daily inquiries, and what the shopping experience looks like in Indonesia 7:25 The kinds of questions that Berrybenka handles in social media 8:34 How Berrybenka’s agents are cross-trained on multiple platforms 10:00 A multi-lingual approach to customer service 11:21 How Berrybenka and Hijabenka operate together under one corporate entity 13:27 Berrybenka’s unique approach to answering inquiries in Twitter 15:47 How Berrybenka uses Instagram for both marketing and service 17:30 Danu shares some particularly memorable customer interactions 20:15 Danu’s advice to companies getting started in social customer care Thanks to Nick Ogle for recommending Berrybenka as a unique international example of excellent social care. If you’ve like to nominate a brand to appear on the podcast, please tweet us directly at @dgingiss and @iamdanmoriarty, or use the hashtag #FOCS.

The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.

A “unique men’s fashion destination” that was “born social,” Jack Threads is a brand that understands the difference between customer service and true customer engagement. While the team does a great job of responding to direct customer inquiries, it purposely takes the time to engage proactively in fashion or lifestyle conversations with guys who are in their target audience. “There’s very few places where guys today can go that are just focused on them,” says David Tull, Customer Engagement Manager, and joining “seemingly irrelevant conversations” can lead to “traditional ROI,” while keeping the customer service team “super-engaged” with consumers. Managing a traditional customer service staff of 40-60 depending on seasonality, David looks at social media as “a way for our team to level up” from phone, chat, or email. He trains them not only on the ins and outs of social media, but on how to engage in a human way and how to turn customer service interactions into a marketing opportunity. Associates are encouraged to make their customer service “Tweet-worthy”. David took some time out ahead of the busy holiday season to talk with Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty about his company’s view of social care and why leading with social media can break down some of the traditional barriers in customer service. Yes, social media customer service is in public so the stakes are higher. But “rather than see that as a liability, see that as an opportunity,” he says. Some of the more memorable quotes from the conversation include: “Because we’re a relatively new business, we were basically born social. We had a social media customer service footprint before we had an 800 number.” “Instead of trying to avoid the next social media crisis, we bring people in on the first day and say, ‘Our expectations are that your service will be Tweet-worthy.” “If you’re only waiting until there’s a problem to talk to your customers, then that’s not indicative of a good relationship.” “We’re brands. It’s implied that if Jack Threads tweets to you about anything, that we’d love for you to buy some jeans. But we’re more successful at it when we come at it in a human way.” “Social is different. It is about continuing the engagement and keeping the conversation going. And while you want to be efficient and close the loop for the customer, letting them know that we’re never really done and we look at this as an ongoing relationship is a big part of it.” Here are some of the highlights of Episode 21 and where to find them: 1:09 What is Jack Threads? 2:52 David’s background (in theatre!) and how he created Jack Threads’ “character” in social media 5:53 The Jack Threads style 10:40 David’s role and what the customer staff looks like 12:44 How Jack Threads trains its staff to be “Tweet-worthy” in its customer service 16:23 What Jack Threads’ customers talk about on social media and the company’s approach to proactive engagement 22:56 How Jack Threads teaches its social media philosophy to its associates 28:03 What are the important KPIs? 29:54 David shares some memorable customer interactions, including turning negative comments into positive engagements 32:41 David’s advice to social care professionals to turn service interactions into “a marketing opportunity” To nominate a brand to appear on our podcast, please tweet using the hashtag #FOCS.

The sheer size of Hewlett-Packard’s operation – the company recently separated into two different Fortune 50 companies – requires a level of sophistication and scale that most organizations will never experience. But the rest of us can still learn a great deal from a huge, well-oiled machine that’s already solved many of the issues smaller companies are still experiencing. Hewlett-Packard recently became two separate companies: HP Inc., which includes the consumer-facing printing and PC business, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which includes the servers, storage, and networking technology business. Kriti Kapoor is the Director of Social Care for HP Inc., which ships 1 printer and 1.7 PCs every second to customers in 170 countries. With an extensive technology background that includes Compaq, Dell, and her own mobile startup venture, Kriti has finally found her true calling in life. “If you ask me today if there was any job I’d pick in any company, it would actually be in social customer care,” she says, “because it’s a convergence of communication and technology and service.” HP Inc. started social care because there was “nowhere to go” if any of the other channels failed, and also to answer “in-depth technical questions,” says Kriti. The social care platform was launched on top of an already successful series of community forums that receive more than 100 million visits a year. Both are serviced in more than a half-dozen languages, and HP Inc. now sees 100,000 customer service cases every month just in social media. Kriti joined Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty for a lively and enlightening discussion on social care philosophy, strategy, and near-flawless execution at massive scale. Some of the more memorable quotes from the conversation include: “No business is a business without customers.” “The convergence of both mobile and social technologies is disrupting the world that we live in today and it’s going to continue to happen.” “We’ve seen an evolution from pure complaints handling and management to handling pure technical support.” “The goal always is to help people solve their problems – that’s what we all live for day in and day out in customer service.” “Service is all about building relationships with customers.” “We can’t do what we do in isolation. In social customer care, partnerships – broad and deep across the organization – are critical to success.” Here are some of the highlights of Episode 20 and where to find them: 0:47 Background on Hewlitt-Packard 2:18 Kriti’s diverse technology background and how she arrived at HP 6:52 What the HP Inc. social care program looks like 9:34 How agents are trained across a huge product line, and how the support forums have evolved 12:52 HP’s approach to social care operating hours 15:39 HP’s vast network of volunteer experts who respond on the community forums 18:11 The interaction of social media marketing and customer service 21:50 How HP measures the ROI of social customer care 24:50 How HP’s marketing handle achieved a giant Klout score of 92, and the impact on service 28:42 Kriti describes a memorable social media customer interaction 31:37 Kriti’s advice for starting out in social customer care Thanks to Jay Baer for nominating Kriti to be a guest on the podcast. If you have had a great experience with a brand on social media, let us know by tweeting at us or by using the hashtag #FOCS.

Video gamers are serious about their craft, and when something isn’t working like it’s supposed to, they want answers – quickly. Thankfully, Xbox (part of Microsoft) offers a host of support options, including live chat, an instant callback from a live agent, a robust community forum, and the most responsive Twitter account in the world. Yes, you read that right. Xbox’s video game-like stats on Twitter – more than 7 million followers on its main handle, more than 5 million tweets from its 13 separate support handles, more than 5,000 responses every day – have earned it the Most Responsive Brand on Twitter designation from the Guinness Book of World Records. The brand’s loyal following and sheer volume of support answers is both unparalleled and staggering; a single broadcast tweet seeking qualified candidates for the customer support team can yield hundreds of applicants. James Degnan was Xbox’s Community Support Manager overseeing the company’s “Tweet Fleet” for several years before recently transitioning to lead the Xbox Ambassador program, a peer-to-peer support service. James was kind enough to share some cheats, codes and hints (gamer-speak for best practices) with Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty on episode 19 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Some favorite quotes include: • “Those are all hand-typed tweets by agents that care about a customer and want to give them a personalized response.” • “We have all sorts of mechanisms to draw [customer service] volume to our social channels.” • “Passion is just huge” when evaluating potential service agent hires – plus a technology background, strong ability to multitask, passion for the brand and Twitter, empathy, critical thinking skills, and a customer service background. • “It’s an entirely different animal on Twitter, where sometimes you have to read between the lines on what a customer is saying and arrive at your own inference on how to best handle it.” • “It is so important to us to prove to our community on Twitter that we’re actually a part of that community.” Here are the highlights of the episode and where to find them: 0:45 How James got to lead a record-breaking social care team 3:08 James talks about the Guinness World Record 6:55 Xbox’s “overflow” accounts on Twitter and the tools used to manage them 13:33 The size of the Xbox social care team and how they are trained 20:57 How Xbox uses post-servicing surveys to rate agents and identify issues 22:06 Xbox’s philosophy and approach to social care 23:32 The Xbox Ambassador program 26:29 James shares a memorable interaction with a customer 29:40 The advice James would share with himself six years ago when he started Thanks to Matt Hannaford for nominating Xbox for the podcast, tweeting: “I think some of the best customer service comes from @XboxSupport. They respond so fast.” If you’d like to suggest a brand for a future episode, please tweet us directly or use the hashtag #FOCS. The Focus on Customer Service podcast is also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

A supplier of more than 60 Million stock photos, vectors, videos, and music tracks, Shutterstock provides individuals and businesses with “subscriptions and images on demand for every budget”. As social media continues to become more and more visual, it’s no wonder that Shutterstock fits right in from both a marketing and customer service perspective. The company is currently in the midst of integrating its social care team into the larger customer service organization, in order to realize efficiencies and support the effort to offer 24/7 service in multiple languages. Sarah Maloy, Senior Manager of Content Marketing for Shutterstock, talked with me and Dan Moriarty for episode 18 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. Some of favorite quotes include: • “We are always sharing highly curated, beautiful imagery that’s really trying to inspire people.” • “We’re working on ways that we can expand what we’re doing from a customer support perspective in social by integrating with Shutterstock’s overall customer support team.” • “The most important thing in social media and in customer care is not to have the exact, correct, approved wording, but to show people that there’s a human there and that you genuinely want to help.” Here are the highlights of the episode and where to find them: 1:30 Sarah’s background and an overview of Shutterstock 2:35 Shutterstock’s social customer care program 6:34 The role imagery plays in Shutterstock’s business and social media presence 9:18 Which channels Shutterstock’s customers use for social care 10:20 Shutterstock’s global expansion plans, including multiple language support 13:06 Sarah’s advice to others in the social customer care space Thanks to Phil Mershon for nominating Shutterstock for the podcast. If you’d like to suggest a brand for a future episode, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS. The Focus on Customer Service podcast is also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

Scotty’s Brewhouse, an “upscale sports bar” with 13 locations in Indiana and coming soon to Illinois and Florida, was created by its namesake owner with the goal of providing a different kind of restaurant experience. “I wanted to make a restaurant that was some place that I could go into at any age and feel comfortable,” says Scott Wise, the Founder, President & CEO. Though Scotty’s Brewhouse boasts an array of interesting and tasty dishes – they sell over a million orders of fried dill pickle chips a year, and a recent pizza special included bacon, cheddar cheese, and crushed Flaming Hot Cheetos – Scott’s attention is not just on providing outstanding food. He considers himself “in the business of customer service” and is intensely focused on providing a uniquely memorable experience to each and every customer. Scott has embraced all forms of social media as a means to connect with his customers, and he reads and responds to every single Tweet. “The fact that we listen to people, and we respond, and we act,” he says, “that one thing that we do in my opinion makes us more successful than almost anything else we do in this restaurant.” And even with 1,300 employees, Scott still forwards his staff Facebook posts, Tweets, and e-mails that mention specific employees along with a personal note of thanks. Scott joined me and Dan Moriarty for a fun and sometimes emotional discussion about doing right by your customers, working hard to earn and keep their trust, and fixing things quickly when mistakes happen. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode of the Focus on Customer Service podcast include: • “You’ve got to have great customer service, great product, and a great location. If you have all of those things, then it should work.” • “Life’s too short to not have fun and not laugh at yourself.” • “I like to entertain people. That’s why I’m in the business of customer service. I want to make you smile and laugh.” • “We’re human beings in a human world, and we’re going to make mistakes.” • “To give someone something they never knew they wanted… that’s when you create a ‘wow’ moment.” Here are the highlights of Episode 17 and where to find them: 1:00 The background on Scotty’s Brewhouse and some of their most interesting dishes 5:50 How Scott decided to combine his personal and corporate Twitter handles into one, and Scott’s approach to social customer service 12:05 How great customer service impacts the overall customer experience at a restaurant – even more than the food 17:16 What Scott looks for in employees when he’s hiring new people 23:04 Which channels do Scott’s customers used to contact him, and how the questions are similar or different across channels 28:57 How Scott’s Brewhouse attempts to sync up the offline and online experience 36:25 Scott’s advice for becoming a customer service rock star Special thanks to Jay Baer for recommending Scotty’s Brewhouse for the podcast. If you’d like to suggest a brand for a future episode, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS. The Focus on Customer Service podcast is also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

With more than 10,000 locations in 150 countries, Hertz is a world-renown rental car brand. In fact, Hertz is the largest worldwide airport general use car rental company with more than 1,600 airport locations in the U.S. and more than 1,300 airport locations internationally. Not surprisingly, that creates the need for outstanding customer service – before, during and after the actual car rental experience. Laura Smith, Senior Director of Customer Care, North America at Hertz brings more than 15 years of experience in customer contact centers to the role. With an eye toward growing social customer care beyond what is already 10% of service inquiries at Hertz, she believes in meeting the customer wherever they are and exceeding their expectations. Laura joined me and Dan Moriarty for episode 16 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “At Hertz, there’s a really good understanding and support for social and the importance that it plays.” • “We really believe that it’s our role to meet the customer at whatever point in their journey they choose and through whichever channel they choose.” • “We can create opportunities for our brand.” Here are the highlights of Episode 16 and where to find them: 1:26 Laura’s role at Hertz 2:50 How Laura’s team handles social care across multiple brands 6:16 Hertz’s response time goals and prioritization methods 9:11 The ROI of social care 11:48 Should companies be pushing customer service inquiries to social media? 12:55 Hertz’s social care hiring practices 17:10 Examples of how Hertz empowers its customer service agents 18:37 How social care efforts integrate with loyalty programs 20:37 Where social customer service is going in 2016 23:17 Laura’s advice for companies trying to build an awesome social care team To suggest a brand for a future podcast, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS. The Focus on Customer Service podcast is also available on iTunes and Stitcher.

DigitalOcean bills itself as “Simple Cloud Hosting, Built for Developers” and promises that even a rookie developer or engineer can deploy a cloud server with just a few clicks. “We’re simplifying the cloud for developers and providing an experience they will fall in love with,” says Daniel Zaltsman, DigitalOcean’s Social Media Manager. He said that when he arrived at the company, the co-founders were “tweeting in the middle of the night” but that he was able to leverage “a support team that was already technical” and teach them “how to use social”. DigitalOcean’s social care is unique in that it handles mostly technical questions, but its customers demand the same kind of responsiveness as traditional consumer-facing companies. Daniel joined me and Dan Moriarty live on Blab for the latest episode of Focus on Customer Service, forming the soon-to-be-trending hashtag #DanDanDan in the process. Here are the highlights of Episode 15 and where to find them: 1:01 Some background on DigitalOcean and how Daniel got there 2:19 How DigitalOcean operationalized customer support 4:34 How B2B interactions on social media differ from B2C 7:45 How Daniel trained non-social support agents on social media 10:01 The metrics that DigitalOcean tracks for social care 12:32 Daniel is challenged to demonstrate the ROI of social care to his “boss” 17:55 How CRM systems play a role 22:00 Daniel shares his very own… customer service haiku! 22:55 Some of the most memorable tweets DigitalOcean has received have had nothing to do with their actual business 25:14 Question from the audience 26:33 Daniel’s advice for other brands that want to be great at social care Would you like to see a brand on the Focus on Customer Service podcast? Just tweet it out using the hashtag #FOCS!

For almost as long as Twitter has existed, people have tweeted comments, complaints, and even compliments at brands. Many brands have realized the importance of Twitter’s emergence as a key customer service channel, though 40% of tweets to service accounts still get no response. Now Twitter is formalizing its customer service recommendations to brands. In August, the social media giant released a free 126-page playbook entitled, simply, Customer Service on Twitter. (Available here: https://twitter.app.box.com/customer-service-on-twitter) The playbook is chock full of ideas and guidelines for brands, touching on trends, opportunities and challenges, case studies, and a suggested roadmap for executing great service on Twitter. Since the Focus on Customer Service podcast is all about companies doing great things in social media customer service, it was only natural that we wanted to learn more about the Twitter playbook and how Twitter thinks companies can be successful with customer service on its platform. Jeff Lesser, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Twitter, is responsible for leading the marketing of the customer service initiative at Twitter, including research, awareness, product-market fit and partnerships. He spoke with Dan and Dan in a far-reaching interview that will surely help brands on Twitter focus on customer service. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: “I get to help brands do better customer service on our platform and ultimately help users get better customer service on Twitter.” “We’re really excited about the opportunity to make Twitter the best place in the world to both do and receive customer service.” “On Twitter, when you reach out and you create that great experience, thousands of people can see that, and so even though there might be a cost associated with creating that moment, it is a huge benefit.” “If someone tweets at you, always respond. There’s only good things that can come from that.” “It’s not about making a sale, it’s about solving that customer’s problem.” Here are the highlights of Episode 14 and where to find them: 1:30 How Jeff got to his current role at Twitter 2:35 The impetus for publishing a Customer Service Playbook 4:33 The 3 stages of customer service on Twitter 8:10 The operational savings associated with servicing customers on Twitter 13:26 One Twitter handle vs. multiple 15:08 Why are some brands not responding on Twitter? 17:00 Response time expectations 20:48 How “authenticity” and “empathy” play a role in Twitter customer service 23:30 Brands responding to Tweets aimed at competitors 24:49 Tools and platforms available to brands to assist with social care 28:10 Advice for finding the perfect Twitter customer service agent 29:56 The idea of Twitter as an “early warning system” for companies 34:45 Jeff’s advice to companies to become world-class in social customer service 36:50 What’s next for customer service on Twitter Have you had a great customer service experience with a brand on Twitter? If so, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS so we interview that brand on a future podcast.

Wink Frozen Desserts may not yet be a household name, but this ice cream company is changing lives – at least East of the Mississippi – one scoop at a time. Created especially for people with lactose intolerance, celiac disease, and certain food allergies, Wink’s line of frozen treats allows those who thought they couldn’t enjoy ice cream get a taste of the frozen favorite again. Jordan Pierson is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wink, and he took some time to talk with Dan Moriarty and me about Wink’s dedication to its niche customer. While the company’s slogan, which refers to its ingredients, is “less is more,” that definitely does not apply to their customer service. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode of the Focus on Customer Service podcast include: • "Because we're food, we like to use Instagram, we like to use Pinterest, we like to use Facebook to showcase who we are." • "For the most part, Twitter is a customer service hotline for us." • "Whatever your product is, not everyone on the planet is going to like it, and you have to roll with the punches on that." Here are the highlights of Episode 13 and where to find them: 0:50 The background on Wink Frozen Desserts and how Jordan joined the team 2:20 Wink's customer service strategy 5:30 How a niche audience affects Wink’s social media strategy 7:16 Which channels customers use for service 8:53 Online communities and other engagement opportunities 11:19 Jordan shares a memorable interaction with a fan 13:20 Jordan's advice for other companies trying to succeed in social care Thanks to Jay Baer for nominating Wink Frozen Desserts to appear on the show! If you have had a great customer service experience on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to interview that brand on a future podcast.

The folks at Square Cow Moovers clearly have a sense of humor (note the two o’s in their name), but they know that providing outstanding customer service is no laughing matter. A residential and commercial moving company based in Austin, Texas, Square Cow Moovers boasts a coveted 5-star rating on Yelp, and asks its customers to rate every move on a scale of 1 (“cow patty”) to 5 (“cow bell”). Wade Lombard is a founder and co-owner of Square Cow Moovers, and he spoke with Dan Moriarty and me about how a local business can provide amazing customer service as well as (or even better than) the big guys. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “People have a good or bad experience and they immediately tell tens of thousands of people, and that power can be incredibly helpful for some companies or it can put some businesses out of business.” • “I can show someone how to move an armoire, but I can’t show them how to be a good person.” • “We’ve never had a client call us and say, ‘You know I’m really upset because you guys just provided me with too much information.” • “We do try to give our clients as many outlets as possible to share with us if something is happening, during or after their move, that isn’t agreeing with them.” • “To get defensive or to try to pick a fight online is about the most worthless thing you can do.” • “Responding quickly is more important now than ever before.” Here are the highlights of Episode 12 and where to find them: 1:54 A brief overview of the company and its unique name 4:32 What it’s like to run a local business today when ratings and reviews are so public and impactful 6:09 Square Cow’s commitment “to providing unparalleled service” and its hiring practices 10:21 How and where customers complain if something goes wrong 13:03 How the response approach changes based on the customer’s channel of choice 14:58 What the company does with positive feedback and reviews 17:33 Wade shares some unintended consequences of customers posting on social media 20:50 Wade talks about small businesses that “stick their head in the sand” when it comes to social media and online reviews 22:11 Wade’s (fantastic) advice for other small businesses If you have had a great customer service experience on social media, we want to hear about it! Please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to interview that brand on a future podcast.

Filling yet another social engagement void that no one knew they needed, Blab is a multi-person live-streaming platform that is once again changing how we communicate with each other. Up to four speakers appear on video simultaneously in Brady Bunch-style boxes, while onlookers can participate via chat. Now anyone can be a broadcaster of content with just a computer or an iPhone (Android coming soon). One immediate differentiator of the platform, besides the ability to have multiple streams simultaneously, is the availability of real-time customer service. By simply typing “@help” into the chat, Blab’s Brittany Metz appears like magic in the Blab to address any issues and answer any questions. The whole experience is so cool that we just had to invite Brittany Metz, the self-proclaimed “Community Princess” (because Community Manager sounded “boring”) of Blab, to talk with us on the Focus on Customer Service podcast. And naturally, we held the interview live on Blab and used the recording to create the audio podcast. PureMatter CEO and Shareology author Bryan Kramer also joined the Blab, which covers a wide range of topics including customer service, upcoming Blab enhancements, and some real-time questions from the audience. Some of the most quotable moments from the podcast include: * “We are about spontaneous, open, public conversations.” * On brands doings customer service on Blab: “You know what, we do our customer service on Blab; it’s public, it’s open because we’ve got nothing to hide. We have great customer service and we want to highlight and show that to the world. I think it will happen.” * “You treat everyone as a star.” * “Everyone has the potential to create really great content here.” * “We don’t want to gamify the system. Content is king, so we want the best content to surface.” * “If you build a product thinking about monetization and how to make money on it, you’re going to build a different product.” As always, if you have experienced awesome customer service on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on a future episode. Here are the highlights of Episode 11 and where to find them: 3:38 What is Blab? 4:41 How did Blab get so popular so fast? 6:10 How Bryan Kramer is using Blab 6:56 Question from the audience 7:50 Brittany’s background and how she ended up at Blab 8:50 How Blab’s customer service works and how it will eventually scale 12:08 Question from the audience 13:32 The largest Blabs so far and the company’s plan to scale its live-stream capabilities 15:16 How Blab launched real-time live customer service 17:09 The plan for future reporting capabilities and other controls 19:53 The most memorable Blab that Brittany has been called into 20:49 What is the use case for customer service on Blab? 24:01 Questions from the audience 27:10 On what other channels does Blab provide customer service? 28:47 How Blab and Twitter integrate 29:40 Questions from the audience 31:00 What Brittany has learned managing customer service for a brand-new platform 34:35 How Brittany was anointed the “Community Princess” of Blab 37:30 Questions from the audience 39:29 Why Blab isn’t about being an “expert” or having the biggest audience 41:30 Brittany’s secret tips and tricks for using Blab 43:05 Questions from the audience

To celebrate our 10th podcast episode – a milestone we weren’t sure we’d ever reach – we thought we’d take a walk down memory lane and look at what we’ve learned so far. So Dan and I recorded a special “recap” episode with just the two of us to summarize what you may have missed in episodes 1-9. We started the podcast because lots of people are talking about content and marketing on social media, but far fewer are focusing on the other side of social – customer service. Enlightened brands have already discovered that “customer service is the new marketing” because great service makes happy customers and happy customers are more loyal to brands. When social media entered the picture, it began as a channel of last resort, when other service channels failed. This resulted in a larger proportion of comments being negative, which in turn scared off some brands from ever entering the fray. But over time, social media has become a channel of first resort for many customers, requiring companies to be as prepared on social as they are in the call center, on e-mail, or click-to-chat. We set out to learn from the brands who are doing it every day. How their teams are structured, where they fit in the larger organization, what their customer service strategy is, how they deal with difficult customers, and more. And so far, our guests have certainly delivered the knowledge, insights, and best practices we had hoped for – in addition to quite a bit of fun. In case you missed any episodes, we recap them one-by-one in this special episode. Listen for a list of key themes that we have extracted from the first nine guests. And don’t forget, you can nominate a brand to appear on the podcast by tweeting at us (@dgingiss and @iamdanmoriarty) or by simply using the hashtag #FOCS.

It’s no surprise that people are emotional about their smart phones, so a proper protective case can make or break – pun intended – the entire experience. In either case (yikes, another pun!), OtterBox and its sister company, LifeProof, are there to respond to customers on social media. Jessica Mack is the Senior Social Media Manager at both OtterBox and LifeProof, and she leads a team that is responsible both for marketing initiatives and for handling customer service issues. She spent some time with Dan Moriarty and me on Episode 9 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “We try to think of our customers as family and treat them accordingly.” • “Our customers mean everything to us, and we try to involve them in our brand as much as possible, have fun, and really treat them as we would treat a good friend and not just as a customer on the other side of the computer.” • “We try to be really patient with people… we try to listen to them and understand how they’re feeling and do whatever we can to support that.” • “Keep [customer care] internal and recruit people who live and breathe your brand, who have a customer care background, and who genuinely care about helping people.” • “You have to reward the customers that are engaging with you positively as well.” Here are the highlights of Episode 9 and where to find them: 1:35 Jessica’s background and how she ended up in her current role 2:25 How the fact that OtterBox’s product protects other companies’ products affects its social care strategy 4:03 How the social customer service team is organized and how they balance both the marketing and the customer service aspects of the job. 6:35 What technology Otterbox and LifeProof use for social media marketing and customer service 7:20 OtterBox’s culture and how it leads to a focus on customer service 8:25 Why OtterBox decided to use multiple Twitter handles 9:45 How OtterBox handles situations when a customer’s phone breaks 13:20 An example of using social media feedback to develop new products 15:26 Some of Jessica’s most memorable social media interactions 16:40 Jessica’s advice to people starting off in social customer service As a reminder, YOU can choose which brands are featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. If you have experienced awesome customer service on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on a future episode.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, chances are that someone in your social media feeds has been talking about Ultimate Fighting Championship – better known as UFC. With more than 17 million Facebook fans and 2.6 million followers on both Twitter and Instagram, the mixed martial arts event company has become a global social media powerhouse. On fight nights, social media explodes with commentary from celebrities and regular fans alike, especially when UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey fights. Shanda Maloney was also a fan of UFC before she joined the organization. She is responsible for global marketing strategy; social media content, growth and engagement; paid media strategy; sponsorship integration; and customer service. She oversees 60+ official UFC social media channels – including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine – and also keeps an eye on more than 600 UFC athlete accounts. Shanda somehow found the time to speak with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 8 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: “We love to show the personality behind our brand, and the fans really enjoy that.” “[Negative feedback can be] a big learning point for us, and I think that’s going to create a much better customer service experience.” “Don’t be afraid to jump into the conversation – look for people who are talking about you and not at you.” “This is the best place to get word-of-mouth understanding of what the fans or the customers are saying, how they feel about your product or brand.” “Find a way to make it right because that moment is going to be incredibly memorable for that fan or that customer.” Here are the highlights of Episode 8 and where to find them: 1:19 How Shanda ended up working at UFC 2:28 How does UFC manage its huge social media presence while still making time to engage with fans? 3:47 How does UFC differentiate between fan engagement and true customer service inquiries? 5:42 How does Shanda help manage the athletes’ social media accounts? 6:40 Shanda talks about one of Twitter’s favorite trending topics, fighter Ronda Rousey 8:25 UFC’s strategy of focusing on influencers 9:45 How Shanda and her team prepare for fight nights 11:20 How UFC learns from negative feedback 13:59 Shanda shares one of her most memorable social media interactions with fans 16:00 The advice Shanda has for companies trying to have amazing customer service on social media. We are always looking for great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. If you have experienced awesome customer service on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on the podcast.

Striving to provide a “personalized service experience” with every interaction, Telstra – Australia’s leading telecommunications company – offers its customers the ability to connect with the same agent each time they contact the company. “A lot of frustration stems from customers having to re-tell their story,” says Monty Hamilton, Head of Digital Operations at Telstra. “It’s a real game-changer for us and our customers are loving it.” With more than 16 million mobile, internet and TV customers across the world, Telstra needs to be available 24/7 across multiple service channels, including social media. Monty talked with me for Episode 7 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast about the company that replies to more than 400,000 annual posts. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “We want all customer interactions to acknowledge the customer’s first name but most importantly, offer our individual names in those interactions, and that enables us – whatever channel that dialogue takes place in – to help customers connect with the same person for any particular problem or enquiry.” • “We look at social media as purely an extension of the digitalization of all aspects of our lives.” • Our lives have changed and therefore when we choose to interact with other organizations has also changed with that… We need to simply be ready for our customers’ change in appetite to deal with us in other channels.” • “It’s really important that we start with empathy and understanding.” We are looking for more great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast! To nominate a brand that has awesome customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS. Here are the highlights of Episode 7 and where to find them: 0:30 Dan talks briefly about United Airlines’ recent service shutdown and its excellent social customer service during the crisis 4:20 Monty’s background and how he ended up at Telstra 5:30 Monty explains Telstra’s goal of being “famous for caring about our customers” and how that tagline plays into its customer service philosophy 8:55 How Telstra expanded its focus on customer service to include social media 11:20 Why Telstra decided on 24/7 service in social media 13:50 How to deal with a difficult customer 17:50 Is social media a channel of last resort or first resort for customer service? 19:48 Monty’s advice for other companies looking to build a great social customer experience team Telstra was nominated by @CXpert from Melbourne, Australia. Please nominate other brands by tweeting us using the hashtag #FOCS.

Conceived by an Iron Man athlete looking for a plant-based, whole food alternative to nutritional supplements, Vega describes its products as “the future of optimal health”. Enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike, Vega’s products attract athletes of almost every sport looking for a more natural diet to help with training and ongoing health. Vega’s approach to customer service on social media is to listen first, both to those who @mention the brand and those talking about it without a direct @mention. The team responds with humor (food puns are a favorite), imagery, and a friendly tone that leaves a smile on the face of even the most ardent critic. Lindsay Jesseau is the Director of Customer Experience at Vega, and she – like several other of our guests – was a customer before becoming an employee. Lindsay talked with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 6 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “It’s not just about having a competitive advantage over your direct competitors; the consumers expect a response through social now, so it’s looking at ‘are we as good as the best companies out there?’ and that’s really how we set our standards.” • “Empower your front line. Don’t punish mistakes.” • “Consumers are reaching out through Twitter, and they want to be responded to and resolved in that channel.” • “Respond to both positive and negative comments. The negative ones are really your biggest learning opportunity.” Don’t forget that we are always looking for great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. To nominate a brand that has awesome customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS. Here are the highlights of Episode 6 and where to find them: 0:30 Dan and Dan talk about why more companies aren’t embracing social customer service 3:35 What is Vega and what kinds of products does it sell? 5:14 Lindsay talks about her career and how she ended up at Vega 6:20 Does having a niche audience change Vega’s servicing strategy? 7:31 Lindsay talks about Vega’s #bestlife campaign 9:52 How Vega empowers its customer advocates to “surprise and delight” its customers 11:13 Vega’s use of humor and imagery in their customer service responses 13:30 How Vega handles comments about the taste of their products, both positive and negative 15:44 Lindsay’s social customer service team and where it sits in the company 18:44 How Vega approaches customer service across different social media channels 20:35 Memorable social interactions 22:20 Lindsay’s advice to other companies looking to build an awesome social customer service 25:10 What Lindsay tweets about from her personal handle Vega was nominated by Taylre Duarte (@taylreduarte). You too can nominate a brand to appear on the Focus on Customer Service podcast simply by tweeting us using the hashtag #FOCS.

ModCloth is “not just another retailer,” according to its founder, “but a social-shopping community with our customer at the center of everything we do.” Nowhere is that more apparent than in its approach to customer service, both on and off social media. Its agents, called “advocates,” often refer to themselves as “day makers” because their goal is to make every customer’s day. Their focus is on empathy and solving the customer’s problem at (almost) any cost. Ashley Boone is the Care Social Lead at ModCloth, managing and training the advocates on the team that the company uniquely calls “Care Social” instead of “Social Care”. Ashley was a ModCloth customer before working for the company, giving her great insight into the mindset of the woman “that finds inspiration and confidence through fashion.” Ashley met with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 5 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast to talk about a variety of topics, including a certain famous Jurassic Park actor whose face appears on a ModCloth T-shirt but who remained a mystery to one of the Dans. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “Think of a mission statement for your social care team.” • “We are accountable for mistakes and we empathize with [the customer’s] situation.” • “Imagine yourself on the other end of that call and act accordingly.” • “Go above and beyond the call of duty to make the customer’s day.” • “We want her [the customer] to feel like she’s valued and her feedback is heard.” As a reminder, we are always looking for great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. To nominate a brand that has amazing customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS. Here are the highlights of Episode 5 and where to find them: 1:15 What is ModCloth and what is Ashley’s background? 3:03 ModCloth says they know what it’s like to shop online; how does that affect the way they offer customer service? 5:14 What exactly is a “social shopping community”? 6:56 How does ModCloth empower its advocates to “make the customer’s day”? 11:57 How ModCloth differentiates itself from other retailers by knowing its customers 14:52 Where social care sits in the organization 17:37 Response rate and response time goals 19:30 Memorable interactions with customers 24:19 Ashley’s advice for other companies ModCloth was nominated by Laura Watkins Baker (@snackmantis), who tweeted that the retailer is “amazing at social care”. Have you experienced awesome customer service on social media? If so, please nominate the brand by sending a tweet using the hashtag #FOCS and we will reach out to feature them in a future podcast.

Buffer, the app that helps individuals and companies schedule social media posts and curate content, has had customer service at the heart of its offering since its inception. In fact, The Buffer Vision, as described on the website (https://buffer.com/about), begins with this statement: “Our vision at Buffer is to build the simplest and most powerful social media tool, and to set the bar for great customer support.” The company has a loyal following of more than two million daily users, and one of those customers – a former rodeo queen, hobby novelist and animal lover – is now bestowed the title of Community Champion. Nicole Miller spent some time with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 4 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “We view every interaction that comes our way – every single tweet, email, question, mention – as a real privilege to know that someone has taken the time out of their day to think about us or get in touch with us.” • “We really want to make sure that each interaction is special and unique and as happy as possible.” • “We really look at customer service as happiness, and that frames all of what we do.” • “Value each one-on-one interaction with your customers.” • “If you just take that extra minute, it can really turn things around even in potentially negative situations.” As a reminder, brands featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast must be nominated by one of their customers. To nominate a brand that has amazing customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS. Here are the highlights of Episode 4 and where to find them: (1:55) Nicole’s background and how she landed at Buffer (3:59) Buffer’s philosophy toward customer service (5:00) The types of questions Buffer receives and how they track customer input (7:35) The Buffer social care team structure (9:35) Buffer’s 10 Key Values and how they play a role in hiring (10:57) The key metrics that Buffer looks at to gauge success (13:15) How Buffer trains its employees on social customer service (14:54) The popular #bufferchat and how it helps scale customer interactions (17:17) Nicole’s advice to companies trying to do social customer service well Buffer was nominated by Jason Keath (@jasonkeath). Have you experienced awesome customer service on social media? If so, please nominate the brand by sending a tweet using the hashtag #FOCS and we will reach out to feature them in a future podcast.

When Chipotle Mexican Grill tapped Joe Stupp to be Head of Social Media, the company chose the person with the most relevant experience possible. In fact, Joe was the restaurant manager of the very first Chipotle. Now nearly 1,800 restaurants strong, Chipotle still approaches social media in an unconventional style that is perhaps befitting a much smaller brand – with just a handful of people who know every facet of the business intimately, and who love talking with customers. They answer all sorts of questions, from the basic – “Where does your chicken come from?” – to the absurd – “What kind of toilet paper do you use in the bathroom?” – and all with a virtual smile. Or perhaps it’s a wink? Joe spent some time with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 3 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include: • “We don’t really view it as customer service, but more like we’re just conversing with people.” • “Being response to our customers… just comes naturally to us.” • On social media response time: “We have zero goals around that...We do not track it. We do not keep an eye on it. It’s just something that we do. ” • Advice to others: “People really have to be careful that they know their business inside and out.” As a reminder, brands featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast appear because of YOU the listener. To nominate a brand that has amazing customer service on social media, just use the hashtag #FOCS. Here are the highlights of Episode 3 and where to find them: (2:45) Joe’s history at Chipotle, starting with the very first restaurant (4:35) Chipotle’s philosophy on customer service (6:19) What kinds of questions does Chipotle receive on social media? (7:10) The weirdest question Chipotle has received (7:48) Where Joe’s team sits in the organization (9:32) How Chipotle achieves its “amazing” response time (11:11) Questions about specific restaurants vs. brand questions (13:53) One Twitter handle or two? (15:53) Joe’s advice to other companies starting a social customer service practice (17:25) What’s next for Chipotle’s customer service (20:05) What Joe likes to tweet about personally Chipotle was nominated by Chad Mitchell (@cmmitchell4) during a recent #SMTLive webinar. Have you experienced awesome customer service on social media? If so, please nominate the brand by sending a tweet using the hashtag #FOCS!