Social customer care—the integration and adoption of social processes in the context of customer service—is the new focus area for firms wanting to accelerate growth and spread of favorable word of mouth around of their brand. Many assume that a key driver for social customer care is cost—or more specifically, cost avoidance, and it’s easy to see why: Customer service and cost reduction have long gone hand-inhand.

1. the business
case for advocacy

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Lithium social software helps the world’s most iconic brands
to build brand nations—vibrant online communities of
passionate social customers. Lithium helps top brands such
as AT&T, Sephora, Univision, and PayPal build active online
communities that turn customer passion into social media
marketing ROI. For more information on how to create lasting
competitive advantage with the social customer experience,
visit lithium.com, or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and
our own brand nation – the Lithosphere.
request a demo
we help companies unlock the passion of their customers.
The Lithium Social Customer Suite allows brands to build vibrant customer communities that:
reduce service costs with grow brand advocay with drive sales with innovate faster with
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Social customer care—the integration and adoption of social no one has excess funds floating around that can be wasted
processes in the context of customer service—is the new on non-essential customer experiences, where non-essential
focus area for firms wanting to accelerate growth and spread is defined in the context of driving a sale and/or improving
of favorable word of mouth around of their brand. Many brand value. Peer-to-peer service (think community forums)
assume that a key driver for social customer care is cost—or offers real savings by shifting cost from paid agents to
more specifically, cost avoidance, and it’s easy to see why: unpaid—read “passionate” volunteers. Implemented correctly,
Customer service and cost reduction have long gone hand-in- peer to peer support can improve the customer experience
hand. In the traditional view it’s as if the best way to service a and lower costs in the process. That’s a double win. But
customer was to do so as cheaply as possible evidently on the there’s a bigger prize out there, and social customer care
twisted logic which holds that reducing expenses improves leads right to it. It’s called brand advocacy.
margins and results in a stronger company.
Stop for a moment and consider the following scenario:
Translated, it’s more like “spend heavily on advertising, and Your customer has an issue with a new product and calls
then dodge as many post-sale bullets as possible.” The your 800-number seeking live customer assistance. Your
problem is that when all those bullets are fired in public phone agent greets the customers, gathers information and
they eventually land somewhere. And that somewhere is the then pleasantly and quickly solves the problem. “Thanks” are
social web. With the majority of customers’ posts to brands exchanged as the case is brought to a close. Your customer
left unanswered that’s a lot of loose bullets flying around. The hangs up and moves on with his or her life, problem solved.
result? The social web is the new battleground, and social
customer care has become the focal point precisely because
it brings an actionable voice to the customer
To be sure, there is a viable path to cost reduction for some
types of customer interactions: It may be more economical
to serve customers through an online or mobile app, for
example, whose costs can be amortized over the entire
customer base rather than accrued as incremental charges
associated with individual transactions. And yes, cost matters:
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thank you!
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Now consider the same interaction on the social web: Your
customer posts a question in the hopes of gaining resolution,
in public. Customers believe—correctly or otherwise—that
they will gain some social leverage by aksing the question in
full view of their preferred social network. Based usually on
some prior experience, they also believe that someone they are
connected to just might have the answer! After all, if they have
this issue, someone else probably has in the past, right? Right!
All of that goodwill—the solution, the posts from friends
You, as the head of the social team, see the post come in jumping in, your visible participation--accrues directly to your
across your global listening dashboard (you are listening, brand, in public, where it drives customer advocacy. More
yes?) and watch as your brand representative resolves the than cost reduction, building brand advocates is the new end-
issue, all in real time. Now wait for it…because you know it’s game for social care. Building advocates drives brand value,
coming: Your happy customer says “Thank You!” in public, and brand value—more than expense reduction—sustains
kicking off a series of re-tweets that traverse the social healthy margins.
graphs of all those connected. You just picked up brand
Advocacy also drives adoption and protects your brand from
points, points that go right into your brand value bank
attack. The customers who stand alongside you, who stop to
account. And whose brand can’t use a little added currency
say thank you and amplify your message across the social
in their bank account? The entire process played out in public:
web are your allies in the fight for market share. They are the
unlike the phone conversation—that no one saw—lots of
sources of innovation. Their stories drive sales and repeat
people saw this happen.
business. When someone hears about and searches for more
information about your brand, product or service they find
the accolades associated with your social customer efforts,
and they move toward conversion as a direct result. There
is comfort in knowing a brand has your back. Got it? It’s as
simple as building brand advocates on the social web.
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