Social media to revolutionalize customer service

Customer service in the region, the bane of many a disgruntled buyer, is set to get a whole lot “friendlier” due to the emergence of social media. Corporate strategies and best practice to cope with the fast-evolving new business development are set to be a major theme of this years annual Middle East Call Centre 2011 event (MECC ’11), slated for Dubai on May 31 – June 1.According to Dominick Keenaghan, President of event organizers Insights, “Organisations must recognize that they cannot afford to ignore the impact that social media is having on customers, and thus their brands and revenues. Although it’s new territory for most companies, the innovative approaches being implemented are literally transforming businesses and corporate culture. At MECC ’11, up-to-date guidance will be provided to help delegates bridge the gap between Social Media and Customer Service and, in particular, how to integrate Social Media into the Contact Centre.”

Keenaghan continued, “The annual MECC event is renowned for highlighting and exploring the key issues that regional call centres contend with on a daily basis. So, for example, corporate PR likes to talk about “putting customers first” but, in fact, the real challenge for many is an under-investment in people development and processes at the call centre in order for it to be able to do it’s job properly. Similarly, most call centre managers recognize that customer satisfaction as a strategic metric by itself is no longer sufficient to retain customers these days.

The bar has been raised and customers now expect a higher quality of interaction every time they make contact in order for them to remain loyal. The corresponding pickup in customer advocacy rates when this is done well is invaluable. Therefore, MECC ’11 will also include specific sessions on how to educate and present to senior man agers on the call centre’s full potential and how to best execute on these innovative new value creation strategies.”