In the current marketing environment, customer interactions with brands and businesses are increasing on social platforms and instant messenger apps, blurring the boundaries of customer service and marketing. Customer support teams are now working hand in hand with marketing departments, especially when it comes to customer persona development, messaging, social media management and storytelling.
Customer satisfaction has a tremendous impact on how well a brand is received, and marketing should not be working alone, especially when poor responsiveness to online customer reviews and interactions could negatively impact a brand’s reputation.
While customer service representatives are still handling the bulk of customer requests via phone, email and in person, marketing teams have also been thrust into this field thanks to customer interactions with businesses on social media. Without a concrete process for collaboration between marketing and customer service, priority items could get lost.
Employees on both teams could become frustrated without a clear division of duties, and requests can be lost or forgotten about. At the end of it all, the customer could leave disgruntled, and the company brand is damaged.
As social media and messenger apps become ever more important in the dialogue between the consumer and the brand, credit unions should ensure there is a clearcut process for interaction with members and between the two teams, as well as a clear understanding about who handles each type of customer request or interaction.
Many organizations are now relying on technology to make sense of the jumble, and software such as Hootsuite or HubSpot may provide a big leg up in organizing collaboration, even if it’s as simple as who replies to what.