Recommended Reading: The Social Media Channel and the Call Center

The hype on Social Customer Relationship Management (SCRM) is pure madness, a definite trend and the topic ‘du jour’ on thousands of publications. Whilst most companies are experimenting with Twitter and Facebook and crafting their SCRM strategy, a whole range of new companies such as ‘social network experts’ and ‘social network consulting’ is riding the wave to fame and fortune by providing their advice. 
 
A Google search on ‘Social Network Consultant’ returns 49 million answers, the same search on ‘Social Network Survey Results’ returns 5.5 million responses. Which advice is right for you?  
 

Result highlights

The survey shows that on average:

• 70% of consumers have never contacted a company through social network,
• 55% of those who do, are contacting a company regarding complaints, reimbursement, case updates or to share information,
• 66% of consumers prefer to contact a company for customer service
• 30% only think that companies are more responsive through social media than other channels,
• 52% expect a response to their question through social media on the same day,
• 58% feel that companies are abusing social network for sales and promotion purposes,
• Information customers are interested in reading on SN is:
New products
Price and promotions 
Technical bugs and fixes 
Customer reviews and rating
• 57% think companies should focus on answering customer questions as opposed to pushing information
• 57% of respondents would like to have technical support available through social media. 

Survey Overview

Since last September, passion 4 customers has been leading its own research with the difference and objective of focusing on: 
 
• European specific information,
• Pragmatic and logical,
• Consumer opinions.
 
In total 630 surveys were completed by men and women older than 18 years of age and split amongst the following countries:
• 210 surveys completed in the UK,
• 210 surveys completed in France,
• 210 surveys completed and regrouped for the Netherlands, Spain and Germany.

In order to gather the feedback, 3 consumer panels were formed: A UK and French panel selected using MarketTools Inc. and a p4c panel formed using our own social network connections. The UK and French consumers were invited to participate by email whilst the p4c panel was approached directly through Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

The survey consists of 17 questions. Only consumers using social networks on a regular basis were selected. The questions are a mix of open-ended questions, multiple choice questions and yes/no questions. Furthermore, consumers were asked to provide their advice on how companies could improve customer service.

The goal of this survey is to provide companies with consumer desires and expectations on customer services delivered through social networks.