10 Brands That Do Customer Service Right on Twitter

Here's an interesting fact: 30% of top brands now have "dedicated customer service Twitter handles". This makes perfect sense, right? Customers value great service above all else, they love the instant gratification of social media and they really, really hate waiting for reps to pick up the phone. Also: by establishing separate Twitter handles for customer service, brands can "divert negative attention and activity" away from the primary feed. So what goes into running a great customer service operation in the twittersphere? In order to find out, we poked around and found ten examples of brands that are doing it right, starting with some of the biggest. 1. Nike Support: This one is pretty much the gold standard. A quick glance at the account with all replies shows you how quickly and how often the feed's managers respond to individual customers. @karolharvill Please take a look at the following FAQ for best practices on calibrating workouts with the app: gonike.me/6019ndnS — Nike Support (@NikeSupport) March 7, 2013 2. Xbox Support: Xbox boldly claims to hold the Guinness World Record for "most responsive Twitter feed"--and based on the number of replies their team posts every minute, we can see why they make that claim. @kona570 This what you're looking for? xbx.lv/mWsFJy^KC — Xbox Support (1-5) (@XboxSupport) March 7, 2013 3. UPS Support: This feed isn't quite as active as Xbox, but its team does seem to get back to every customer with an email address, no matter how vague the complaint. @samfreeman__ Oh no! What happened? Please take a moment to email us at twitter@ups.com so we can help you. ^MN @ups — UPS Customer Support (@UPSHelp) March 7, 2013 4. Zappos Support: Zappos is famous for its quirky, award-winning customer service, so of course the brand has a service feed--and they're not afraid to be a little silly. Dear @pyrbliss, should I pull a Han Solo and just say "I know"? — Zappos.com (@Zappos_Service) March 7, 2013 5. Comcast Cares: Here's a more personal take on the service feed. While most customer service team members leave their initials on tweets to distinguish who wrote the response, Comcast chose to use a real-life guy who's not afraid to show his face. The brand also has individual account owners who occasionally jump in to help out. @kkbranscum DM me the account phone number and i can look into for you — Bill Gerth (@comcastcares) March 4, 2013 @clayellewolf sorry about that plz email ur details 2 comcastcares_support@comcast.com & we will review ur issue 4 u — Comcast Matt (@ComcastMattV) March 6, 2013 6. Amazon Help: Amazon was named best customer service brand in 2012, so we're a little surprised that its feed's following is so small. In some cases, a majority of customer service issues may be resolved through email/chat or directly on the site itself. Amazon often re-routes customers to one of those venues. @rondoooly You can contact us directly by Phone, Chat or E-mail, simply use this link: amzn.to/HJawkJ ^JP — Amazon Help (@AmazonHelp) March 7, 2013 7. Best Buy: Big retailer Best Buy has multiple feeds for different customer needs: The "Twelpforce", the standard service feed, and the tech specialists in the "Geek Squad." @bigdumbhippy For details about our Low Price Guarantee, visit this page: bit.ly/ZiKIbR via @agent3012 — Twelpforce Best Buy (@twelpforce) March 4, 2013 @wtwh_msmedia That's a lot of hard drives. You can check out the Seagate ones we currently have on sale here, bbyurl.us/h07 ^MM — Best Buy Support (@BestBuySupport) March 7, 2013 @tay_schmied Try the USB debugging tools on the phone to help w/issue: bit.ly/Y0W5kQvia @agent3012 — Geek Squad (@GeekSquad) February 27, 2013 You don't have to have a separate customer service Twitter handle to treat your followers right, though: here are a few brands that combine their feeds. 8. JetBlue: This airline is well known for its customer service, even if related tweets often refer customers to 1-800 numbers or service delay information sites that can better answer their questions. @dnewark Flt 321 is delayed because the incoming aircraft is late. Current ETD is 4:30pm. Monitor flt status here: bit.ly/JBStatus — JetBlue Airways (@JetBlue) March 7, 2013 9. American Airlines: Staying on the airline theme, we all know that AA has quite a few PR problems, but customer service on Twitter does not appear to be one of them. This feed isn't strictly dedicated to CS, but its managers respond quickly to individual complaints, even if all they can say is "Sorry you hate your seat. Please speak to a flight attendant." @charbkm Hi Kristine, did you receive a file locator number in an automated e-mail when you filed the complaint? — American Airlines (@AmericanAir) March 7, 2013 10. Weight Watchers: Another brand that combines general information with replies to individual customers, many of which amount to congratulations on meeting their weight loss goals. Oh, and there's a separate feed for men: @kellymmccarthy3 Here is some helpful information on using eTools-bit.ly/WMsf1i — Weight Watchers (@WeightWatchers) March 7, 2013 @sonofayeloshirt Those are some pretty sweet accomplishments Dan — Lose Like a Man (@LoseLikeAMan) March 6, 2013 What do we think of these examples? Can we think of any that do customer service just as well or better on Twitter? And what do we think of reports claiming that brands are "stepping away from social media" as a customer service tool? And here's a final helpful tool: If you want to know how well you're doing in terms of customer service on Twitter, SimplyMeasured offers a free analysis.

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10 Brands That Do Customer Service Right on Twitter

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