Electronic Retailer - November 2011 - 31

For instance, Shadding says, Cyber City handles sales and service contacts for a major maker of toys and educational products. That now means that Shadding’s agents take phone calls, monitor the client’s Facebook page, and engage in chat or email exchanges with people who choose one of the “Contact Us” options on the client’s website. The volume of email that Cyber City handles for this client alone has increased fivefold in the past year, Shadding says. About 85 or 90 percent of those email exchanges have to do with customer service rather than sales, he says: “‘Where’s my order?’ or ‘I’m confused about something on the website.’ That kind of thing.” This toy company also illustrates how clients who are out in front of the new-media wave can present entirely new kinds of challenges. The company uses social media – Facebook, in particular – to promote special offers, weekly sales and other bargains. That can create sudden spikes in volume at the call center that are much harder to predict and plan for than the spikes generated by traditional DR campaigns. “[The client] gives us as much notice as they can, but sometimes that can mean an hour,” Shadding says. “If their marketing director gets an idea on a weekend, it goes right up on Facebook.” Shadding predicts that the idea of using social media for quick promotions will catch on with more companies. He points out that online discount-coupon provider Groupon has been known to generate the consumer equivalent of flash mobs – buying mobs, if you will – at local businesses that offer especially attractive discounts on a “today only” basis. In the near future, he says, call centers may routinely confront such buying mobs, whipped up by clients on a moment’s notice. From a call center’s perspective, social media also have exacerbated a phenomenon sparked by the internet itself: the better-informed caller. For years, phone agents have been dealing with sales and service calls from people who have already studied a company’s

website and know quite a bit about the product under discussion. Today, those callers also may have reviewed consumer comments about the product on social media sites. That means agents can hear some tough, insightful questions. As West’s Kempkes puts it: “The more information is available, the more relevant the questions [consumers ask]. Our agents have to be more fluid and more fluent to handle the calls they get.” If the blogosphere is buzzing with criticism of a company or its product, the agent’s job can be especially tough. Since the advent of social media, says Shadding, the internet now gives companies “no place to hide.” And the pace of change keeps accelerating. “This is still just Version 1.0,” Shadding says. “Who knows what’s next? We’re all trying to change a tire while the car is still moving. You just have to watch it and prepare yourself as best you can.”

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November 2011 | electronicRETAILER

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Electronic Retailer - November 2011

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