Social Support infuses the social media experience into a Support organization and it is something that, if you don't pay attention, could bring your business to its knees.  But why all the buzz around social media when it comes to Support?  Before I answer this question, let me take you back to what Support used to be like (be advised this could be painful).

Many years ago, you called into Support and waited on hold, listening to the worse elevator music you could imagine.  Sometimes I wonder if it wasn’t just a ploy to get people to hang up.  But we were tough and stayed on the line, most of the time for 15 minutes or more.  How could companies make you wait that long?  Don’t they know you have a job to do?  Of course they do, but remember this…you paid a fee for entitlement to call support and wait.  Amazing that customers had to deal with this type of service and even more amazing is that customers began to accept this type of service.  Oh but it didn’t stop there.  You finally get through and you are all ready to explain the issue when the person answering the phone informs you that they are only here to validate your support entitlement.  Okay, you are entitled so now you will get right through to the support rep right?  Wrong!  You are placed on hold again, same music, same wait.  It pains me to say that in my 23 years in building out Support organizations, these were exactly the type of centers that were considered top-notch.  *hanging my head* It’s just shameful.

But in today’s world, with today’s economy and more and more companies vying to stay in the game and cross the chasm of success, the Support centers of yester-year can no longer be acceptable.  The rules of the game have changed from “bring in revenue” to “WOWing customers” which in turn will bring in revenue and create the customer loyalty needed to gain market share.  Today’s customers are pragmatic.  They want to know that they will see their return on their investment.  But once they make the investment, they want to know that the company will partner with them to make it happen.  That they won’t be lost in the preverbal black-hole of nothingness called “Support.”  And how do you ensure that this won’t happen, introducing Social Support!

Social Support is about creating a support environment that encompasses a community feel, where customers can ask questions and get answers, create discussion threads, share information, post content and help others through collaboration.

Now I could go into all the great reasons why this is the new wave of today and the future.  Starting with the fact it is driven and created by the customer for the customer; or the great ROI any company wanting to “get lean” in today’s economy will receive, but I will let our case study from Forrester speak for itself.

My advice, throw out your old case tracking systems and start looking for systems that incorporate Social Support into their solution.