Here is a summary of tips and best practices on customer care in the new social environment from Lisa Larson of Drugstore.com. Source: Katie O’Connell

Lisa’s Philosophy

“Customers don’t want you to tell them what to buy or do, they want you to educate them and then let them make the decisions; that is being part of a community and that is what social media is all about.”

Lisa’s Social Media Tips

1. Don’t try to solve the entire issue on Twitter. Instead, direct customers to chat live with agents where they can have a conversation.
2. Use social media as an opportunity to educate, send links to help pages where you have more than 140 characters to answer basic questions.
3. Keep customer care and marketing/brand Twitter accounts separate; they each serve a different purpose and the content is distinctly different.
4. Monitor social media sites to hear what is being said about your brand and customer service.
5. Include your Twitter account in outbound agent emails; at drugstore.com every email includes “follow our director on Twitter.” Senior level engagement in social media helps keep agents accountable.
6. Be careful, be smart, be honest – social media is instantaneous and permanent.
7. Have controls in place, such as social media guidelines for employees. Be sure to use only experienced agents to respond to customers on social media sites; you can’t have gun slingers.
8. Treat social media like any other customer care channel; track exchanges on Twitter so they can be captured in your customer experience system just like an email or phone call.