Cosmetics company Lush recently revealed that they plan to step away from social media, instead focusing on their website, email, and phonelines for customer service and support. In an official statement, they said:
“”Increasingly, social media is making it harder and harder for us to talk to each other directly. […] So we’ve decided it’s time to bid farewell to some of our brand social channels – Lush UK, Lush Kitchen, Lush Times, Lush Life, Soapbox and Gorilla across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – and open up the conversation between the Lush Community and us instead”.
This move surprised many people, not least marketeers, as social marketing and digital customer outreach has been a focus for many companies in recent years. While telephony has the opportunity to provide a much more personalised customer service experience, social media does have different benefits. For inbound operations, social channels provide fast, direct response to customers and allows them to send questions or details of any issues, then read responses at a time convenient to them. Social customer service is not suitable for every company, but for such a large, customer-centric company such as Lush, this move is certainly a risk.
Each company needs a different approach to customer service, tailored to a variety of different factors such as size, customer base, brand identity and resources. In general, Ant Marketing recommends that all companies use a comprehensive, multi-channel strategy in order to give customers as many “touch points” as possible, allowing them to choose their preferred method of contact.
We work with a wide range of organisations to assist them with their customer service strategies, providing experienced agents and quality resources. Our customer service expertise is not simply limited to receiving telephone enquiries; we facilitate the multi-channel approach with web chat, SMS and social media too, as these all play important roles in maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction.
If you would like more information on Ant Marketing’s inbound customer service offerings, take a look at our service page here. You can also contact us for more information on how we can help you.
