Unhappy customers who take their complaints directly to company websites are easy to deal with. But six out of 10 people who vent their spleens about brands on social media never get a response from customer service. So says Marina Kalika, senior director of product marketing for the chat solutions provider TouchCommerce, which today introduces TouchSocial to address the issue.
When a social listening tool detects negative sentiment being expressed about a brand, TouchSocial uses APIs to issue forth dedicated URLs that are embedded in social posts. Consumers can then interact directly with the brand through social media or shift the conversation to a chat function on the brand’s website.
“What’s new about this solution for marketers is its ability to move the engagement from a public to a private chat. Social grievances can then be aired quietly and dealt with,” Kalika says.
In deciding to add TouchSocial to its other chat solutions such as TouchStore and TouchMedia, the company called on research from Brandwatch contending that 80% of customers who pose tough questions to brands on social media expect responses from those brands within 24 hours.
