Chapter 15. Community Managers and Customer Service 2.0

The Social Web levels the playing field, giving both businesses and everyday people access to powerful tools and services to share their voices, opinions, and experiences with their peers. It also enables them to shape perceptions and decisions, and build long-term relationships. In the new world of PR, communications professionals must listen to and observe (and sometimes engage) today’s world of new influencers. By new influencers, we’re referring to people just like you and me. They could be customers, peers, employees, partners, enthusiasts, influential bloggers, reporters, or analysts. This dynamic of listening to and engaging in everyday dialogue is often referred to as the conversation.

With new and meaningful conversations proliferating the blogosphere every day, an important question arises. We’re thinking seriously about this question because the answer affects the future of the PR industry. Who actually owns the conversations, and is it possible that ownership and responsibility belong to more than one person or department in an organization? Thought leaders are currently discussing who should own the responsibility of conversing with stakeholders. Some argue that PR, marcom, or advertising should take the lead because these areas in a company are the watchful eye and monitor the brand messages. In contrast, others are demonstrating that new hybrids of traditional customer service teams can manage the responsibility. With Social Media and the ability to publish an opinion almost instantly, traditional customer service might not be equipped to handle an extreme influx of inquiries, especially during a situation that requires immediate damage control. For example, when Apple launched its iPhone at a price point of $600 and then two months later significantly lowered the price, the blogosphere was filled with angry Apple customers blasting the company. The news spread via the Social Media highway with every new blog post, link, tweet, and podcast. This example tells us that the easy answer to the question is that every facet of a business is responsible for its channel of social monitoring and interaction. However, depending on the organization, the answer lies directly within each department.