Nissan Declares Facebook New Hub for Customer Service

As one of the most rapidly growing automotive brands for social media presence, Nissan sees the increased use of Facebook from its customers for sending complaints and praise as a sign of the times. AutoTrader and Automotive News reported on the shift Nissan has been experiencing from questions posed to their 1-800 number to their Facebook page.

The widespread growth in consumer reviews moving to social media rather than just specific review sites may be part of the issue, but regardless of customer motivation, as Facebook use grows, call centers may shrink in favor of larger social media teams.

“People are less inclined to pick up a telephone and call you for information. They don’t want to wait. They don’t want to be told that an operator will be with you shortly,” said Erich Marx, Nissan’s director of marketing communications, responsible for social media. “They just want to send you an e-mail. Or they send you a text, or they post something on Facebook.”

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This revolution of social media for customer interaction and customer service, as well as reputation management, is why many brands are turning to software solutions to help manage their customer service needs on these broader levels.

All Facebook offers some advice for increasing success with Facebook customer service. For instance, always reply, whether to thank praises or resolve complaints. Always respond to customers on your own page rather than theirs. Monitor your page regularly, as the attention you give customers on social media should be equal to what you give calls and emails. And be sure to add some personality to your responses so that customers understand they are dealing with a person and not an automated response.

Facebook and other social media sites could very well replace or at least highly compete with the amount of calls coming into call centers for customer service. Are you ready with your social media team?