How to reduce the response time to users in social networks?

According to the results of 2015, the Parallels customer support response rate on Twitter was about 30 minutes. And 24/7. Sounds impressive? To achieve this result, a lot of work has undoubtedly been done and we are ready to share some points that can help you and quickly and efficiently process requests in social networks.

One of the most important measures for technical support in social networks is the speed of response and responses to customer questions. People "in the subject" call this ART (average response time). According to independent research , 72% of customers who applied to companies on social networks expect a response within one (!) Hour. According to others , most companies respond to email inquiries within 8 hours. And this is on condition that you usually receive the promised response within 24 hours.

More and more people do not like to call tech support companies - the reason for this ( besides the one described here ) is that people do not want to be distracted completely from their affairs and devote a long time to solving problem issues. That is why social networks in our time come to the fore. This is not only a place where you can complain to your friends or post a photo of your dinner, but also quickly resolve your issues with companies that provide you with services or goods.
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Set the right expectations

If your Twitter account doesn’t process requests 24x7, be sure to mention the opening hours in the account description.


If the account slyady day and night, this information does not necessarily indicate.


If the working hours are not set, and the question from the client comes, for example, at night - when no one is watching the flow, then the client risks waiting for 6-8 hours until you come to the office.

To measure the speed of response, respectively, it is also necessary either 24x7, or only during working hours. There are free ways to measure both - the truth for a deeper analysis is likely to have to organize a paid account.

Below is a list of things that have helped us achieve good results on the speed of responses on Twitter. This resource is probably the most common social network for technical support.

Create and constantly refine vorkflou

Customer support in social networks should undoubtedly work side by side with “traditional” support, where calls, emails and chats are processed. Often, clients go to the social network to complain that they have not been called back, or do not respond to the email for a long time. But really having organized the process once, everything will always go "like clockwork"? Not certainly in that way. Processes change, respectively, you need to quickly change the instructions for employees. For example, when solving a problem is delayed, it is often easier to call.


As you understand, such instructions were introduced along the way and they need to be refined on an ongoing basis. In addition to the fact that the engineer can always write to his social network manager on Skype or email, we organized regular team meetings, where we analyze the situation in which we should answer differently, consider common questions and, exactly there , discuss innovations based on all these discussions.

Have in your arsenal response templates for new employees and wean experienced engineers from using them

Sounds like a paradox, doesn't it? But in fact, everything is easier than it seems. Response templates are needed by new employees to make them feel more confident left with customers 1: 1. Having gained more experience, it is necessary to move away from the use of templates, since for the most part they negatively affect the tone of the conversation. No one likes to communicate with bots, and the templates just sound that way.


With the development of technology, it becomes "fashionable" to replace people with robots. Just call any large company - first you have to go through the voice menu. Or try to open an application to the support - most likely you will have to fill in a number of fields and view ready-made solutions from the knowledge base. This is normal in our age. But what about social networks? Automate already this! There is a software which by keywords will post this or that answer. At this stage, we believe that this is not possible in social networks. In the social networks of the company, everything is too close to the client. Sometimes you need to show rippling, sometimes joking - talking a la "I am a robot" - is unacceptable when it comes to establishing good relations with customers.

Answer all relevant questions - regardless of complexity

Perhaps there is no such employee of customer support who would know the answer to all questions. Sometimes you need to consult with colleagues, and maybe even talk with the developers. But it is necessary to answer everything - and quickly.

There are several options:

1.If the problem is not urgent and nothing terrible happens if there is a “idle” day, then you can convert the tweet into the case.
To do this, simply ask to write a detailed description of the problem on the email technical support.


Alternatively, you can ask to send an email in a personal message - there you can act depending on the situation - either create a request for the client, or send the solution later with the same personal message.


2. The question is not related to your product or service?
Direct the customer in the right direction. This is much better than ignoring, or saying that “the moped is not mine.”


In our experience, these tips will work for Facebook. There are no reasons why this VC will not work - but we are not “cooking” there. Efficiency and accuracy of answers undoubtedly gives its results! Plus it certainly helps to grow the base of the folver.




By the way, on Facebook at first we did not set goals for speed of response. But with the active development of the Facebook messenger, we had to change. First they answered within three hours, then within an hour. Now the response rate on Facebook is already catching up with Twitter. And yes - no cheats like “automatic answers”! Although it is possible that auto-answers would be needed if tech support worked only during day / night hours.


Surely you have already thought - how many people are needed to provide round-the-clock monitoring of social networks? In fact, not so much. With effective work, seven people will cope with this task. But - attention - these employees may be existing customer support specialists. Just today, the employee answers the phone and chat, and tomorrow he is most of the time engaged in Twitter, Facebook and Forum. Of course, not without training and constant QA to improve performance.


We hope that the tips given in the article were useful to you. The head of our online user support service, Andrei Golokha, will be happy to answer your questions in the comments to the article or directly on Twitter .