Paradigm Shift: How Customer Service Moved From The BPO To The Social Media Boom

Way back in 2003, the Philippines entered its BPO (business process outsourcing) phase. It turned out to be a blessing for the millennial Filipino demographic, as the term “customer service” was quite in its development stage in this part of the world.

The 2000’s and Its BPO Boom

Businesses and people learned a lot about the potential of customer service and IT services in the Philippines because call center jobs were considered a craze at the time and everybody wanted to experience taking a bite on a piece of the pie.

Who wouldn’t want to? BPO packages include attractive salaries, world-class and air-conditioned office spaces, a global work environment, no specific dress code and other perks and benefits. What else could a jobless Filipino fresh grad want at the time, when finding a decent job in the market was a challenge in itself?

A CSR Revolution Was in Vogue

Suddenly, Filipinos learned about world-class standards of customer service and how important it was for the survival of the industry. The call center boom continued — before social media.

During the 2010’s, countries like the Philippines, China, Malaysia, and India were immersed in the BPO scene. The agents in these countries where inculcated with soft skills and a commitment to offering the best customer experience and proactively pleasing the customer.

Customer Service in the Era of Netizens

Today, we are living in the age where social media is The “IN” Thing – but, everything still depends on how good you provide customer service. The industry has grown to be more competitive these days; and businesses need to provide exceptional customer service not only to fend off competitors but also to survive.

In the age of digital marketing and social media, customer service is also 360 degrees. Businesses are now utilizing social media pages, Facebook fan pages, hotline numbers, and email addresses, through which clients can reach them, register a complaint or simply vent out.

It is crucial to address their concerns in a timely manner so that the situation doesn’t get out of hand, leading to an escalation or a negative feedback by a client may go viral. Twitter can be utilized as an effective customer service tool where one can get customer service in real time. If a company offers active customer service on Twitter, they will act in a timely manner.

Facebook is also a good medium to market your products, as well as provide customer service. Facebook users can send their complaints or get customer service during instances where normal customer service cannot provide instant help.

Conclusion

In the online world, you must be timely in providing customer service and able to think beyond the box and offer solutions to handle upset customers. An upset client may share his bad experience with your business to an online community, which is very hard to control. Using social media like Facebook and Twitter to offer excellent customer service is a crucial step in retaining or growing your clientele.