Social business is the future!

My name is Kiki van Wersch and I am 25 years old. I have a diploma in Communication from Leeuwenborgh Regional Training Centre and I have been employed at the Q-Park Customer Service Desk (QCD) since 2014. In early 2016 Q-Park decided to become more actively involved in social media, also called webcare. Logically enough, it was decided to make QCD responsible for this, because webcare involves using digital means to answer questions, provide answers, and solve problems. These are also the core responsibilities of the QCD department.

In practice, this means that I respond to Twitter and Facebook messages on a daily basis. Clients who contact us through Twitter ask brief questions or make brief comments, because Twitter messages have a 140-character limit. Clients who contact us through Facebook often tell about their experiences in detail. This means that Twitter requires a different approach than Facebook.

I encountered certain issues when I first got started, such as deciding how to respond to a client. Our department generally communicates with clients in a very formal and businesslike manner. But on Facebook clients communicate with the company in a more informal way. For this reason Q-Park decided to take a more informal tone for communication through Facebook.

I believe that social media has become an essential part of modern life, for businesses as well as private individuals, and its importance will only increase in the future. Social media can be used by businesses for a variety of purposes, including improving name recognition, increasing turnover, decreasing costs, increasing traffic, and providing an extra sales channel. But although it provides many benefits, there are also some negative aspects to social media.

For instance, it is often used to put pressure on businesses. Clients know that their question or complaint has more influence because it can be seen, shared, or 'liked' by everyone. For this reason I think carefully about the influence my answers can have. The customer is always right; but at the same time, everyone deserves equal respect and set procedures ought to be followed.

Most questions can be answered quickly and easily; it takes much less time to provide an answer via social media than it does to answer a question submitted by means of a contact form. On social media, clients often react immediately with a positive message, which makes using social media enjoyable.

The employees in the QCD team have a wide range of ages. As a result, everyone approaches social media in a different way, which is fun but also challenging. People who don't use Facebook in their private lives often find it a difficult means of communication. Poor answers can have major consequences. Fortunately, Q-Park provides a lot of internal training sessions, and our team leader is always happy to help us if we're unsure of the right way to answer a client's question.

I expect that social media will completely take the place of telephones and letters in the future. Young people have a more casual attitude and respond to things quickly, so they also want answers quickly. Even if the answer itself takes more time, it's still easy to tweet or post a message back. Our world is changing rapidly! These days clients usually contact us on Facebook or Twitter, but I expect that WhatsApp will soon be an option, and possibly even Pinterest or Instagram. Social business is the future!