58% of people who have tweeted about a bad experience never received a response from the offending company. It’s an astounding statistic given the fact that customers who engage with brands online report spending 20% to 40% more on that company’s products.

Based on these stats, it seems natural that most companies should have considered optimizing customer moments on social channels to build loyalty, developing brand advocates, and ultimately driving more sales. Yet despite the buzz, few businesses today are equipped with the strategy and tactics to make their customer service social.

One of the few brands that has succeeded in taming social customer service is Vodafone.

How Vodafone went from Social Media Oversight to Customer Obsession

Vodafone is the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company. Their Australian division provides 3G coverage to 94% of Australians. Back in 2010, Vodafone’s Australian customers began experiencing major network outages and difficulties accessing voice and data. Consumers took to social networks and other digital media to voice their concerns.

According to Erik Jacobsen, Online Development and System Strategy Manager at Vodafone, the company saw a 2,500% growth in negative social media interactions.

“We knew that we couldn’t afford to not listen to our customers,” said Jacobsen. “Vodafone had to close the gap between customer expectations and delivery.”

To quickly re-engage their customers and change brand sentiment, Vodafone engaged global business consulting firm Bluewolf to:

1. Design and execute a multi-channel customer strategy, including an implementation of Salesforce Service Cloud, live chat, and self-service.
   
   Thanks to the Vodafone multichannel approach, customers can pick the forum where they want to voice question or complaint -- this can be Twitter, Facebook, email or chat. A seamless experience for the customer equals an engaged, happy customer.
2. Employ a suite of social tools including the Salesforce Marketing Cloud to monitor and manage brand sentiment.
   
   With the ability to monitor brand sentiment, Vodafone is able to deal with crisis situations, reach new audiences, and assess competitive activity.
3. Set up the Social Hub to integrate social conversations as live cases in the Service Cloud.
   
   With this additional functionality and the appropriate processes, Vodafone is able to quickly route feedback internally so that they can engage with customers faster, thereby improving customer satisfaction.

Vodafone now leads the industry in social media response and social customer service. Some key metrics:

• 4x the number of positive social interactions with their customers.
• 2x the number of customers using self-service.
• 2x visitors rate online help and support as “yes, this was helpful.”

Similar to Vodafone, forward thinking organizations are looking to align both their technologies and their culture around a more social vision of service. They are arming employees with tools that allow them to collaborate across the customer lifecycle, and transform every department and customer touch into a high-value communication that is “customer obsessed.”

To hear more from Vodafone about their social customer service transformation story and learn how you can replicate it, join the webinar “Vodafone: From Social Media Oversight to Customer Obsession” on 2/26 @ 3pm PT. The last 15 minutes will be devoted to Q&A so you will be able to get your questions answered by Vodafone, Bluewolf, and salesforce.com.