Among various applications of Twitter, CRM is one of the most popular. Twitter being most popular listening and real time response platform among Social Media, enables organizations better serve their customers. Find out how can you leverage Twitter as CRM tool through this special story done by Pioneer newspaper on Mar 13, 2011.

1. {special} 04
The Sunday Magazine March 13 2011
With the changing face of multimedia, more people want jects like soccer, cricket, festivals in order to
build a larger conversation base on what peo-
to get pass the monotoned customer care executives
ple love most and with it build brand image,”
says Airtel spokesperson.
unable to address their problem. Twitter is not only
The companies believe that the viral quo-
tient of Twitter gives them an opportunity to
connect with a huge customer base to pro-
helping companies to make them more visible online mote a service or get candid feedback and, at
times, even act like a sparkplug to get fresh
but it also helps customers to reach out to the brands and innovative ideas.
According to ICICI Bank, many users like
for everything — from queries to complaints. the option of posting their comments, opin-
ions and concerns to them on Twitter. “We
NEHA VERMA tells you about how social networking have, therefore, instituted a process of call-
ing them back to understand their
is now being used as a CRM tool needs and respond to them. This fea-
ture complements our traditional com-
munication channels like our call cen-
tre. We view Twitter and other digital
platforms as opportunities for extend-
ing our customer service and brand
management efforts,” ICICI spokesper-
son tells you.
Is their main criteria is to increase
sale on Twitter? “I would say a large
number of brands do want to impact their
sales but doing direct sales and promotion
on Twitter doesn’t work. It is about cre-
ative conversations and building relation-
ships. Those brand who do this well suc-
ceed others who look for shortcuts by
doing direct promotions fail,” Chopra
states.
Given fact that the users are talking on
Twitter about the products and services
they consume, brands don’t have an option
but to listen to them. “That’s the key reason
why we are seeing companies getting active
on Twitter. In the offline world, a dissatisfied
customer has limited say but in a transparent
medium like Twitter, customer is king. Also,
given its real time, the response rate is faster
and convenient than writing a mail or making
a call,” Chopra says.
Twitter@yourservice
But will it replace the existing traditional
channels of communication with the cus-
tomer? “Customers use Twitter because it has
its own advantages. It allows customers to
request us to contact them without having to
wait for support on a toll-free line. Though
Twitter has some advantages over other com-
munication methods, it is not likely to
become a full replacement for traditional
communication channels. For instance, we
t happened with Pradeep Chopra, director
TWITTER IS BECOMING A would still need to get confidential customer
I of Digital Vidya, in January 2010, when he
was supposed to receive a parcel from
ICICI Bank. He kept waiting for 15 days but
POTENT PUBLIC FORUM. POST
A GRIEVANCE AND GET IT
information like account details through tra-
ditional and secure channels. This can’t be
done on an open channel. Likewise we do not
neither did he receive the parcel nor any calls expect people to be on Twitter all the time
related to it. It seemed as if ICICI Bank had ADDRESSED SPEEDILY AS and therefore, may need to communicate
completely forgotten about it. To enquire
about it, he went to the bank, the bank asked
ORGANISATIONS FEAR BAD through other channels. For us, Twitter is an
additional channel of communication. Our
for 15 days time to look into the matter. PUBLICITY AND THE SPIRAL overall strategy is to track all channels of
Fifteen days passed but there was no
response. Chopra again went to check with
EFFECT OF THEIR BAD IMAGING communication, including Twitter and
Facebook, and to respond through these sites
the bank. Three months passed and the par- IS SOMETHING THEY QUICKLY as well as through e-mail and telephone to
cel remained undelivered.
During the span of three months Chopra
NEED TO STOP. YOU TWEET, deliver an optimal level of customer service,”
says ICICI spokesperson.
visited the bank thrice and made several calls AND SOMEONE TAKES IT According to Airtel, the number of cus-
to the bank, but to no avail. A social media
expert, he used Twitter to find a solution. He
FORWARD WITH A RE-TWEET. tomers approaching them Twitter is growing
exponentially every month. ICICI responds to
tweeted about it, “ICICI Bank customer ser- SOON, THE ENTIRE NETWORK about 40 to 50 per cent of customer care
vice s**ks. Three visits to the branch but
problem is still there. Worst, they don’t even
HAS IT requests on Twitter.
MTV India with 1,89, 413 followers is the
care about calling back.” top Indian brand on Twitter. This is not at all
This tweet spread like wild fire when calling them infinite number of times or send surprising as most of the Twitter users in
another friend of Chopra’s, Gireesh Sharma e-mails and keep waiting for days. Twitter is India consist of youngsters. NDTV with
re-tweeted in support. “Even I am sick of becoming a potent public forum to go, post a 1,41,703 fans, uses Twitter quite extensively,
ICICI Bank, India. Large bank, very poor ser- grievance and get it addressed speedily as primarily as a broadcast medium. The power
vice. Heading to become Lehman Brothers!”, organisations fear bad publicity and the spiral of Twitter as a news streaming source was
it said. effect of their bad imaging is something they realised during the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist
Within a few hours Chopra got a quickly need to stop. You tweet, and someone attacks.
response from the bank. On Twitter the bank takes it forward with a re-tweet. Soon, the Twitter is a fantastic medium for resolu-
asked for his contact number. They tweeted, entire network has it. “I was facing problems tion of customer problems and also letting
“Sorry to hear that. Anything we can do to with Airtel. The customer care was unable to others know about how fast your resolution is.
regain your confidence in ICICI Bank. Happy address my problem despite many calls. It was A happy customer may tell a friend, but an
to have someone reach out to you. Direct then I tweeted, that was further taken up by unhappy customer tells everybody.
Message (DM) your contacts.” my friends. Within a few hours, I got a call “It is estimated that over 4.5 million peo-
Within a few days the problem was sort- from a senior manager with Airtel. The prob- ple visit twitter.com in a month. It is being
ed. The branch manager came home and per- lem was sorted in two days,” says Gagan used as a great tool by organisations for objec-
sonally delivered the parcel! Ratra, an IT expert. tives like CRM and customer engagement,
Chopra’s case is just one of the many What is it that makes these brands so brand building and promotion, lead genera-
examples where Twittter is being used as a active on Twitter? “As a large percentage of tion, market research, news distribution,
public grieviance system. There is now a way the population moves online, we believe that imparting education, event promotion. Even
to get past monotoned customer care execu- Twitter and other social media tools are plat- innovative examples such as Tweet to Order by
tives who do everything but help! Tweets are forms which will aid in building conversation Faasos — an eating joint in Pune that sells
not only helping brands to drive their pres- with consumers. Airtel, with its support han- kathis, wraps and rolls. They launched tweet to
ence and reach out to customers online but encourages short posts and is viewed as fast around the world. Brands feel that people dles (airtel_in and airtel_presence) on Twitter order for home delivery. A person can tweet
also helping customers to reach out to the and convenient; it acts as an unfiltered plat- come to view Twitter as a source of latest and Facebook, is building conversations with their order and register their details with them
brands. form for people to communicate and under- news and updates. consumers. Its engagement with the online for the first time and for subsequent orders
Service sector claims that Twitter’s popu- stand others’ views and it acts as a great According to consumers, it is easier to world is not restricted to business and cus- they just have to tweet their order without
larity is largely due to three reasons: It source of updates and information from catch hold of brands on Twitter rather than tomers complaints but centered around sub- calling them,” concludes Chopra.