Customer service through Messenger

Facebook’s ecosystem means the internet itself to a huge number of people. In short, to counter app bloat, they’re building systems to make sure that users can interact with web businesses through their platform. Whether this is a good thing or not is a different debate altogether, but it allows for a frictionless customer experience – if utilized correctly.

Facebook Messenger as a customer support agent 

One such way to use this is to integrate your chat support operations through Facebook messenger.

Messenger is now handling about 10% of all internet traffic (according to their numbers), so if you utilize this correctly, it can be a game changer.

The benefit to the customer is obvious, and with Messenger’s API and bot platform, you can build a powerful support channel that’s connected with your CRM or other systems.

Some handy use cases for providing chat support through Facebook

– If you keep your response time below 5 minutes, you get a badge and your customers will be more inclined to resolve their issues this way, instead of navigating to your web page and trying to find your chat box there.

– If you have an e-commerce business with a low number of customer touch points, this is a great way to have one. Furthermore, since it’s conversational, even if they just had a specific question, by keeping the conversation going you can gain better insights on what your clients wishes are – and they may just hop back to have another question answered.

– Facebook wall posts can be turned into Messenger conversations, should someone complain that way. Just make sure that once you resolved their issue in private, make a public comment on it as well.

Tools to use

There’s an increasing number of services that provide “social” CRM or support Messenger directly. Here are a few:

– Zendesk

– Agorapulse

– Smooch.io

– Conversiocal

This is an interesting space, and expect many companies to follow suit.

If your team is more about tinkering with code than using external services, the Messenger bot platform is a great way to hack your existing CRM software together with the chat support software you’re already utilizing. Indeed, Smooch and Sameroom offer turnkey solutions for this.

Utilizing the bot platform allows you to send your customers products or special offers directly. Why have them call to order a pizza when you can just send them the menu with buy buttons?

Things to look out for

The boon of chat support that it has to be “alive”. Long queue times or incidental operating hours can ruin trust, so make sure you both communicate clearly and commit the necessary resources for a smooth operation. Be considerate also of the loads your support team will have to bear in busier seasons (such as the year end holidays) or when marketing is making a bigger push.

You can also gain an edge in using customer support automation tools, such as intelligent chat bots. As we’re in this space, if you would like to learn more please read our guide on chat bots, or contact us directly.