Conversocial, a provider of cloud-based social customer service solutions, has unveiled CROWDS, an application that gives brand supporters the ability to help other customers by responding to technical and support issues posted on Twitter. A recently commissioned study by Conversocial found that nearly half of the younger generation prefers social media over forums for customer service, with the number steadily increasing. Although many brands have benefited from building peer-to-peer support communities on traditional Internet forums in the last decade, this misses out on customers who are posting about issues on social networking sites like Twitter. CROWDS solves this issue, bringing the peer-to-peer support approach (with contact center oversight) into the mobile, social generation.
Conversocial’s easily accessible CROWDS app is beneficial for brands that have a knowledgeable and passionate base of advocates, either inside or outside the organization. It connects the passion and knowledge of crowd experts with customer questions on Twitter, creating a community as a service platform. Companies that launch programs through CROWDS can expect to see increased customer satisfaction, extended word of mouth, improved customer loyalty and reduced costs for effective customer service.
Crowd experts can earn points for their activity and monitor their performance on leaderboards, receiving tangible rewards for the passion and knowledge they bring to their favorite brands. CROWDS encourages collaboration between brand advocates and contact center agents, ensuring accuracy in responses and creating peer-to-peer resolution. Crowd expert performance and activity metrics are then carefully tracked in Conversocial’s enterprise-class platform allowing users to efficiently leverage this peer-to-peer support.
“Today’s consumers are in better control and have a louder voice than ever before, making it imperative that companies empower their biggest supporters to become part of the fabric of their brands,” said Joshua March, Conversocial CEO and founder, in a statement. “CROWDS allows companies to build brand advocacy and reduce support costs while rewarding the next generation of their most loyal, well-informed customers.”