Brands move online to join conversations

• Consumers turn to web for help
• Bypassing traditional customer service
• Out to join online conversations'

Singapore - With consumers now preferring to head online instead of using unreliable call centres to find some customer service, more and more brands are tapping into the power of these online conversations to retain their all-important customer base in the current economic climate.

That's the view of salesforce.com who has seen an increasing number of brands using its ‘Service Cloud' platform - which allows companies to join the conversations in web communities, social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, or searches on Google. The ‘Service Cloud' platform basically allows companies to capture all the information being shared about their brand online and to use it to benefit both the company and customers.

Andrew Knott, vice president of marketing Asia Pacific for salesforce.com, said this big shift into the digital world has been consumer-led and the way people interact online with their peers is quickly moving into the business world.

"Particularly in a tough economic climate like this, people are doubling down on their customer base," Knott said.

"What's been extraordinary is the rate of investment in customer service and support but the level of perceived customer satisfaction hasn't changed one iota. If you have a problem with your Nokia, are you going to call SingTel or Nokia? No, what you're going to do is go on the web like everybody else and Google it and look for a solution.

"What I think you're going to see are pockets of organisations across Asia Pacific more inclined to embrace it than others but the economic crisis is forcing companies to look at things differently. If you're not out there winning a lot of new business then the number one thing is to make sure you maintain your customer base."

One example is Comcast, an international communications company which specialises in broadband cable, commerce, and content. They suffered huge embarrassment and negative press when one of their technicians went to fix a cable modem, fell asleep and the home owner then filmed him before placing the video up on YouTube.

They now have Frank Eliason, the Comcast director of digital care, working fulltime on Twitter to respond to any tweets being posted about the company.

"This is where you're going to see the transformation occur - companies are being forced to change and forced to consider other ways of doing things," Knott says.