Customers are increasingly using social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to communicate with companies for technical support, filing complaints, and more.  Let’s suppose your organization is listening to the social media space.  Are you equipped to use social media to lend a helping hand?  A customer’s S.O.S gone unanswered can lead to a public relations nightmare.

A few brands are expertly using social media as part of their customer relations. I experienced this first-hand, when I recently contacted Citrix for support.

I was having trouble integrating a missing feature on Citrix’s GoToTraining platform. At first, I contacted them by phone, and my first encounter with a representative was less than pleasant.  So, I asked to be transferred to a manager.  A few minutes later, I spoke to a manager who assured me that he would get back to me by close of business that day.

The next morning, after not receiving a return phone call as promised, I sent a direct message via Twitter to David Baeza, Vice-President at Citrix:

I had already made up my mind that I wouldn’t get the help I needed and contacted a competitor.  But, to my surprise, David responded promptly:

Less than one hour later, I received a direct message from the Citrix GoToMeeting Team:

Within minutes, Andrew, a GoToTraining technical team member, called me.  We discussed my problem and quickly determined a solution. The result was a very satisfied customer.  But that wasn’t it!  Later on that evening I received the following tweet:

It took me no time at all to click on the twitgift website and enter my shipping address. I immediately received the following notice:

My gift of a dozen chocolate chip cookies arrived yesterday.  They were delicious!  I also received a direct call from David Baeza after this exchange.

Three things Citrix got right:

Rapid social media response. Companies can no longer afford to respond slowly to customer inquiries. Citrix’s rapid social media response led to a positive outcome.

Top executive use of social media. By communicating directly with customers, Citrix’s top management humanizes the organization and lets customers know that they are listening, responsive, and care about individuals.

Sending a gift. Citrix communicates that they are willing to go above and beyond to support their customers. The gesture was the icing on the cake – or cookie!  And it left me with a memorable impression of the Citrix brand.

In all, my experience with Citrix on Twitter was a perfect example of how a business can expedite and improve customer relations using social media.  If not for the interaction, I would surely have taken my business elsewhere.  Instead, they created a loyal, satisfied customer.  Great job, Citrix. And thank you, twitgift!