In the last few years, many large companies have taken to Twitter as an additional channel for customer service. Zappos is a prime example of how companies have utilized Twitter as an option for customers to reach out to the company with comments, questions, and complaints. Companies are also beginning to use Facebook to address requests for customer service, responding to comments left on the walls of their Facebook pages. These customer service conversations usually occur with members of a company’s customer service team, and are identified in some way when interacting with customers using social media, usually by ending a response with their initials, such as “^KC.”

Zappos does this especially well. A specific member of its customer service team also handles any issues via social media during a shift. Reading Zappos’ Twitter stream, each team member is introduced at the beginning of their shift via Twitter by the previous person on shift, and this person interacts with customers using their initials. This not only humanizes the brand, allowing customers to feel like they are talking to a real person, but empowers the employee to directly impact the experience of each customer that reaches Zappos via this medium.

Giving employees a voice in in social media cuts out middlemen and bottlenecks when dealing with customer service issues. Employees who use social media to act as the “voice” of the brand should be trained about policy and procedure, and your company should establish what types of issues should be elevated and what types of questions, complaints, and concerns can be handled directly by the employee. Empowering employees to use social media can remove bottlenecks that form when employees must consult management about every customer service situation. Of course, it also makes employees feel more empowered about their own control and investment in the business or brand, as well.

When giving your employees a voice via social media to use social media for business, be sure to establish clear guidelines, and as always, have a backup plan in case something goes wrong. Early this year an employee of the Red Cross accidentally tweeted about drinking from the Red Cross account instead of his or her personal account — an easy mistake anyone managing multiple accounts can make. These mistakes can and will happen, but be prepared for how your business will react if an employee acting as the voice of your brand says or does something inappropriate — whether by accident or by malicious intent.