When it comes to mastering customer service on social media, who does it best? Look no further than the watering bowl. It’s the pet industry.

Dog and cat lovers may be some of the most loyal (and at times most demanding) customers around, so having a strong customer strategy is key. Social Media Club St. Louis recently hosted a discussion with 3 industry experts to explore the importance of having strong service level agreements (SLAs), how to deliver a clear, authentic voice and how mastering customer interaction can have ripple effects on a brand’s reputation.

Our Experts

Jessica Cooke, Owner of Yuppy Puppy Pet Spa

Jessica opened Yuppy Puppy in 2003, a holistic pet hotel, spa, enrichment play, training, self wash and boutique. The company now has two locations with over 25,000 clients. Yuppy won coolest pet place in America in 2021 and was recently voted top three businesses in St. Charles county.

Teresa Miller, Owner at Treats Unleashed

Treats Unleashed, a natural pet supply store for modern pet parents, was started in 2002 to improve the lives of the pets and people in our community. Teresa’s team has grown to include twelve stores in Missouri and Kansas with over one hundred compassionate pet professionals. Her shops specialize in personalized service with an advanced knowledge of pet nutrition. Combine their specialized knowledge with a love for pets and you get Treats Unleashed.

Terri DeMent, Director of Customer Service at Nestlé Purina North America

Terri’s love for service is the common thread with her 27 years in the consumer care industry. Terri has been involved in all areas of service delivery with an extensive background on developing and activating consumer engagement strategies. In her current role, Terri works to reshape and advance service by leveraging digital innovations and driving agility within Purina’s core and direct-to-consumer businesses.

Social Media Customer Service Tips

What does good social media customer service look like in the pet industry?

Good social media customer service is thoughtful. Recommendations fit you and your pet, and ideally, Teresa tells us, “Our interaction invites you to be part of our community.”

Within Purina, happy customers often show the social media team they are satisfied through increased likes

How do you deal with negative comments?

Terri – Purina’s audience is not shy about sharing feedback because many people care deeply about their pets and the experiences they have with products and services. When dealing with negative comments, Terri’s team of 30 social media professionals stays cool & calm, shares the facts (about for example the health of dog or cat food), and demonstrates the science that backs up their products.

Teresa – When you have a physical location like a pet treat shop, many people will not tell you face to face if they are unhappy, but they are more than willing to share those sentiments online. Whether they’re not happy about grooming or anything else, you’re likely to hear about it through reviews, comments, and tagged posts. When that happens, it is important to reach out and let the customer know that you always want to make a good faith effort to work through the issue.

How do you handle blocking?

Jessica – If the person is being respectful despite being upset, you always want to reach out through private/direct messages and try to move to a phone call. That gives you the best chance of resolving the situation with a highly upset customer.

Terri – Due to Purina’s size, the legal team has provided clear guidelines about how to handle moderation and blocking. Purina exercises common limits such as no profanity or threats. Purina also leans on the platform rules because places like Twitter and Facebook have their own standards that do not require users or businesses to recreate the wheel.

How do you make your social media interaction feel intimate and personal?

Terri – Treat social media users like the real people they are. Ensure your content and interactions do not feel repetitive, and try to keep the individual in mind whether posting new content or responding to community members.

What is an ideal response time to comments and messages?

During typical business hours, users should be able to expect an almost immediate response. Never take longer than an hour to get back to someone. Nights and weekends, you can take more time, but as your organization scales, the expectation from your audience becomes that you will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

How do you handle reporting and data?

At scale, a tool like Sprinklr for posting, tagging, organizing, and reporting is crucial. If you have a smaller team and audience though, you can likely get by with reporting from the platforms as long as the metrics align with your organization’s goals.

How do you handle negative online reviews?

Jessica – Even bad reviews can be helpful as long as you have a chance to learn from them and make the situation better.

Teresa – 1 star reviews with no feedback are the hardest.

If you could give social media professionals 1 thing to takeaway and implement today, what would that be?

Terri – “Highlight the great work your people do.” Collect awesome reviews and responses. In a big organization, other teams that work in communications might not always get to see how the audience responds to their content. This can help. And, don’t forget about other platforms like LinkedIn and Reddit. Happy and upset customers will sometimes reach out to an organization’s leadership on LinkedIn, and you might even have your own staff talking about you in places like Reddit, so do not just focus on the biggest platforms.

Teresa – “Let your associates know when they have been recognized online for great service.” Customers will post reviews and comments when they’ve had a great experience with one of your people. Make sure they get to see that. And, “Don’t forget about TikTok.” You never know when a chihuahua with over a million TikTok followers is going to walk into your shop and want to tag your business in a post, as happened with Treats Unleashed.

Jessica – “The most engaging content that you might not think about is often behind-the-scenes looks at your business.” Whether it’s a making of, how your work is done, or something else, your audience does not always need to see a plan and polished product. Sometimes, they want to see the things the average customer would miss.

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