How your PR and customer service can—and must—work together

Customer service was created to solve problems, not be a source for them. But too often today, customers view the departments established to help them as the place where their problems are destined to die. They are angry even before they reach out, whether by phone, text or on social media. Their attitudes show it.

This often isn’t fair—not to the brave and beleaguered customer service representatives on the front lines and not to the companies that put them there. Today’s world—rocked by pandemics, climate change, and unrest—is highly unpredictable, and its unpredictability touches every customer-facing industry. Add to that people’s expectations (often unrealistic) that their logistics, service or quality concerns be addressed and solved instantaneously. Then add on top of that the reality that even the best customer service representatives are only human and can only do so much.

So, what’s the solution? Our experience helping customer service professionals communicate better in the middle of massive crises has shown us that every consumer-facing organization needs an integrated communications and marketing program for its customer service department, one designed to reassure customers they’ll get what they need and helps them get it.