One of the best uses I’ve seen for social media that’s really coming into its own lately is for customer service purposes. Although many consumer brands are already in this space (Comcast, Dell, JetBlue, Southwest), the latest entry is from Best Buy and their “Twelpforce”. Although Best Buy’s CMO Barry Judge has been active in this community for some time, he’s now bringing his customer service personnel, along with staff on the floor, into the fray. From a recent Bloomberg article:

“The old paradigm is you open your doors and hope someone comes in,” Judge said. “In the new world, you can go out and find people that are talking about technology and what they’re interested in buying, and be generous with your knowledge. And hopefully if you’re generous and knowledgeable, people will come and buy.”

Now you may brush this aside as “another consumer brand” getting into the social media space, but Judge says something that can apply to any business whether it’s B2B or B2C. In this economy, you can’t just wait around and hope customers will find you, you have to actively go out and find them. And this is becoming easier and easier in the online space, especially in regards to social media. So don’t brush social media aside and assume “my customers aren’t there” or “no one is talking about my company in social media”. Why not take a look and see if they are there first? It may not be who you expect. And if no one is talking about your company in social media, that’s probably the issue right there. Do something special or unique to your space to get people talking. Social media is rapidly becoming mainstream and some even say it’s already there. So before your competitor comes out with their own “Twelpforce”, why not see if a) social media is right for you and b) how you can add social media integration into your customer service process. It’s easier than you think.