Wink Frozen Desserts may not yet be a household name, but this ice cream company is changing lives – at least East of the Mississippi – one scoop at a time. Created especially for people with lactose intolerance, celiac disease, and certain food allergies, Wink’s line of frozen treats allows those who thought they couldn’t enjoy ice cream get a taste of the frozen favorite again.

Jordan Pierson is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wink, and he took some time to talk with Dan Moriarty and me about Wink’s dedication to its niche customer. While the company’s slogan, which refers to its ingredients, is “less is more,” that definitely does not apply to their customer service.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode of the Focus on Customer Service podcast include:

• "Because we're food, we like to use Instagram, we like to use Pinterest, we like to use Facebook to showcase who we are."

• "For the most part, Twitter is a customer service hotline for us."

• "Whatever your product is, not everyone on the planet is going to like it, and you have to roll with the punches on that."

Here are the highlights of Episode 13 and where to find them:

0:50 The background on Wink Frozen Desserts and how Jordan joined the team

2:20 Wink's customer service strategy

5:30 How a niche audience affects Wink’s social media strategy

7:16 Which channels customers use for service

8:53 Online communities and other engagement opportunities

11:19 Jordan shares a memorable interaction with a fan

13:20 Jordan's advice for other companies trying to succeed in social care

Thanks to Jay Baer for nominating Wink Frozen Desserts to appear on the show! If you have had a great customer service experience on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to interview that brand on a future podcast.

The folks at Square Cow Moovers clearly have a sense of humor (note the two o’s in their name), but they know that providing outstanding customer service is no laughing matter. A residential and commercial moving company based in Austin, Texas, Square Cow Moovers boasts a coveted 5-star rating on Yelp, and asks its customers to rate every move on a scale of 1 (“cow patty”) to 5 (“cow bell”).

Wade Lombard is a founder and co-owner of Square Cow Moovers, and he spoke with Dan Moriarty and me about how a local business can provide amazing customer service as well as (or even better than) the big guys.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “People have a good or bad experience and they immediately tell tens of thousands of people, and that power can be incredibly helpful for some companies or it can put some businesses out of business.”

• “I can show someone how to move an armoire, but I can’t show them how to be a good person.”

• “We’ve never had a client call us and say, ‘You know I’m really upset because you guys just provided me with too much information.”

• “We do try to give our clients as many outlets as possible to share with us if something is happening, during or after their move, that isn’t agreeing with them.”

• “To get defensive or to try to pick a fight online is about the most worthless thing you can do.”

• “Responding quickly is more important now than ever before.”

Here are the highlights of Episode 12 and where to find them:

1:54 A brief overview of the company and its unique name

4:32 What it’s like to run a local business today when ratings and reviews are so public and impactful

6:09 Square Cow’s commitment “to providing unparalleled service” and its hiring practices

10:21 How and where customers complain if something goes wrong

13:03 How the response approach changes based on the customer’s channel of choice

14:58 What the company does with positive feedback and reviews

17:33 Wade shares some unintended consequences of customers posting on social media

20:50 Wade talks about small businesses that “stick their head in the sand” when it comes to social media and online reviews

22:11 Wade’s (fantastic) advice for other small businesses

If you have had a great customer service experience on social media, we want to hear about it! Please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to interview that brand on a future podcast.

Filling yet another social engagement void that no one knew they needed, Blab is a multi-person live-streaming platform that is once again changing how we communicate with each other. Up to four speakers appear on video simultaneously in Brady Bunch-style boxes, while onlookers can participate via chat. Now anyone can be a broadcaster of content with just a computer or an iPhone (Android coming soon).

One immediate differentiator of the platform, besides the ability to have multiple streams simultaneously, is the availability of real-time customer service. By simply typing “@help” into the chat, Blab’s Brittany Metz appears like magic in the Blab to address any issues and answer any questions.

The whole experience is so cool that we just had to invite Brittany Metz, the self-proclaimed “Community Princess” (because Community Manager sounded “boring”) of Blab, to talk with us on the Focus on Customer Service podcast. And naturally, we held the interview live on Blab and used the recording to create the audio podcast. PureMatter CEO and Shareology author Bryan Kramer also joined the Blab, which covers a wide range of topics including customer service, upcoming Blab enhancements, and some real-time questions from the audience.

Some of the most quotable moments from the podcast include:

* “We are about spontaneous, open, public conversations.”

* On brands doings customer service on Blab: “You know what, we do our customer service on Blab; it’s public, it’s open because we’ve got nothing to hide. We have great customer service and we want to highlight and show that to the world. I think it will happen.”

* “You treat everyone as a star.”

* “Everyone has the potential to create really great content here.”

* “We don’t want to gamify the system. Content is king, so we want the best content to surface.”

* “If you build a product thinking about monetization and how to make money on it, you’re going to build a different product.”

As always, if you have experienced awesome customer service on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on a future episode.

Here are the highlights of Episode 11 and where to find them:

3:38 What is Blab?

4:41 How did Blab get so popular so fast?

6:10 How Bryan Kramer is using Blab

6:56 Question from the audience

7:50 Brittany’s background and how she ended up at Blab

8:50 How Blab’s customer service works and how it will eventually scale

12:08 Question from the audience

13:32 The largest Blabs so far and the company’s plan to scale its live-stream capabilities

15:16 How Blab launched real-time live customer service

17:09 The plan for future reporting capabilities and other controls

19:53 The most memorable Blab that Brittany has been called into

20:49 What is the use case for customer service on Blab?

24:01 Questions from the audience

27:10 On what other channels does Blab provide customer service?

28:47 How Blab and Twitter integrate

29:40 Questions from the audience

31:00 What Brittany has learned managing customer service for a brand-new platform

34:35 How Brittany was anointed the “Community Princess” of Blab

37:30 Questions from the audience

39:29 Why Blab isn’t about being an “expert” or having the biggest audience

41:30 Brittany’s secret tips and tricks for using Blab

43:05 Questions from the audience

To celebrate our 10th podcast episode – a milestone we weren’t sure we’d ever reach – we thought we’d take a walk down memory lane and look at what we’ve learned so far. So Dan and I recorded a special “recap” episode with just the two of us to summarize what you may have missed in episodes 1-9.

We started the podcast because lots of people are talking about content and marketing on social media, but far fewer are focusing on the other side of social – customer service. Enlightened brands have already discovered that “customer service is the new marketing” because great service makes happy customers and happy customers are more loyal to brands.

When social media entered the picture, it began as a channel of last resort, when other service channels failed. This resulted in a larger proportion of comments being negative, which in turn scared off some brands from ever entering the fray. But over time, social media has become a channel of first resort for many customers, requiring companies to be as prepared on social as they are in the call center, on e-mail, or click-to-chat.

We set out to learn from the brands who are doing it every day. How their teams are structured, where they fit in the larger organization, what their customer service strategy is, how they deal with difficult customers, and more. And so far, our guests have certainly delivered the knowledge, insights, and best practices we had hoped for – in addition to quite a bit of fun.

In case you missed any episodes, we recap them one-by-one in this special episode.

Listen for a list of key themes that we have extracted from the first nine guests. And don’t forget, you can nominate a brand to appear on the podcast by tweeting at us (@dgingiss and @iamdanmoriarty) or by simply using the hashtag #FOCS.

It’s no surprise that people are emotional about their smart phones, so a proper protective case can make or break – pun intended – the entire experience. In either case (yikes, another pun!), OtterBox and its sister company, LifeProof, are there to respond to customers on social media.

Jessica Mack is the Senior Social Media Manager at both OtterBox and LifeProof, and she leads a team that is responsible both for marketing initiatives and for handling customer service issues. She spent some time with Dan Moriarty and me on Episode 9 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “We try to think of our customers as family and treat them accordingly.”

• “Our customers mean everything to us, and we try to involve them in our brand as much as possible, have fun, and really treat them as we would treat a good friend and not just as a customer on the other side of the computer.”

• “We try to be really patient with people… we try to listen to them and understand how they’re feeling and do whatever we can to support that.”

• “Keep [customer care] internal and recruit people who live and breathe your brand, who have a customer care background, and who genuinely care about helping people.”

• “You have to reward the customers that are engaging with you positively as well.”

Here are the highlights of Episode 9 and where to find them:

1:35 Jessica’s background and how she ended up in her current role

2:25 How the fact that OtterBox’s product protects other companies’ products affects its social care strategy

4:03 How the social customer service team is organized and how they balance both the marketing and the customer service aspects of the job.

6:35 What technology Otterbox and LifeProof use for social media marketing and customer service

7:20 OtterBox’s culture and how it leads to a focus on customer service

8:25 Why OtterBox decided to use multiple Twitter handles

9:45 How OtterBox handles situations when a customer’s phone breaks

13:20 An example of using social media feedback to develop new products

15:26 Some of Jessica’s most memorable social media interactions

16:40 Jessica’s advice to people starting off in social customer service

As a reminder, YOU can choose which brands are featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. If you have experienced awesome customer service on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on a future episode.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, chances are that someone in your social media feeds has been talking about Ultimate Fighting Championship – better known as UFC. With more than 17 million Facebook fans and 2.6 million followers on both Twitter and Instagram, the mixed martial arts event company has become a global social media powerhouse. On fight nights, social media explodes with commentary from celebrities and regular fans alike, especially when UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey fights.

Shanda Maloney was also a fan of UFC before she joined the organization. She is responsible for global marketing strategy; social media content, growth and engagement; paid media strategy; sponsorship integration; and customer service. She oversees 60+ official UFC social media channels – including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Vine – and also keeps an eye on more than 600 UFC athlete accounts.

Shanda somehow found the time to speak with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 8 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

“We love to show the personality behind our brand, and the fans really enjoy that.”

“[Negative feedback can be] a big learning point for us, and I think that’s going to create a much better customer service experience.”

“Don’t be afraid to jump into the conversation – look for people who are talking about you and not at you.”

“This is the best place to get word-of-mouth understanding of what the fans or the customers are saying, how they feel about your product or brand.”

“Find a way to make it right because that moment is going to be incredibly memorable for that fan or that customer.”

Here are the highlights of Episode 8 and where to find them:

1:19 How Shanda ended up working at UFC

2:28 How does UFC manage its huge social media presence while still making time to engage with fans?

3:47 How does UFC differentiate between fan engagement and true customer service inquiries?

5:42 How does Shanda help manage the athletes’ social media accounts?

6:40 Shanda talks about one of Twitter’s favorite trending topics, fighter Ronda Rousey

8:25 UFC’s strategy of focusing on influencers

9:45 How Shanda and her team prepare for fight nights

11:20 How UFC learns from negative feedback

13:59 Shanda shares one of her most memorable social media interactions with fans

16:00 The advice Shanda has for companies trying to have amazing customer service on social media.

We are always looking for great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. If you have experienced awesome customer service on social media, please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to get that brand on the podcast.

Striving to provide a “personalized service experience” with every interaction, Telstra – Australia’s leading telecommunications company – offers its customers the ability to connect with the same agent each time they contact the company.

“A lot of frustration stems from customers having to re-tell their story,” says Monty Hamilton, Head of Digital Operations at Telstra. “It’s a real game-changer for us and our customers are loving it.”

With more than 16 million mobile, internet and TV customers across the world, Telstra needs to be available 24/7 across multiple service channels, including social media. Monty talked with me for Episode 7 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast about the company that replies to more than 400,000 annual posts.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “We want all customer interactions to acknowledge the customer’s first name but most importantly, offer our individual names in those interactions, and that enables us – whatever channel that dialogue takes place in – to help customers connect with the same person for any particular problem or enquiry.”

• “We look at social media as purely an extension of the digitalization of all aspects of our lives.”

• Our lives have changed and therefore when we choose to interact with other organizations has also changed with that… We need to simply be ready for our customers’ change in appetite to deal with us in other channels.”

• “It’s really important that we start with empathy and understanding.”

We are looking for more great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast! To nominate a brand that has awesome customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS.

Here are the highlights of Episode 7 and where to find them:

0:30 Dan talks briefly about United Airlines’ recent service shutdown and its excellent social customer service during the crisis

4:20 Monty’s background and how he ended up at Telstra

5:30 Monty explains Telstra’s goal of being “famous for caring about our customers” and how that tagline plays into its customer service philosophy

8:55 How Telstra expanded its focus on customer service to include social media

11:20 Why Telstra decided on 24/7 service in social media

13:50 How to deal with a difficult customer

17:50 Is social media a channel of last resort or first resort for customer service?

19:48 Monty’s advice for other companies looking to build a great social customer experience team

Telstra was nominated by @CXpert from Melbourne, Australia. Please nominate other brands by tweeting us using the hashtag #FOCS.

Conceived by an Iron Man athlete looking for a plant-based, whole food alternative to nutritional supplements, Vega describes its products as “the future of optimal health”. Enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike, Vega’s products attract athletes of almost every sport looking for a more natural diet to help with training and ongoing health.

Vega’s approach to customer service on social media is to listen first, both to those who @mention the brand and those talking about it without a direct @mention. The team responds with humor (food puns are a favorite), imagery, and a friendly tone that leaves a smile on the face of even the most ardent critic.

Lindsay Jesseau is the Director of Customer Experience at Vega, and she – like several other of our guests – was a customer before becoming an employee. Lindsay talked with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 6 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “It’s not just about having a competitive advantage over your direct competitors; the consumers expect a response through social now, so it’s looking at ‘are we as good as the best companies out there?’ and that’s really how we set our standards.”

• “Empower your front line. Don’t punish mistakes.”

• “Consumers are reaching out through Twitter, and they want to be responded to and resolved in that channel.”

• “Respond to both positive and negative comments. The negative ones are really your biggest learning opportunity.”

Don’t forget that we are always looking for great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. To nominate a brand that has awesome customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS.

Here are the highlights of Episode 6 and where to find them:

0:30 Dan and Dan talk about why more companies aren’t embracing social customer service

3:35 What is Vega and what kinds of products does it sell?

5:14 Lindsay talks about her career and how she ended up at Vega

6:20 Does having a niche audience change Vega’s servicing strategy?

7:31 Lindsay talks about Vega’s #bestlife campaign

9:52 How Vega empowers its customer advocates to “surprise and delight” its customers

11:13 Vega’s use of humor and imagery in their customer service responses

13:30 How Vega handles comments about the taste of their products, both positive and negative

15:44 Lindsay’s social customer service team and where it sits in the company

18:44 How Vega approaches customer service across different social media channels

20:35 Memorable social interactions

22:20 Lindsay’s advice to other companies looking to build an awesome social customer service

25:10 What Lindsay tweets about from her personal handle

Vega was nominated by Taylre Duarte (@taylreduarte). You too can nominate a brand to appear on the Focus on Customer Service podcast simply by tweeting us using the hashtag #FOCS.

ModCloth is “not just another retailer,” according to its founder, “but a social-shopping community with our customer at the center of everything we do.” Nowhere is that more apparent than in its approach to customer service, both on and off social media. Its agents, called “advocates,” often refer to themselves as “day makers” because their goal is to make every customer’s day. Their focus is on empathy and solving the customer’s problem at (almost) any cost.

Ashley Boone is the Care Social Lead at ModCloth, managing and training the advocates on the team that the company uniquely calls “Care Social” instead of “Social Care”. Ashley was a ModCloth customer before working for the company, giving her great insight into the mindset of the woman “that finds inspiration and confidence through fashion.”

Ashley met with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 5 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast to talk about a variety of topics, including a certain famous Jurassic Park actor whose face appears on a ModCloth T-shirt but who remained a mystery to one of the Dans.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “Think of a mission statement for your social care team.”

• “We are accountable for mistakes and we empathize with [the customer’s] situation.”

• “Imagine yourself on the other end of that call and act accordingly.”

• “Go above and beyond the call of duty to make the customer’s day.”

• “We want her [the customer] to feel like she’s valued and her feedback is heard.”

As a reminder, we are always looking for great brands to be featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. To nominate a brand that has amazing customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS.

Here are the highlights of Episode 5 and where to find them:

1:15 What is ModCloth and what is Ashley’s background?

3:03 ModCloth says they know what it’s like to shop online; how does that affect the way they offer customer service?

5:14 What exactly is a “social shopping community”?

6:56 How does ModCloth empower its advocates to “make the customer’s day”?

11:57 How ModCloth differentiates itself from other retailers by knowing its customers

14:52 Where social care sits in the organization

17:37 Response rate and response time goals

19:30 Memorable interactions with customers

24:19 Ashley’s advice for other companies

ModCloth was nominated by Laura Watkins Baker (@snackmantis), who tweeted that the retailer is “amazing at social care”.

Have you experienced awesome customer service on social media? If so, please nominate the brand by sending a tweet using the hashtag #FOCS and we will reach out to feature them in a future podcast.

Buffer, the app that helps individuals and companies schedule social media posts and curate content, has had customer service at the heart of its offering since its inception. In fact, The Buffer Vision, as described on the website (https://buffer.com/about), begins with this statement: “Our vision at Buffer is to build the simplest and most powerful social media tool, and to set the bar for great customer support.”

The company has a loyal following of more than two million daily users, and one of those customers – a former rodeo queen, hobby novelist and animal lover – is now bestowed the title of Community Champion. Nicole Miller spent some time with me and Dan Moriarty for Episode 4 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast. Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “We view every interaction that comes our way – every single tweet, email, question, mention – as a real privilege to know that someone has taken the time out of their day to think about us or get in touch with us.”

• “We really want to make sure that each interaction is special and unique and as happy as possible.”

• “We really look at customer service as happiness, and that frames all of what we do.”

• “Value each one-on-one interaction with your customers.”

• “If you just take that extra minute, it can really turn things around even in potentially negative situations.”

As a reminder, brands featured on the Focus on Customer Service Podcast must be nominated by one of their customers. To nominate a brand that has amazing customer service on social media, just tweet using the hashtag #FOCS.

Here are the highlights of Episode 4 and where to find them:

(1:55) Nicole’s background and how she landed at Buffer

(3:59) Buffer’s philosophy toward customer service

(5:00) The types of questions Buffer receives and how they track customer input

(7:35) The Buffer social care team structure

(9:35) Buffer’s 10 Key Values and how they play a role in hiring

(10:57) The key metrics that Buffer looks at to gauge success

(13:15) How Buffer trains its employees on social customer service

(14:54) The popular #bufferchat and how it helps scale customer interactions

(17:17) Nicole’s advice to companies trying to do social customer service well

Buffer was nominated by Jason Keath (@jasonkeath). Have you experienced awesome customer service on social media? If so, please nominate the brand by sending a tweet using the hashtag #FOCS and we will reach out to feature them in a future podcast.