Twitter has a new customer service feature in tow, introducing custom profiles in direct messages for businesses using its service.
This new feature allows businesses' service agents to respond to Twitter direct messages using custom profiles to improve the customer experience. With custom profiles, agents' names and profile pictures will appear when they communicate with customers rather than the company's Twitter name and photo.
This makes it more personal and aims to instill trust, allowing customers to associate a face to the person who's helping them. The interactions get a more personal touch with custom profiles and customers might feel better knowing they're chatting with a real person and not a chat bot.
"Twitter is launching a new feature - custom profiles in Direct Messages - that allows businesses to better emphasize that human element in private conversations, as well as more clearly indicate when a bot is speaking," Twitter explains in its announcement.
Twitter Custom Profiles Launch With T-Mobile As First Partner
T-Mobile is the first business to adopt the new Twitter custom profiles. Twitter explains that T-Mobile has been at the forefront of personalizing its customer experience and the new feature allows it to make things even more personal.
As Twitter points out, T-Mobile was among the first ones to use customers' real names and agents' initials in tweets. Moreover, last year the carrier started adding service agents' pictures and names to its tweet replies, thus offering links to personalized bio web pages for each representative.
With the new Twitter feature now rolling out, the @TMobileHelp Twitter account is now the first one to use the custom profiles in its direct messages too. Other business are expected to adopt the feature soon enough.
"The award-winning T-Mobile team is famous for care because we're constantly looking for ways to improve and personalize the customer experience," says Callie Field, executive vice president of Customer Care at T-Mobile. "We're proud to be the first company to deliver an even more personalized experience through Twitter custom profiles."
Customer service reps can also add emoji to their Twitter names to further spice things up, and those emoji will also show up in group DM conversations. Businesses have no limit for how many custom profiles they can create or operate, and Twitter offers this feature to all businesses regardless of their size.
Business with a verified handle that are interested in getting custom profiles for direct messages can sign up for the feature. Twitter is supporting custom profiles in direct messages for businesses free of charge, and has an API currently in private beta.
Improving Customer Service Pays Off
Twitter's own research points out that customers who make inquiries and get responses are willing to spend up to 20 percent more on an average-priced item for that business in the future, so it makes sense to bet big on improving customer service.
When it comes to the telco industry, Twitter found out that customers would be willing to pay up to $17 more for their monthly phone plan if they get a response to their inquiry within four minutes, while if they have to wait for more than 20 minutes they would only be willing to pay $3.52 more. These stats explain why T-Mobile is eager to be the first one to adopt Twitter's new custom profiles feature to further improve communication with customers.
