Customer Service executives and managers have the responsibility for caring for customers and delivering experiences that ultimately result in customers deciding whether to stay loyal to a company.

That decision affects the bottom-line by either increasing or decreasing costs and revenue.

Social Media represents a new dynamic in customer experiences where the company, its products, services, reputation and the way it treats customers is front and center of millions of people.

Comments, reviews, ratings and the dissatisfaction is permanently “inked-in” in the online world for millions of others to view -- forever. And while Marketing and PR may spend hundreds, or sometimes millions of dollars creating a brand image, a short message, like a Tweet or Facebook post, can activate the destruction of a brand’s reputation. In effect, Customer Service is the new PR and Marketing for a brand.

Don’t fall into the trap of “Social media ROI cannot be calculated because there are too many unknowns.” To the nay-sayers, I say baloney!

Check out this video on How to Calculate Social Customer Service ROI, originally part of a Focus.com roundtable hosted with Dr. Natalie Petouhoff. For the new and improved video format, I added a bunch of new slides.

Dr. Natalie and I are also within weeks of releasing our Kindle and Nook versions of a Social Customer Service ROI ebook as part of our Simplifying Social Business  ebook series. We’re a little behind due to work commitments.