Twitter‘s very nature allows your customers to express themselves publicly anywhere at any time. As a result, your business can use this platform to connect with your customers in ways that were impossible just a few short years ago.

This is especially true in the realm of customer service, as Sprout Social’s in-depth white paper has shown.

Twitter provides a unique opportunity to help customers solve their problems in real-time, before they give up on your business or go elsewhere looking for help. Here are six great tips to help you put your best foot forward with customer service on Twitter.

1. Give Your Brand Some Personality

Twitter can be a great place to show that your company has a heart. If possible, avoid the dry corporate-speak traditionally used in PR copy. Doing so can create a friendly, likable, and relatable brand identity for your business. Make sure you play it safe though. Jokes are okay, but avoid divisive topics such as politics and religion altogether; else you run the risk of alienating your customers.

If your customers can relate to you, they are much more likely to pay more attention. In addition, they will likely be more willing to give you the benefit of the doubt the next time they have a problem.

2. Don’t Wait For Customers to Come to You

Twitter’s search feature is your best friend; use it. Set up saved searches for topics related to your company and to find people talking about you, regardless if they’re mentioning you with an “@” or not.

If someone is having a problem, reach out before he or she comes to you. Take the opportunity to turn someone from a potential detractor into a loyal fan. Little steps like these will show that you care about your customers and will keep them coming back in the future.

3. Handle What You Can Behind Closed Doors

When a customer is having a problem with your product or service, you’d probably prefer that he or she talks to you directly. Follow your customers and invite them to direct message you for help. This way you can directly address their problems without making a scene of it on a public stream.

4. Assume Positive Intent

When dealing with a customer, make sure to treat him or her with respect. Do not immediately assume that he or she is trying to get something from you. Customer service should not be approached from a defensive standpoint.

Welcome your customer’s criticisms and concerns and address them directly whenever possible without challenging him or her. Do not make your customers jump through hoops to have their issues resolved. The quicker and nicer your interactions, the better impressions they will have of you.

5. Informed Hand-Offs

Calling a customer support line can be a nightmare of blind transfers. In many cases a customer may need to explain his or her predicament to multiple people multiple times before having it resolved. If the situation is one that you cannot resolve alone, make sure you involve other members of your team.

Create a system that allows you to hand-off your customers to other teams without them having to repeat their issues. While it might be a little more work upfront, this will build your customer’s trust in you and save everyone time in the long run.

6. Follow Up

Whenever possible, go the extra mile to check in on your customers. A simple “How is everything?” style of tweet can go a long way. While phone or email follow-ups might annoy some customers, the casual format of Twitter makes this easy and nonintrusive. This will not only show you care, but it will allow you to make sure the customer’s issue is really resolved (and provide you an opportunity to fix it if it’s not).

If you follow these six simple tips, you’ll be off to a great start building a brand that cares about its customers. As your business grows though, so will your support needs. A great social media monitoring tool can help you manage your searches and make sure you never miss a tweet. By staying on top of your customer needs, you can be sure that your brand will be loved for years to come.

[Image Credits: John Morrison, Justin Ennis, Frank Kovalchek, Paul Keller, Leland Francisco, Ian Sane, gwaar]