I’ve been using Buffer for months now and it’s value to me as a content curation and scheduling tool is huge. This post is however not about the product itself, but about the superb standard of customer communication the Buffer team show on a daily basis.
Rapid Response
The Twitter account for Buffer (@bufferapp) is run by many of the founders of the service, giving it a real sense of authenticity while displaying a 
will for the life-blood of the start-up to interact with its community. If a question from a user is posed via the account, the response is slick and indeed quick. No problem seems to be too much for the team to look in to. They don’t just respond to direct interactions either, they are clearly actively listening and seeking opportunities to communicate with their customer base. I recently bigged them up in a tweet and within minutes received a thank you from co-founder Leo Widrich. They are really unleashing the power of Twitter as a customer service channel.
Aside from communicating directly, the Buffer guys make good use of content by regularly tweeting links to interesting articles and news stories. They also produce their own content over on their pretty nifty blog. All in all, a best practice use of Twitter.
Not Just about Twitter
When Buffer releases a new update or adds a new feature, its users receive an email explaining the change. That’s nothing staggering, however it is a nice touch (Facebook take note!). The real wow factor comes at the end of the email. The founders make it clear that they are available for the next three hours to answer any questions via email. I tested this recently, suggesting that they try to integrate Buffer with Flipboard (who, incidentally are also awesome at customer comms). Within 5 minutes I had a response from Leo, thanking me for the suggestion and telling me that he would get on the case immediately. Impressive stuff.
They are also active on Facebook and appear to be growing a nice little community over there, the Page hosts a variety of content that attract strong interactions.
Benchmark
Your business should be striving for this level of quality. Especially in the case of start-ups like Buffer – if you serve and respect your customers from day one, you will quickly build trust and lay down the foundations of success and of course, learn a lot about your product and customer base at the same time.
I’m in the process of setting up my digital marketing and communications consultancy and can help you to communicate effectively using the abundance of digital tools available today. See here for more info.
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