Effectively Leveraging Social Media as a Support Channel

Social media are fast-tracking to becoming important channels for customer support. In fact, our data shows that 57% of technology companies have a customer discussion forum, and 36% already embrace Twitter as a method for starting conversations with customers. Join us for an interactive lunch presentation to hear John Ragsdale, VP of technology research at Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA), share the advantages and risks of embracing social media for support, as well as data from TSIA’s social media survey.

Attend this informative event to learn:

· What social media channels are currently being used by technology companies

· How to move customer conversations from social media channels to assisted support processes and tools

· Real-world examples of positive ROI (including call deflection) for social media projects

· Adoption and planned spending by technology companies for social service tools

Speaker: John Ragsdale

John Ragsdale is the vice president of technology research for the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA). Previously he served as the vice president of technology research for AFSMI, SSPA, and TPSA. Ragsdale's area of expertise is in creating strategies for improving the overall customer experience and services operation through technology. Ragsdale drives TSIA's highly regarded technology research agenda, delivering insightful, thought-leadership research and analysis on the most pressing business issues facing services leaders to enable them to better plan and execute their service strategies.

Prior to joining SSPA, Ragsdale spent over five years at Forrester Research as vice president and research director. During his career, Ragsdale has held product management and marketing positions at various service and support technology vendors, including Clarify, AnswerSystems, Platinum Technologies and Nortel Networks. He has been involved in customer service throughout his career, including over ten years managing both the internal and external customer support organizations at J.C. Penney, before moving to the Silicon Valley in the mid-90s.

With his in-depth industry analysis experiences, Ragsdale brings an extensive understanding of the technology and vendor landscape for services. He leverages those insights to help guide Association members in making informed technology, business and investment decisions.

Lunch is included!
$12 in advance; $20 at the door