This post from Kevin (Lexblog) at Real Lawyers Have Blogs is a great read about how Twitter can improve customer reaction to business.  And using Twitter for customer service as discussed by Kevin is exactly the kind of thing a virtual legal assistant can help you with. And let me tell you, fixing customer service issues quickly is key in the fast-paced world of the internet.  If you make a mistake, it can be tweeted, blogged and commented on before an hour is even up.  If you respond quickly, you may not only keep your customer but gain some new ones who appreciate your attention to their needs and see you as keeping up with current technology.

Want an example of poor customer service hitting the internet and spreading?  Read this post over at Mommy Needs a Cocktail - and be assured that the hotel not only lost her business, but the word is being spread out all over.  Her fellow Tweeters know about the problems she experienced, then it was blogged and then that blog was Stumbled.  Guess how many people have heard about the poor experience?

I used to hear the saying “Give a customer a good experience and they’ll tell a friend.  Give poor service and they’ll tell 10″.  Well those numbers have multiplied now - by a LOT.  So keep your customers happy whenever you can, and stay tuned in to the social networks for word being spread about your company.

Get a twitter account and follow people who mention your company. Interact with them, ask them what they want to see happening with your business.  What do they need or want?  If you know the answer you can provide it before they jump ship.  Show you appreciate them just by saying hello and letting them know you are there for them.

Another suggestion is to make sure you have several good google alerts in place that you monitor regularly.  It’s a great way to pick up on mentions of your company, your twitter name, keywords that are important in your business, and even mentions of clients or colleagues that you want to monitor.

Of course the monitoring of twitter and google alerts could arguably take up a good chunk of your time, and you still have a business to run don’t you?  That’s where a virtual assistant comes in - they can easily monitor everything and contact you when urgent things appear, and otherwise give you a summary of everything that’s going on on a regular basis. Depending on the issues you need to stay current on this may take 1-5 hours per week, but the peace of mind you are going to have is worth it, isn’t it? Not to mention the financial costs relating to negative publicity.

Take care (and hey if you are on Twitter - feel free to follow me @halosecretarial)!