Customer service has come of age. Businesses integrating social into customer service are seeing improved ratings as a result. Social buyer influence is also on the rise.

In a recent survey, 80 percent of companies plan to use social media for customer service by the end of 2012 and a majority of users (71 percent) who receive positive customer support through a social brand recommend them to friends.

15.1 million people refer to social media before making a purchase and the number of people that are influenced by social networks for buying decisions has doubled (64% up from 32% last year).

This infographic from Click Software looks at the role of customer service in social media.

customer-service-social-media

How are you using social media as a customer service tool?

Infographic via ClickSoftware