News about how the top companies, more importantly those in the Forbes 100 list, utilize social media for customer service has been circulating all over the Internet. It was a very smooth move, considering that literally millions of people around the world are on Twitter, FaceBook and other social media platforms.

Now, more companies are subscribing to the school of thought that social media, when used for customer service, will instantly work out the kinks in a product or service. Not necessarily. Social media is not a fix-all solution, especially when the problem is the brand itself. More importantly, if social media is not utilized properly, it could do damage on a massive scale to a company's reputation.

Even the littlest mishaps can be "tweeted" and read by millions of people around the globe. One tweet goes out to many, and a status on FaceBook ends up in everyone's news feed. For every customer that gets turned off by bad customer service, multiply that number by five and that's how many customers you'll be losing in the long run.

The repercussions sound truly alarming, so it is important for companies to recognize the importance of having a dedicated customer service team to answer every query and solve even the minutest technical issues.

Unfortunately, not everyone is like Tony Hsieh who knows which buttons to push in a customer. Customer service agents need to unlearn some of the things they have learned in a traditional call center setup to "listen to" what customers are saying online.

Typically, customer service is a one-on-one interaction, but with the advent of social media, interaction is at a community level where everyone gets to read and react to what others are saying. Word of mouth is so powerful, and in this regard, companies should use social media to enlighten people's perception about their customer services. Some people out there might have been irked by a product or service gone bad, and this is the perfect opportunity for companies to get the facts straight. This sort of 'micro-interaction' is needed for a smooth-sailing relationship between a company and its customers.

Accessibility is one key trait of excellent customer service, whether it's the traditional way or through social media. People want their grievances to be heard and solutions be given in a timely manner. Rigid rules on how to address complaints have to bend somehow to pave way to build better relationships. The bottom line is everyone wants a personal touch even if it's on something that has a 140-character limit.