Twitter may be fast and convenient, but it's not always the best place for dealing with customers' issues.

Recognizing this, many companies use Twitter as a jumping-off point, and shoot email addresses, phone numbers, and requests for private messages to customers who seem to need more than 140 characters of help.

"If it seems another channel may be appropriate for a customer, we will direct them to that channel," says Bernier. "For example, if we need to look up an order by number, or exchange sensitive customer data that we wouldn't want shared such as name, address, or phone number, we will encourage customers to call or email us."