It's important to remember that transactions between individuals and a business are really an outcome of relationships and, as a result, conversations. Social customer support is only going to work if companies engaged in meaningful conversations with customers.

"You're trying to discover what a customer's vision and goals are," Carfi says. "You might be trying to help a customer with a particular challenge or technical issue, but it's the conversation that will help you diagnose the root cause. These types of conversations will help an organization get to a place where they can help the customer do whatever it is the customer wants to do."

It might be easier to connect with the customer today, with Facebook and other popular social platforms, but building that connection into a meaningful relationship requires a lot of work.

Carfi reminds businesses not to read too much into a customer clicking "Like" on your Facebook page-a Like is not a relationship. Metrics such as numbers of fans or followers are a good place to start, he explains, "but you have to go to the next step and tie goals to things that mean something to both customer and organization."