Could Facebook replace phones for customer service? Nissan's social media chief thinks so.
Erich Marx, Nissan’s Director of Marketing Communications, recently told AutoTrader.com that the number of people asking questions on Nissan’s Facebook page could double over the next year. If that trend continues, more consumers will eventually be turning to Facebook in lieu of calling a 1-800 number for assistance.
“There will be a day when people will go to Facebook as a preferred method. We are already seeing that number doubling every quarter,” noted Marx.”Based on what I’ve seen in 90 days, I can realize that this is something we are going to have to deal with in the future. As opposed to operators or help desks just waiting for a customer to complain, we need to have a Facebook presence to solve issues before they get bigger, and take a more pro-active role in identifying consumer issues or question."
Although Marx said that Nissan is not actively shifty employees from call center operations to social networking duties just yet, Nissan does have a staff of about 15 people dedicated to handling all current social media customer service needs.
“In the old world, one customer would call one operator and issue a complaint, one to one and no one else would know about it. In the new world, when somebody posts a problem, issue or concern on Facebook there are 290,000 people who can see it. It’s very public," added Marx. “It becomes more important that we handle the problem quickly and completely. In a 24-hour period you can turn a negative into a positive. And we see that people are very grateful. It’s a different dynamic."
Nissan created its Facebook page back in 2009 and keeps it actively updated. Currently, the automaker has nearly 290,000 fans.
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