posted by: jonathan

When an unannounced system change had customers wailing, the airline soared on Facebook and Twitter

All seemed in order for Westjet’s update of its reservation system in mid-October. Then it went live, and all hell broke loose.

Perhaps worse than that, its customers had no advance notice that anything would be changing. Soon after the Canadian low-cost airline made the system switch—and having neglected to prepare its followers with advisories on Facebook and Twitter—a crisis set in:

• Existing reservation numbers became obsolete
• Flights were interrupted for two days
• Customers couldn’t get through to the call center
• Passengers needed to create new profiles
• Customers faced longer wait times in making reservations
• Westjet had to address their customers’ concerns, so they went where the bulk of the complaints were on social media channels.

As a customer, “you’re going to go online. You’re going to e-mail, you’re going to tweet, and you’re going to Facebook,” said Greg Hounslow, Westjet’s advisor of emerging media. “That’s exactly what happened. A lot of people went on to our social media channels and talked to us about it.”

In a presentation at the Ragan Corporate Communicators Conference, Hounslow discussed how social networks became vital to its customer service, especially for addressing a deluge of complaints.

“A complaint is an opportunity to showcase your problem-solving and communication skills,” he said. 

Through Westjet’s Facebook fan page, Hounslow put customer Kelley Sklar, who couldn’t penetrate the company’s jammed call center, in contact with customer relations.

In response, Sklar’s appreciative post on Westjet’s page included this: “Our matter was dealt with swiftly and professionally, thank you for making us feel like we mattered and that we were not just a number. We’ll be sure to let all our friends know how you handled the situation.”

Customer Liz Rivard tweeted during the change in reservation services, “@Westjet I would really like to book our next flight to PSP but your call centre won’t accept calls. This is beyond frustrating.” Hounslow resolved her problem in an exchange of Direct Messages.

Soon after, Rivard posted on Westjet’s Facebook page, “Hey Sean Durfy, a big thank you to your Facebook and Twitter people who are making a BIG difference in customer satisfaction!”

One by one, the problems were being solved, with Westjet relying on Twitter’s interactive format to address customer complaints and questions in real time. In each case, Hounslow responded to customers in less than 20 minutes. “You have to know what your team can and can’t do,” he said.

Sports blogger Trevor Turnbull posted about his positive experience with Westjet on his blog and through his Twitter feed: “Very impressed by the quick response via Twitter @westjet. Way better than waiting on the phone for an hour ;-).”

Article Source: William Reuben- Ragan.com

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• June 29th, 2010
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• Tags: facebook, pr, seo pr, social media, twitter