Swiss International Air Lines uses social media to provide customer service 24/7 and expand its services. It has seen a 20% increase in customer requests on social media since launching its expanded customer service program. The program trains agents to respond to customer issues on platforms like Facebook and Twitter within 60 minutes and in multiple languages. Swiss has fulfilled customers' rising expectations of social media customer support, improved its services, collected valuable feedback, and increased its follower base as a result of its effective social media customer service strategy.

1. BestBest Airlines Driving Revenue
Airlines Driving Customer Service
from Social Media
Finalist Presentations

2. Best Airlines Driving Customer Service from Social Media
Finalist
Swiss International Air Lines
Switzerland
http://simpliflying.com

3. SWISS Customer Service 2.0
Simpliflying Award / 03 October 2012
Christian Lüdi, Social Media Manager
03.10.2012

4. Volcano Ash Crisis as Kick-off
- No experience at this point
- 2 persons working on shift basis
- Marketing/Communication background
- 1,200 answers on Facebook
- 120 answers on Twitter
- Highly positive feedback from the community
-> Start of expectation of Customer Service on
Social Media by our community/customers
-> first proof of usefulness of Social Media tools
for Customer Service within SWISS
2 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

5. Where did we come from?
- Since May 2009: customer feedback through Social Media is handled
by LX Social Media Team (Christian / Backup: Parand)
- Social Media strategy and daily operational work is handled by one team
- Overall positive feedback, high level of media and customer awareness
- With current rise of Social Media, number of requests is growing steadily
- Current service only available in English and German, no FR/ES/IT
- No service beyond working hours – users in different time zones (USA/Asia)
and questions communicated during the night are not answered until the
next morning
- Service is limited by internal resources
3 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

6. Situation normal
4 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

7. Analysis of the situation
More than 90% of all requests on Social Media are service or product-related
Community is expecting more Customer Service
Community and thus requests will increase steadily in the future
Project implementation could be done internally with own employees
No additional staff needed
High interest on the part of Management and colleagues from Customer Service
5 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

8. What was our original goal?
Strengthen our image as a customer-focused airline (customer proximity) by integrating Social Media in our existing service
framework and providing an integrated customer support (phone, mail, social media, …)
Why do we want this?
Customers
• expect to find companies on Social Media platforms and get in contact with them
• want accurate information from one source
• expect quick answers, especially in irregularity cases
SWISS
• can use platforms, which customers use in their daily life
• can improve and expand services offered
• can stand out from its competitors, be ahead and state-of-the-art
• can collect first-hand experiences in Customer Service 2.0
• increase the number of fans/followers
• can focus on strategic and marketing activities
• offers support for markets as their local accounts can be serviced
6 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

9. How did we get there?
Separate strategic and operational work
SWISS Social Media Team ZRH SWISS Service Center
- Develop and promote LX Social Media Strategy - Daily operations: answering customer requests on
overall Facebook and Twitter
- Monitor the online services and provide guidance, - Feedback to departments and sharing of learnings
tools and trainings with other teams
- Extension of online customer service on Social
Media channels (integration of forms, contact
information, …)
7 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

10. Staggered Introduction
Starting in January/February 2012 Starting in June/July 2012
2nd Step
1st step
Responsibility for customer-related requests: Responsibility for customer-related requests:
Service Center Basel Service Center Basel (Lead) / Provider for 24h support
Opening hours: Opening hours:
From 7:30 to 21:30 (BSL office hours), 7 days/week 24 hours, 7 days/week
Response times: Response times:
Answer all requests within 2 hours during office hours Answer all requests within XX hours during office
hours
Language:
English, German, French, Spanish and Italian Language:
English, German, French, Spanish and Italian during
day
English and German only at night
Task assignment: done by Online Marketing (learning
period)
Task assignment: Service Center BSL & Provider
8 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

11. The project
- Training the agents
- Bring everyone to the same level
- Deep insights into our Social Media activities
- Theoretical training of answering
- Frist steps on CoTweet
- Training in live environment
- Documents created for the agents:
- Guidelines (language + wording, response time, data privacy, trolls, etc.)
- Contact persons internally
- Shortlinks
- CoTweet guide
- Collaboration tool CoTweet
- Interaction history
- Reporting
- Tagging
- Task assigning
- Different work groups
- Supporting local Twitter accounts
9 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

12. First figures since launch
20% increase in inbound messages in July and August!
35% of requests/comments answered (due to inclusion of photos, spam, love
letters which don’t need an answer)
Increase of new Fans/Followers
Huge increase in ‘Talk about this’ on Facebook
Blogosphere starts to talk about it now
Very interesting fact: In July we had more outbound messages on Twitter than on
Facebook for the first time (33,000 Followers vs. 125,000 Fans!)
10 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

13. Now we also know a lot more
20% say thank-you for loyalty & flying with us
9% complaints
9% questions about our services
9% we wish a pleasant flight
7% network
6% irregulations
5% inflight (product, entertainment, food, etc.)
4% swiss.com problems
3% check-in
3% luggage
Further topics: rebooking, refund, PR, sales, upgrades, Miles & More, lounges,
Star Alliance, HR, fleet, games, new booking, apps, airport information, blog,
animal transport
11 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

14. Summary
Fulfill customers expecations
Increase of new Fans/Followers
Improve and expand services offered
Collect first-hand experiences in Customer Service 2.0
Stand out from its competitors, be ahead and state-of-the-art
Know more about our Fans/Followers
12 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

15. Thank you very much!
13 | SWISS Customer Service 2.0

16. Best Airlines Driving Customer Service from Social Media
Finalist
American Airlines
USA
http://simpliflying.com

17. *Click here to view video presentation

18. Best Airlines Driving Customer Service from Social Media
Finalist
Volaris
Mexico
http://simpliflying.com

19. Best Use of Social Media to
Drive Customer Service
Presentation Pitch
August, 2012
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

20. An introduction to Volaris…
2
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

21. Volaris distinguishes itself by communicating with
its customers directly through innovative channels
Innovating and disruptive
marketing
• “Put Your Name on a Plane” (Volaris
anniversary promotion for the past 2
years)
- We declared our anniversary as the “The
Traveler’s Day”
• Concerts during flights
- Zero Flight, first concert that took place
during a flight in Mexico
- Los Tigres del Norte concert
• “Fashion Show in the air”, the first
catwalk that took place during a flight
to show our new uniforms
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

22. Social networks are communities in which people
share their opinions and experiences
… these opinions represent
In social networks everyone have
opportunities of direct and viral
something to say…
marketing for enterprises
• Community of potential customers
who share common interests
• Interaction without interruption
• Customers know what they want and
express their opinions
• The customer has the power to
express his opinion about a product
and make it change accordingly
(customer empowerment)
To build brand loyalty, it is important that
companies get involved with their customers
4
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

23. We answer questions quickly providing useful
information to our Customers on a friendly tone
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

24. Twitter as a Customer Service platform: we turned
a negative topic into a positive one
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

25. Quick reaction is the key: how to take advantage
and capitalize a Mexican Trending Topic
• Volaris took advantage of one
of the most polemic Trending
Topics of the year in order to
boost our clients loyalty with a
promotion #ViveViajando
• As a result, several printed and
online media mentioned the
succesful use of the Hashtags
#SoyProle and #ViveViajando
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

26. We thank our followers with contests to win a free
round trip
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

27. We love to receive our Customers’ travel
experiences and share them on Social Networks
•Volaris Sky Contest: in only one day and a half, we received over
800 pictures!
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

28. Twitter followers grow constantly:
graph shows how Volaris increased its base on July
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

29. Our Facebook fans base is also increasing day by
day
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

30. In June, Volaris was distinguished as the Most
Devoted Airline on Facebook by Socialbakers
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

31. José Calderoni, Volaris CMO was recognized as
June’s Hero of the Month by Simpliflying
DAL Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1

32. Thank you for your attention
14
DAL DAL Volaris Social Media to Drive Customer Service v1
Best Use of Master Slides (version Feb 2011) - ESP
DAL

33. Best Airlines Driving Customer Service from Social Media
Finalist
Kulula
South Africa
http://simpliflying.com

34. *Download flash file here and open in web browser

35. Best Airlines Driving Customer Service from Social Media
Finalist
TAP Portugal
Portugal
http://simpliflying.com

36. TAP Portugal — Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service

37. Beggining

38. Customer support given through Facebook & Twitter since 2009 by the Marketing team.

39. Our Focus:
Be closer to our passengers;
Create a stronger emotional connection with them;
Answer in a quicker and more efficient manner to customer’s questions and concerns.

40. Growth

41. Major growth on customer requests on April 2010 with the flight disruptions caused by Eyjafjallajökull ashes

42. Since then, we have a team of 15 trained people from the Customer Service area.

43. There are permanently 2 team members available 7 days a week from 8h to 24h GMT.

44. Results

45. Every Question is Answered in less than 30 Minutes on Customer Service hours on Facebook and Twitter.

46. People are progressively moving from traditional support to Facebook (Portuguese Contacts)
and Twitter (International Markets)

47. Data from July 2012:
434 wall contacts and 956 messages for Customer Support with a 95% Response Rate on Facebook.

48. Considered by SocialBakers as the top socially devoted brand in Portugal in June and July 2012.

49. Praise comes on a daily basis from the satisfied customer.

50. Thanks :)!

51. Best Airlines Driving Customer Service from Social Media
Finalist
Royal Jordanian Airlines
Jorden
http://simpliflying.com

52. Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service- ROYAL JORDANIAN!
August 14, 2012 !
PRESENTED BY The Online Project!

53. INTRODUCTION!
About Royal Jordanian!
!
!
Royal Jordanian Airlines was established in 1963 upon the royal decree of His Majesty King
Hussein bin Talal. At the time, the airline launched with three planes that flew to four
destinations. Today, Royal Jordanian boasts 30 aircraft and connects Jordan to sixty
destinations. In 2007, Royal Jordanian was inducted as a full member of the One World, one
of the leading airline alliances in the world.!
!
Launch into Social Media!
!
!
Royal Jordanian partnered with The Online Project to establish, maintain, and grow their
social media presence; the Facebook and Twitter channels were launched on March 3, 2011.
While there were many reasons to establish the pages, one of the main objectives was to
provide fast, open, and easier customer service to Royal Jordanian’s fans and followers.!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

54. KING HUSSEIN!
"I want our national carrier to be our
ambassador of good will around the
world and to bridge across which we
exchange culture, civilization, trade,
technology, friendship and better
understand with the rest of the
world." -His Majesty King Hussein
"
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

55. MECHANIC !
24/7 Monitoring:!
!
For all queries that are submitted after traditional
working hours, the monitoring and analysis team
touches based with the fan then notifies the community
manager immediately via e-mail. The community
manager then attends to the fan’s request. The
monitoring team replies to the question if the answer is
readily available.!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

56. SOCIAL MEDIA CUSTOMER SERVICE!
System!
!
!
In order to maximize efficiency, the
community manager is the hub for all
communication between the fans/
followers and Royal Jordanian’s
departments. Depending on the query,
the community manager relays
information to the concerned parties.!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

57. AGENDA!
60 minute response:!
!
To ensure timely responses, the
benchmark of a 60 minute response
time was set for all inquiries on the
Facebook and Twitter pages. Since
the launch, the average response
time has been 12 minutes.!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

58. AGENDA!
Another inquiry solved in a timely manner:!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

59. AGENDA!
Query solved via private message because of sensitive information:!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

60. AGENDA!
Brand Advocates:!
!
As a result of the community manager
ability to fosters relationships with the
fans and followers; they are quick to
defend the airline against subjective
remarks. The fans also constantly show
their support by thanking the social
media team.!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

61. AGENDA!
Going the extra mile:!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

62. CUSTOMER SERVICE!
Results:!
!
! Royal Jordanian now has over 130,000
fans on Facebook and 18,000 followers on
Twitter, that engage with the brand on daily
basis.!
!
! Solved over 1,120 issues over Facebook
and Twitter with the Customer Service
Department and Call Center.!
! Provided a new and convenient way for
customers to contact Royal Jordanian.!
! Positive sentiment on Facebook and
Twitter pages (negative sentiment <5%)!
!
! Loyal and supportive brand advocates.!
!
ROYAL JORDANIAN-CUSTOMER SERVICE!

63. THANK YOU!

64. The End
Look forward to the final results to be announced
on 3 October 2012 on http://simpliflying.com