Ford Owners Use Social Media for Customer Service

From Ford.com:

• Ford Customer Service Division is reaching a new audience by expanding its customer service to social media; agents review thousands of comments a week on auto enthusiast forums, message boards, Ford Facebook walls and Twitter

• Ford has eight customer service agents who review customer comments and concerns that come in through multiple social media channels

• Customer service satisfaction in this channel averaged 84 percent positive for 2011

When Steven Yourstone wanted answers about the arrival of his 2011 Explorer, he contacted Ford. But he didn’t pick up the phone or work through any complicated message systems. He simply asked his question on the Ford Explorer Facebook page. He got an answer from the Ford Customer Service Division social media team – along with a lot more.

“They really seemed to reach out and care,” said Yourstone, a department chair at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. “They’re always in the threads, and they’re pretty knowledgeable, too.”

Yourstone is part of an audience that Ford is reaching by expanding its customer service to social media. By proactively monitoring comments, questions and concerns on Facebook, Twitter, auto enthusiast forums and message boards, agents are able to regularly engage with thousands of customers – and potential customers – in real time.

“Being online lets you cater to an audience that is used to instant gratification,” said Mont Wright, Customer Satisfaction manager in the Business Assistance Center.

“Many of these questions and these comments may never come to the phone – or even to e-mail,” Wright said. “In some situations, we can change a negative to a positive. In others, we can reach out to new customers. It’s been a very positive experience for us.”

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