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Product Ambassadors blog helps solve customer issue immediately
By Justin Goldsborough | January 7th, 2009
Justin case you were wondering…the next time someone ask you about the benefits of Sprint Space or how sharing information via a blog post can help our customers, do I have a story for you to tell.
About 30 minutes ago, I saw a customer post on Twitter that she was having a problem with her Instinct, so I reached out and asked for details. She told me she was getting an “Uncaught exception” error.
I told her I would ask our Product Ambassadors (PAs) on Sprint Space if they could help. But I didn’t have to ask because PA Russ Sullivan had already blogged about this issue on Monday. So I just copied his fix instructions and tweeted them to Rachel. Here’s how the convo went (NOTE: Read from bottom to top on next image because that’s how Twitter records conversations).
The only reason I was able to help at all was because of Russ’ post and the comments added to it by several employees and other PAs. And the end result…Only 18 minutes after I let Rachel know I’d ask our product ambassadors team for help, she responded with this tweet:
That’s the immediate type of solution sharing knowledge via social media can provide! Thank goodness we’ve got such a great group of product ambassadors telling the “Sprint story” about our devices and making it easy to help our customers.
Now, imagine how easy it would be for customers to get the latest product tips if that group was blogging externally on Buzz About Wireless or sprint.com. But that’s another post.
“The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent the positions, strategies or opinions of Sprint.”
January 7th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Hey Justin,
Thanks again for your help earlier and for the great write up. I’m glad to see Sprint on Twitter and out there in the social media space. It still amazes me how immediately issues can be addressed by using these kinds of online resources.
Nice meeting you and Happy New Year to you, your wife and Jameson.
January 7th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Great case study for social media, Justin!
Is it part of your job to monitor Twitter and other social networks for Sprint . . . or are you just a loyal employee? Either way, it’s pretty damned effective, and an incredible argument for using the new tools.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Thanks, Rachel. We’ve been trying to show Sprint employees why it pays for SMEs to blog and put their part of the “Sprint story” out there on Sprint Space, our employee blogging and socnet site. Your situation was exactly the kind of example we’ve been looking for.
If we truly want our employees to be brand ambassadors, we’ve got to equip them with the tools to answer customer questions…and answer them fast. My boss and I were talking today about how companies get points for listening, points for resolving issues, but also points for being quick.
After all, we’re a tech company and our brand messaging is around the “Now” network :).
Happy new year to you too.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
Hey, Steve. Agree that monitoring conversations about your brand on Twitter is very effective, and it’s very easy (search.twitter.com). Really no excuse for companies not to do it.
Monitoring Twitter is a part of my job, but I think you’ve hit on an interesting point and goal we always talk about when you mention the idea of a “loyal employee.” Ideally, down the road, we’ll have a number of “loyal employees” across the company — my old boss coined this type of group “Web Ninjas” — who see online customer outreach as a part of their job.
In today’s SM world, all employees really are PR reps, customer service agents and most importantly…brand ambassadors. We dictate the type of brand ambassadors they can be by how easy we make it for them to find information. That’s why one of our next goals is to compile a database of Sprint FAQs — maybe in wiki format — that employees can tap into to help tell the “Sprint story.”
January 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Justin:
I couldn’t agree more! It’s one of the things I teach in my employee communication seminars: Your employees are your customers, your PR agency, your media, your community . . . and with social media, they all have massive electronic megaphones.
The lines between “audiences” is so blurry as to almost not be there anymore.
And yet . . . so many companies try to craft the “internal” messages differently than what they do “external.” As if there’s a difference.
Steve C.
January 13th, 2009 at 8:20 am
[…] businesses can benefit from with social media. Did you know, for instance, that it’s helped product ambassadors help solve customer issues immediately? Of course, offers of help are just one facet of social media - many are simply happy bragging […]
January 14th, 2009 at 6:03 am
Here from the Gonzo Social Media Carnival.
There was a time when Sprint did a lousy job of customer service. It’s good to see the company has learned it’s lesson and turning things around in the age of new media.
More customers should implement use of Product Ambassadors.
The challenge, I would think, is being sure the Ambassadors are as motivated to HELP customers as they are to create a good image for the company.