Lithys 2017: Southwest Airlines - Social Support Champion

Lithys 2017: Southwest Airlines - Social Support Champion

With an operationally sound Social Customer Care Team in place, we were able to secure prominent placement on Southwest.com promoting social media channels as an option for Customers to contact us.

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Company: Southwest Airlines

southwest_logo1.pngEntry submitted by: Ashley Mainz, Social Business Manager 

Community and Social Channels: Southwest Airlines Community, Facebook page and Twitter channel.

Lithy category:  Social Support Champion  

 

In its 46th year of service, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) continues to differentiate itself from other air carriers with exemplary Customer Service delivered by more than 53,000 Employees to more than 100 million Customers annually. Southwest proudly operates a network of 101 destinations in the United States and eight additional countries with more than 3,900 departures a day during peak travel season. Based on the U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent data, Southwest Airlines is the nation's largest carrier in terms of originating domestic passengers boarded.

 

Our organization’s social customer service initiatives in 2016-2017

 

Throughout the last decade, Southwest has emerged as a leader in social business. Whether it is through storytelling, marketing, or providing Southwest’s legendary Customer Service on social media channels– our philosophy has been to integrate social media strategies and tactics across all areas of the business.

 

In 2016, one area of focus was to continue evolving Southwest’s Social Customer Care practice. In order to meet the demands of our growing business we focused on these five initiatives:

  1. Ensure the Social Care Team is fully staffed with 31 full-time Representatives and 4 Leaders.
  2. Launch a 24/7/365 Social Care Team operation.
  3. Staff a fully-empowered Team to respond and resolve all conversations.
  4. Refine Southwest’s voice on social media channels to match the brand’s personality and distinguish us from other airlines.
  5. Cross-train Multi-channel Representatives within the Customer Relations Department to support the Social Care Team during high volume events.

 

The need for an operationally sound Social Customer Care Team

 

Southwest’s Social Customer Care operation is comprised of top talent from within the company’s Customer Relations department. In addition to providing Customer support via phone and email, Southwest is equipped to answer all comments, questions, complaints, and compliments that arise on social media channels, allowing Customers to receive support via the channel of their choice.

 

The Social Customer Care Team relies on Lithium Social Media Management (SMM) for Service platform to route, tag, prioritize, and respond to all inbound social media posts. The platform has also allowed us to measure the team’s productivity and align Social Customer Care data with other areas of the business.

 

With an operationally sound Social Customer Care Team in place, we were able to secure prominent placement on Southwest.com promoting social media channels as an option for Customers to contact us.

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Our results

 

As we’ve evolved the Social Customer Care Team to meet the demands of our business, Customer demand has continued to grow. Using Lithium SMM for Service, we’ve been able to measure these data points:

  • 2% increase in inbound volumes year over year (January – April 2016/2017 YOY comparison)
  • Reduced Time to First Response on Twitter and Facebook, meeting established SLAs of 15 minutes or less on Twitter and eight hours or less on Facebook.
  • Used Lithium SMM enhancements to update procedures and create efficiencies for the Team.

 

In addition to these quantitative results, the Social Care Team is consistently recognized by industry experts as a best in class example for providing outstanding Customer Service on social media channels.

 

  • Inside Southwest Airlines' Social Media 'Listening Center' (NBCDFW.com).sw2.png

     

 

  • 6 Unforgettable Lessons from Southwest Airlines Social Media Crisis (ConvinceAndConvert.com)sw3.png

     

  • What businesses can learn from Southwest's social media response during its tech outage (Dallas Morning News)sw4.png

     

 

In addition to what the media and industry experts have to say, Customers have also been singing our praises.sw5.jpg

 

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Comments

Your listening station is amazing and who does like long lines at TSA...lol Said it before and I'll say it again love what you guys do🤓