Social Media and Oncor: A Smart Grid Utility Company
Really? Oncor -- the largest utility company in Texas -- and the leader in Smart Grids, not only speak Texan, but social media? Texas utility Oncor is communicating with customers via social media in order to meet the needs & expectations of their customers!
I am live at the IBM Industry Symposium, and I heard from Mark Carpenter, CTO OnCor Energy. From knowing ahead of time that the power is out .. (his quote " We don't have to wait on the customer to tell us when their power goes out. We already know") to allowing bill and usage tracking from iPhones, they have embedded social networks in all they do to service clients.
Mark made some great comments about how they have transformed their customers service and operations by moving to social networks. to meet demand. Customers don't want call centers, they want tech centers, and they want the ability to access that across ALL channels through social media. So Oncor is delivering it in real time in all channels! They recognize that customer behaviour changing with text, mobile and social media channels. Do you?
Social Networks and 1800 Flowers: Live from IBM SIS!
Chris McMann, President from 1800 Flowers, says that Social Media gives his company a competitive advantage. They use this new dialogue both internally and externally.
For instance, for their call centers, since they are now remote, they leverage internal communities for keeping in touch with the corporate culture.
Externally, they had people staffing Twitter, Facebook on Mother's Day and Valentine's Day to resolve issues. Their competition did not leverage this media and their competitors saw their complaints grow, while 1800 Flowers, saw comments on their responsiveness, and care.
So now they Social Media to tell the story about their brand. They ask their customers to tell everyone about traditions, about their mom's for example. They took those stories and placed them in a book -- called "celebrating moms" and creating a space in the virtual world. They now sell the book as an offer on Mother's day!
Chris said he is trying to even learn more about his clients and their needs. He is engaged in the dialogue to ensure he keeps up to speed on what makes people smile!