BSES Social Media War Room: Entering the social CRM arm of an electricity utility brand

Real-time responses to power supply issues over social media are transforming transparency for BSES customers, here's how Futuready Media is chipping in.

A Joint Venture of Reliance Infrastructure Ltd. & Govt. of NCT of Delhi, BSES Delhi (BSES Rajdhani Power Limited and BSES Yamuna Power Limited) provides electricity to a large part of the capital. To amp up the possibility of better interactions with the public utility service provider, BSES has partnered with Futuready Media to develop a 24x7 social media response mechanism.

The need for this was felt after the authorities realise the way customers interacted with the brand on social media — they expressed anger and broadcasted their respective stories of unsatisfactory customer service to a virtually infinite audience.

Currently, Futuready Media helps BSES tackle 100 to 150 complaints per day, covering both Facebook and Twitter under the system.

Complaints & Mental Health

Being on the receiving end of complaints about public utility services is a world of its own. More often than not, people are angry, sometimes even abusive. It takes a lot of patience and training to be able to separate the professional and personal — as these are issues that everyone faces on a regular basis.

For BSES, the team at Futuready Media uses their understanding of social media, its nuances, and the standard operating processes unique to BSES. As for the means to handle stress and abuse, frequent team huddles are used as forums to discuss issues and celebrate successful resolutions.

"Our team of CRM executives is headed by a project manager and guided by back-office data analysts. Everyone undergoes rigorous training on handling customer issues, especially complaints of irate customers, which involves communication, written responses, and organisation of BSES support teams and escalation matrix," Amey Asuti, Founder and Managing Director, Futuready Media said.

Also Read: Making sense of numbers. Are we Social CRM ready?

Mechanism & Machinery

A team of 10 at Futuready Media is involved in running 24x7 social CRM, supported by the BSES team, both at the ground level and the war rooms, which work to resolve the most urgent issues. Since the work involves real-time monitoring, technology is used to the fullest to map complaints, measure turnaround time and gauge satisfactory resolution. Tricky issues, sensitive messages, and irate customers are dealt with urgently and escalated immediately.

Though the team uses a standard operating procedure, it is ensured that all the responses are manual and not automated through bots. "We use technology to monitor and listen but do not answer without the human touch. Whenever we expect a high load of complaints, we double up on the CRM executives to track and answer all complaints," Asuti adds.

Help with CRM helps BSES expedite the handling of customer issues, ensuring customer satisfaction and even delight through real-time access. Many aspects of data entry are automated to provide a clearer and more comprehensive picture of client interactions. The increased clarity provides representatives with more confidence about the data in front of them and eases the burden of data maintenance.