How important is customer service when you have a monopoly?

Over the past year I have been reading about a new form of customer service and engagement. Technology has shifted how organizations engage their customers and what their customers are saying about their products. Ask yourself, how has your product purchasing process and customer experience changed? Most people will research online first and many people will ask friends. However, many will engage their friends through Facebook or Twitter. Included in your research will probably be a Google search, which might take you to someone’s Blog, a Facebook comment or a micro-blog, for example Twitter. This transition for many businesses can be intimidating and for government, who usually tend to be very conservative, can be an outright barrier to entry.

However, business and government must either embrace, adapt or get taken over. As Port Coquitlam has demonstrated over the past couple years embracing the new customer service paradigm allows government to engage the community in a platform that most residents are all ready using. We need to realize that our community will engage the City on their terms, this could be at City facilities; however, more people are accessing government services via their computer, Facebook, Twitter either on a PC or their smart phone. (BTW, @CityofPoCo just released a Mobile Website).

TransLink is another example of an organization who understands this new paradigm. TransLink has created a Mobile site, iPod app, text message bus schedule and is now using Twitter very effectively. TransLink understands that to reach their users they need to engage their customers who are using their service in real time, which means using iPhones, a Blackberry, or other smart phones. Over the past six months TransLink has not only adapted to using Twitter, I believe they are leaders. Let me share with you an experience I recently had that demonstrates how this new style of customer service can provide superior customer service.

A few weeks ago I boarded the wrong bus, so I Tweeted and placed on my Facebook the following comment:

A reply tweet from TransLink helping me understand the confusion. They wrote:

During this time the following conversation occurred in on my Facebook wall.

This was an excellent customer service experience, which all occurred on my Blackberry as I was riding the bus. I didn't leave the bus thinking they were wrong or how the bus system isn't working. Instead I am telling you about how great the experience was, thus creating a brand champion.

There are many other ways TransLink is using technology to engage its customers; they are leading the way. One technology I am looking forward to is the use of real time bus schedules. Every bus stop has an ID coded, which allows users to text the code and receive the bus schedule. The next phase will be a huge benefit to users, when you text the bus stop ID you will receive, not only the bus schedule, you will also be informed in real time how far away the bus is. This will be a major advantage to the bus riders, for example I can text TransLink as I am walking out the door and I will know if I have missed my bus, if I can walk to the bus, or if I need to run.

Overall, TransLink and Port Coquitlam are two leaders in engaging customers on their terms, thus delivering a superior customer service experience. Stay tuned for more great leadership from these two organizations.