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How a volcano inspired KLM to change how we use social media

April 24, 2015

How a volcano inspired KLM to change how we use social media

For this blog we are going to go back in time 5 years (a veritable eternity from a social media perspective) to look at some great innovation of the past. So strap yourself in as we travel back into the haze of yesteryear…

On April 14th 2010 an Icelandic volcano with the awesome name Eyjafjallajökull (vowels are overrated anyway) erupted. Since that fateful day, I may have forgotten how to pronounce the name, but I still remember the news about the volcano’s fateful eruption. Vast clouds of ash were thrown into the air and the impact this had on air traffic in Europe and beyond was staggering; all flights in the area were grounded and around 10 million travellers were marooned at a number of local airports.

With that figure in mind, envision for a moment if you will, what the airline help desks and call centers would have looked like during that crisis period. Roughly 10 million angry travellers meant the beleaguered staff, servers and phone lines simply could not handle the workload. The system was subsequently overloaded and shutdown, just when people needed it most. People’s calls were repeatedly rejected or were put on hold for hours… needless to say; tensions and emotions were running high.

At that moment, the resident airline Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (or KLM for those of us not proficient in Dutch) had just started to discover something we all now take for granted: social media. KLM freely admit that they had no idea what they were doing back then and Gert-Wim ter Haar (manager of KLM’s Social Media Hub) was quoted saying: “…mostly we were like kids playing in the sandpit for the first time”.

Eyjafjallajökull’s eruption absolutely boosted their online learning experience. While many customers were awaiting an up-date, KLM realised that their customers were using FB and Twitter to keep friends and family updated. They quickly concluded that they had to be there as well in order to reach their customers. Within the hour they created a social media room (manned by KLM volunteers) and were able to inform everyone about the eruption, its consequences and the ever-changing flight schedules at record speeds. They received a lot of admiration for the way they dealt with it back then.

In one day, the potential of social media became absolutely clear to KLM. From just another snot-nosed kid in the online sandpit, 5 years later KLM has become a global leader and a shining example to many companies on how to use social media properly (the adult who supervises the sandpit perhaps?). Currently, their online media service is offering 24/7 service in 14 languages on FB, Twitter, LinkedIn and some other (local) big communities, with a team of 150 people.

KLM gives ‘tours’ to companies to share their knowledge and show off their excellent approach. And from what I have heard from people who have experienced it firsthand, it is very impressive.

Now that we’ve passed the 5-year anniversary of the eruption, KLM is sharing some of their major learnings. These are not only interesting to the bigger companies out there, but I feel they are useful to any company who wants to get the most out of their social media activities. So lets pass on some of KLM’s knowledge:

  1. You have to be where your customers are. Know where your target is online, make sure you understand that space and then join them there.
  2. If you are active on social media, you MUST offer customer support. You can’t just only do “cool” and “fun” stuff. If you are online, you need to be responding to fun comments but also to questions and complaints.
  3. Stay authentic. This means personal service, so no automated answers. Use a personal reply instead. If someone approaches KLM on Twitter, they give a tailored reply instead of a link to other channels.
  4. Improving business. Utilise social media and customer feedback to become a better business. KLM for example was getting a lot of feedback on lost luggage, so they have set up a Lost & Found team, which enabled them to reunite passengers with their lost property far more quickly and efficiently than before.

By following KLM’s example, adversity can be turned into innovation and social media can be used to do a lot of good (take note Woolworths & Starbucks).


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