Our Our Berkshire and Beyond Correspondent considers the role of social media in the context of the recent industrial action in the capital. Omnibuses welcomes contributions
During the recent London bus strike, one small independent operator on the fringe of the capital reported that passenger numbers were down, not only on their TfL route, on which in actual fact they ran to a full timetable, but also on their local commercial network. This second element clearly hits them hardest, and is unfortunately brought about through no fault of the operator.
A Sullivan E200 on commercial route 398, but could the public distinguish? © Peter Horex
Screen shot of the facebook page, showing that 64 people have liked it, indicating that passengers may well be looking for information but all that is available is an extract from Wikipedia
Returning to the first of the two problems, there may just have been something that the operator could have done about it. These pages have carried many comments questioning the hard cash value of social media. Could it be that what was missing was just the sort of closer engagement with the customer base that social media brings. An easily accessible on-line resource, and perhaps more importantly, a means of pushing a message out to the customer base making clear that the services were still operating?
A Sullivan local commercial service, but utilising a fomrer London vehicle, and retaining the London blind layout. © Richard Thomas Hertsman Images
Of course, you could argue that some passengers would not have travelled because of the lack of connections at the London ends of their journeys, that only a proportion of lost customers are engaged with social media themselves, and that this does not address that second work-shy group of stay-aways. Against that, with the cost of social media at almost nothing (yes it requires time, but you could argue that it saves more in reduced phone/e-mail/letter response costs) it only needed to change the travel plans of a very small number to have paid for any extra strike-day effort.
The purpose of this article is not to criticise the operator in question, but rather to highlight an example of a clear link between engaging with customers through social media and revenue, even in, or should it be particularly in, the most unusual of circumstances.
15 comments:
Operators of all sizes should think of Facebook and Twitter as their very own 'broadcast' media. Even if it only reaches a proportion of your customers, they'll quickly tell others. It's also incredibly useful during weather emergencies - but let's hope the rain forecast for the next two days isn't as heavy as last week!
There used to be an excellent "Bath Bus Station" Twitter feed, willing to engage with the passenger, accepting of critisism, full of relevent information and all delivered with a degree of humour.
But guess what... it was a victim of First staff cut-backs!
Sullivan Buses feed off the red bus image with some success, evidenced by their many filming commitments. In this case, it has clearly backfired.
In a similar vein Norfolk green yesterday had hourly updates on delays and diversions during the Torch Relay through lincoln and norfolk .Well done them !
To praise Norfolk Green but get it wrong is unfortunate.
They in fact sent frequent update emails.
I received several during the morning as the torch progressed.
Yes well done Norfolk Green.
By the way their new Enviro 400s are due to enter service this Saturday -7th.
Social networking is a very useful tool and builds a lot of goodwill with the customer base. However senior citizens are unlikely to be reached via this medium and they represent a major part of the customer base. This is where proper timetable and oerator telephone enquiry number posted at all bus stops is essential.
Which differs from the real growth market for bus companies, teenagers either at school or college who don't drive.
These actually pay money (in the form of fares) unlike concession schemes and are well worth trying to reach, which social media can do quite effectively. Getting them into the habit of not using a car for every single journey is important.
While I would admit to being sceptical about the true value of social networking sites, it is undeniable that if you have setup such a site, it needs to be kept up to date - and, due to the nature of the beast, up to date means 'up to the minute'.
If the operator is not going to provide up to the minute information on such a site, or indeed on a conventional web site, then at the very least, tell people where they can obtain such information.
Metrobus' Facebook page, as ever, is a great example, and has been keeping passengers up to date with the London bus strike.
On the contrast, there's been some horrendously bad replies from Southern Vectis on their page recently - which are outrageously rude.
Here's some extracts:
"Southern Vectis - the island's buses. Tim, the fact that you have tattoos is irrelevant but it does prove you are at least 18. It is a condition of use of our discounted student fares that you have the appropriate identification with you at the time you travel. The alternative is to pay the full adult fare. We have to protect our revenue for the benefit of all our customers." No apology about a complaint of a rude driver, and pretty blunt. But then we get to the really bad stuff:
"Southern Vectis - the island's buses. It's quite simple. Discounted travel is offered subject to terms and conditions and these include that you must have valid identification to support the ticket type you are travelling with, whether it is a 5 -18 ticket, an NUS ticket or a Jobhunter ticket and have it ready to show before you board the bus. The drivers have a duty to question customers if they have any doubts in order to protect our revenue. They themselves are subject to audit by our Revenue Protection Inspectors who travel on our network frequently. End of discussion."
"End of discussion"?!!! The company is now being damn right rude to the customers on the public forum.
Unsurprisingly, this has got everyone up in arms, with 50 odd comments complaining and arguing about it. People have taken screenshots of the company's awful replies and are now going to make official complaint.
So there's an example of how not to do it. In fact, it's the worst I've ever seen a bus company Facebook page.
Social networking when done well is excellent but you have to be able to devote the time to it and not look on it as an 'add on'. North Somerset Coaches uses it to good effect notifying passengers when things are delayed. When they ran a town to station service at night (taken off after 3 years of hardly anyone using it due to a free car park at the station) They even made sure that the bus was equipped to get the live traffic feeds off the railway so that if the train was late then the bus could wait for it and not just leave.
@ Anonymous 2344 - I've not looked at SV's Facebook page but based on the excerpts you've included this looks like an issue over youth discounted fares. It's hardly a surprise that there will be instances of people trying to bend the rules for right or wrong reasons.
The young person who has been "challenged" may decide to "take the fight" to Facebook regardless of whether he or she is in the right. What are SV to do in these circumstances? Are they not correct to point out that there are rules? I agree the language might have been clumsy but are commercial businesses just supposed to sit there under an onslaught of criticism and say nothing or worse capitulate in front of their Facebook audience thereby sending the wrong message about how to get a reduced fare?
It's not easy to get the pitch right for a wide ranging and hidden audience. I wonder who will be handling the official complaint?
It's SV's Facebook page. You can understand them wanting to stop a discussion from running on and on and taking over the page. Sounds like someone had tried it on as they forgot their ID, the driver did his job and the passenger then decided to make a fuss. Perhaps "End of discussion" comes across as a little blunt but it's clear the discussion needed to end.
Anonymous said...
"On the contrast, there's been some horrendously bad replies from Southern Vectis on their page recently - which are outrageously rude."
A classic example of why Facebook is most definitely NOT the place to deal with public complaints.
The comments that you have posted from SV are factual, not rude. The 'End of discussion' may seem a little brusque, but it does not warrant the term 'rude' in any degree.
There are two (at least) problems with the concept. Firstly, in the event of a complainant referring to a specific journey/date/time, the driver involved may be identifiable, and not just by his/her employers. There are potential legal ramifications if critical comments about an individual are posted on an internet site. Sooner or later somebody who has been the victim of such comments will come looking for compensation - outcome unknown (unless somebody has already tried it!) I would suggest that there is no guarantee that an aggrieved party might not seek damages from the bus operator running the site in such a case.
Secondly, the commenter complains that SV have not apologised for the driver's rudeness. The operator cannot apologise for a driver's rudeness until they have investigated the matter, and satisfied themselves that he/she actually was rude to a passenger. Even after that, it would be a very bad idea to post such an apology on a website. That's probably difficult to do with any certainty, but the company should know their employees, and they will definitely know whether there have been several complaints about rudeness on the part of that particular driver in the past, or none at all.... From that the operator can form a judgement about the validity of the complaint. However, if they simply apologise on a website without investigating the matter, then they are effectively 'naming and shaming' the driver - certainly not good for staff relations, and again, having the potential for further undesirable consequences.
Facebook et al may have their uses, but handling complaints is most definitely NOT one of them.
RC169 - "A classic example of why Facebook is most definitely NOT the place to deal with public complaints".
I completely disagree.
There's tonnes of examples on good Facebook pages of how complaints can easily be handled.
You only need to look at the Metrobus page, for example, to see how complaints can be handled.
Someone complains, and Metrobus will respond (they may ask for more information first) with an explanation as to what happened (why a bus was late, apology if a driver's got something wrong). They then sometimes give out their contact details for the passengers to make an official complaint if they want to take it further.
I suspect most don't, they've got their answer, situation is resolved, job done. Through Facebook.
Just because some operators are incapable of doing it, doesn't mean Facebook shouldn't be used for it by those who can.
I cannot believe people are supporting SV here.
For a start, what's the point of replying here (and making assumptions) if you've not actually gone and had a quick look at their page.
The person, whether they were in the right or wrong, was actually complaining about the driver not giving them time to find their pass, rather than being refused travel in itself.
"What are SV to do in these circumstances? Are they not correct to point out that there are rules? I agree the language might have been clumsy but are commercial businesses just supposed to sit there under an onslaught of criticism and say nothing or worse capitulate in front of their Facebook audience thereby sending the wrong message about how to get a reduced fare?"
Yes, of course they need to defend their point, but the language being "clumsy" is a far more important point than you seem to consider.
I agree they need to keep control on their Facebook page. But being extremely blunt about it, and igniting a war, is not the way to go about it. The fact is, through their poor reply, they've completely lost control. They've replied to the original thread just three times, none were polite. The last was on Thursday. As of Sunday evening, there are now 99 comments, mostly slating SV in a mass argument. SV have clearly failed in using blunt methods to "keep control" and "protect" themselves.
"The comments that you have posted from SV are factual, not rude. The 'End of discussion' may seem a little brusque, but it does not warrant the term 'rude' in any degree."
I do not agree with this one bit, how is a company responding to a genuine complaint with "End of discussion" not rude? What about the customer always being right? OK, so they might not actually be right, but going all god-complex about it as a company is not the way to go about it.
Put it like this: You had a gripe with SV, and wrote them a letter making an official complaint.
In their response letter, the letter starts with "It's quite simple" (patronising). And ends with "End of discussion." (we're right, you can p*** off).
No, of course that wouldn't be acceptable. So what makes it acceptable to use such rude words on Facebook?
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