Month: November 2016

Categories
News

CECA infrastructure vision offers positive future for the north east

The Angel of the North against a bright, blue sky

Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure.

OK, so Philip Hammond hasn’t made his autumn statement yet but listening to the mood music it wouldn’t be huge surprise if he stole a soundbite from Tony Blair and tweaked it a bit next Wednesday.

So, it was fascinating to hear from some of the region’s key players at CECA North East’s Infrastructure Vision event this morning.

Highways England, the Port of Sunderland, PD Ports, the North East LEP and the Tees Valley Combined Authority all joined CECA’s national chief executive and head of commercial affairs to give their views on the state of infrastructure investment in the north east.

So, what’s the story and how are we doing?

I’d give it a positivity rating of 7 out of 10 – it was fascinating to hear from both ends of the region.

Key takeaways for me:

  1. David Land from the North East LEP made a great point about the region needing to be better at defining what we want to see by 2030 or 2040 and making a comprehensive strategic business case for it to secure funding. Government is listening and looking for infrastructure projects to invest in and local authorities and others need to engage with the government on its own terms to deliver results. The National Infrastructure Commission call for evidence is a perfect time to start doing this.
  1. There is a 30-year focus on infrastructure investment now which is a step change from the 3-5 year electoral focus we are too used to – this is great news but means a change of approach when it comes to government engagement.
  1. “Infrastructure is an enabler, but what is it enabling?” – great quote from Jonathan Spruce, Interim Director of Strategic Transport at the Tees Valley Combined Authority – we’re not building bridges or roads just because we like them, we’re doing it because they deliver jobs, housing and improve people’s lives.
  1. Public sector procurement – it’s dull, it’s a pain, it’s not perfect. It never was and it never will be. Whether it is comms, plant and materials, consultancy services it is a challenge. Deal with it. Public sector procurement is doing its best.
  1. On a personal note, it’s always good as well to hear client projects like Invest in East Coast and New Wear Crossing being talked about so positively by others as well.

Thanks to CECA NE – the rhetoric is good, the reality needs to match up to it.

Thanks for reading

Chris

Categories
Insights

Twitter introduces customer service bots

A blackboard with 'help' written on it

Twitter launches customer service bots in direct messages.

There are many brands and accounts on Twitter that pride themselves in great customer service on the social network. This is usually because they invest time and money in staff and equipment that can enable them to provide such a service; examples of this include KLM and train networks.

Now, in theory at least, it will be easier for smaller companies to provide a similar level of service as those larger brands with Twitter’s new tool.

So, how does it work?

As a twitter user, you can set up an automated welcome message that greets the customer before they’ve even started typing. The customer can then select different categories of queries that have automated responses; or request to speak directly to an agent.

new_twitter_dm

 

Think automated telephone systems without the painful dictation (“AGENT…” “Putting you through to…payments”) or dreadful hold music.

Sounds good, so what’s the catch?

Aha – you did ask. You need to open your DMs to everybody (not just mutual follower/followees), which means if you are a brand likely to get bombarded with irrelevant messages, tread carefully and ask the following questions:

  • Does the level of genuine queries warrant a system like this?
  • Do I get a lot of the same queries that have the same answer?
  • Would a system like this contribute to my overall customer service level?

So should my organisation sign up?

If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, then exploring this tool further is worth it. We would still recommend a third party customer service system like Sprout Social or Hootsuite, in addition to this to help you filter through the noise and answer questions as efficiently as possible.

It is also worth keeping in mind that Twitter isn’t revolutionising social customer service automation as Facebook launched a very similar tool for their Messenger app earlier this year. At least this way customers and brands that lean towards either Facebook or Twitter have a level playing field in which to implement good customer service.

Ultimately its good to see Twitter recognising this growing area and trying to do something for help, but more fundamentally there are still too many people and brands using social media without defining why they are there or thinking about how they’re going to measure success.

Don’t forget the big picture

My advice is to sit down and challenge yourself or your organisation’s presence on social and get all existentialist and ask the big questions.

  • Why am I here?
  • What am I trying to achieve?
  • How am I going to measure success?

Thanks for reading

Jess