KLM Brings 24/7 Facebook Customer Service to the U.S.

Customer service is the key to KLM’s social media strategy.

The Dutch airline’s main Facebook and Twitter pages use a graphic of a speedometer to promise how quickly the carrier will respond to problems, and it promises to do so in 14 languages in the 24-hour cycle.

Four years after launching 24/7 social customer service on its main page on social, it has extended this support to its Facebook page in the United States. This account has 147,000 followers and claims it receives more than 60,000 mentions per week on social media and approximately 7,000 queries. Despite the volume, KLM states that guests will hear from them within one hour.

“Within the last year, the airline has launched the [social customer] service to its various locations, but the U.S. is the first in North America to receive the 24-hour support over Facebook. Given the size and importance of the U.S. market for KLM, this is a major step in the roll out process, which will soon be extended to other important countries,” said Joost Ruempol, spokesperson at KLM.

With any type of new product or feature launch, adoption is a challenge. When asked about how flyers in its American market will be made aware, Ruempol said, “By using traditional and online channels, such as the KLM newsletter, website and targeted social posts and advertising, we hope to inform travelers of this enhanced service.”

He added, “Also as a unique service we show a social media video on board and the purser announces the social media service we offer prior to the deboarding of the aircraft.”

It’s not all smooth: When looking at KLM’s U.S. website, the Facebook logo doesn’t drive to its country-specific Facebook Page, the new service is not mentioned, and the Facebook widget feed still links to KLM’s main Facebook page.

Nonetheless, KLM’s decision to provide 24/7 presence on Facebook for its country page is a smart move considering more travelers are looking for help on Facebook than on Twitter, cited in Skift’s trend report on Social Customer Service Strategies in the Travel Industry and Facebook’s 1.49 billion monthly active users.

This is not to say that airlines should shift their focus to Facebook from Twitter, it means that more resources are needed.