Sprint Dials Up Conversocial for Customer Service via Facebook Messenger

Wireless giant Sprint teamed up with Conversocial, a cloud-based social customer service solution and Facebook Marketing Partner, to provide customer service via Facebook Messenger.

Conversocial said in a release that Sprint determined that a large chunk of its customer base preferred to address account- and service-related needs via social media, so the wireless carrier implemented Conversocial’s Messenger integration to serve that group.

Conversocial said it manages more than 11 million social media messages each month across social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram and YouTube.

Sprint senior vice president of customer care Marci Carris said in the release:

We want to build long-term relationships with our customers who choose to engage via social channels and have the ability to respond in the channels they want to connect with us. The addition of Messenger to our social care efforts was a simple decision. We are the first U.S. telecommunications company to implement Messenger. This channel is a way for us to have meaningful conversations with our customers when they decide and in the channel of their choosing.

Conversocial founder and CEO Joshua March added:

The conversation is taking place on mobile applications, and telecommunications businesses such as Sprint know that they need to be where the consumer is to assist—in the same channels and the same conversation—to help, engage and wow them. Facebook’s new Businesses on Messenger is going to be a growing channel to do this, and it brings in many new features including real-time chat, the ability to search for Sprint in Messenger and other innovations that will really serve social care–it’s reinventing live chat for the mobile generation, and we’re excited to be one of the partners enabling this new functionality and implementing it with a socially recognized brand such as Sprint.

Consumers don’t want to be on one platform and then told, “Please email or call us,” by the brand. They want to have the conversation where they are and resolve any problems there—brands such as Sprint recognize this in-the-moment customer service philosophy. The launch of Messenger shows how mobile customer service is maturing as a channel for the consumer to engage with a brand.

Readers: What do you think of the use of Messenger for customer service?

Sprint Dials Up Conversocial for Customer Service via Facebook Messenger