Why Utility Companies Should Adopt Social Media

Most businesses in Malaysia have adopted Social Media as part of their business process and many have plenty of success stories to share. I truly believe it’s high time that utility companies in Malaysia like Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Telekom Malaysia (TM ) and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS) to adopt Social Media as part of their customer service process.

The reason I brought this matter up because I had numerous unfortunate events with power outage while I was at home yesterday. Occasional power outage is acceptable but when it hits you 3-4 times within two hours at night, then you have to do something about it. It’s bad enough you have to stumble around in the dark looking for your phone, it’s even a bigger pain trying to call up the customer service line. When all attempts failed, the next sensible thing to do is to put your complaint via Facebook.

While most of them (utility companies) have got a social media presence, most are not really well-managed.

However, I would like to highlight an event where it has totally changed my perception. TNB has a Facebook page and a Twitter account; I decided to leave my complaint on their Facebook wall instead. To my surprise, I received a comment reply from the administrator almost immediately… even long after midnight. Somebody is actually manning the page and I must say that I’m quite impressed with their efficiency. Even though there’s nothing much the Admin behind the Facebook account can do about the power outage situation, it is good enough that customer’s complains are being heard.

Complaint posted on TNB Careline page

Chat with TNB Careline admin via Private Message

 

Well done to Admin Zamoli and kudos to Tenaga Nasional Berhad! That’s Social Media done right; also the very reason why every other utility company should adopt it.

Tagged facebook, Tenaga Nasional, twitter