KLM Uses Facebook Messenger to Stimulate Customer Interactions

The easiest way to improve customer satisfaction is to make doing business as simple and effortless as possible. Last week KLM announced the ability to access flight itineraries, get check-in notifications and boarding passes, rebook flights and communicate directly with customer service agents via Facebook messenger. It’s a smart proposition with the potential to prove the relevance of social messaging apps for customer service. The strategy is also spot on for simplifying customer experience—why download an app for every airline and hotel chain if you can simply use an app you’re already in all the time?

Facebook messenger could become a linchpin in the omnichannel evolution by enabling simple, effortless interactions in an app that customers are already comfortable with and using regularly.

The adoption of messaging apps has drawn attention, with What’s App (also owned by Facebook) recently reaching a billion monthly active users and Facebook messenger surpassing 800 million users (the fastest growing app of 2015, according to Nielsen). KLM is the first airline, but not the first transportation company, to announce customer service on the app. Uber made a splash last December when it announced the capability to request a ride using Facebook messenger. Social networks have an affinity with the travel and hospitality industry, with people commonly using social networks to keep in touch as they travel and the popularity of online reviews; it seems like a natural fit to support customer service in certain social channels.

Facebook messenger could compete with or put a dent in SMS and chat communication channels. Facebook messenger has more features, with options to make payments and video calls. You also don’t have to be a Facebook user to download messenger. People who don’t use Facebook often use instant messaging and texting with other applications; therefore, adoption in this business context could move quickly. KLM claims its pilot of the messaging app over the summer was widely used by customers.

There are implications for agent talent requirements if customers adopt this in the long term. Will we suddenly see demand for cube farms filled with Facebook messenger agents? KLM stated that it currently has 200 customer service staff, and it would seem that much of this talent could be repurposed because the skills required for live chat versus Facebook messaging aren’t that different. Plus, the automation we see with chat and SMS is also possible for Facebook messenger. Facebook messenger’s ease of use and rate of adoption is positioning the app with the potential to be a strategic communications tool for enterprises, taking it out of its roots as a consumer social app and further into the enterprise omnichannel world.