KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has launched a customer service channel on Chinese social network WeChat via Salesforce Service Cloud, in partnership with Nexmo.
Via Nexmo’s Chat App API KLM can process and handle user inquiries from Chinese customers on WeChat more efficiently based on previous interactions with users on multiple platforms.
The service means customers get feedback no matter which social communication platform they choose.
The newly launched service is available on Weixin, WeChat’s sister product targeting users in China. The combined monthly active user accounts on WeChat and Wexin reached 600 million as of the second quarter of 2015.
This is the first time a company has been able to engage with customers on a social communication platform through Salesforce Service Cloud. Today’s announcement contributes to Nexmo’s vision for one cloud communication API to connect all chat apps to all CRM platforms, ushering in the next wave of how brands interact with customers.
“We sincerely believe that we can service our customers best by being where they are,” said Karlijn Vogel-Meijer, Manager Social Media at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. “Apart from the one-to-many platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, we are seeing enormous growth of social communication platforms like WeChat. Salesforce is the backbone of our social organization and Nexmo offers us a solution to add platforms like WeChat to our CRM system.”
Social communication platforms have a massive built-in audience and make up four out of the top six largest social platforms with QQ, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and WeChat challenging Facebook and Qzone, according to social media agency We Are Social. This presents a significant opportunity for brands to engage with consumers in authentic, one-to-one engagement, with both Forrester and IDC saying chat applications are the new face of social media.