Pitney Bowes is getting sexy with social media
Pitney Bowes, the manufacturer of postage meters and other mailing related products and services, may not be a sexy brand, but they’re acting sexy by embracing social media.
So what are they doing that’s getting me so excited?
For one, they’ve setup a customer support forum to guide users through a variety of problems. The most common of which are issues related to postage increases. When the USPS raises it’s rates, Pitney Bowes customers are required to reprogram their machines, which results in increased call volume. Pitney Bowes was smart, realized the potential of online support and now allows customers can submit their requests online. The beauty of this is that customers can search through previous support requests for answer to their issue. This self-service model has resulted in a 30% decrease in call volume to the Pitney Bowes call center.
Secondly, they are asking their customers three questions about how to improve Pitney Bowes in a section they call the “Think Tank” and allow users to vote on the ideas.
1. What Else Do You Want Your Mailing Machine To Do?
2. What kind of software or web service would help your business?
3. How can we make the PB.com website work better for you?
This section doesn’t really have high participation yet, but it’s exciting to see them implementing suggestion box functionality. I’d be interested to know if any user submitted ideas have made it’s way into the Pitney Bowes product or service line.
Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Feb. 17, 2009