PORTLAND, OR, United States – As I wrote earlier this week, the Nokia Care team here in the United States is an organization that provides tremendous support for American Nokia owners.
If you have a Nokia phone and reach out to the Care team either via email, phone, or on social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook, they are ready and willing to take on your problem and help you solve it straight away.
To get a feel for how the team operates, I interviewed two members of the Nokia Care US team, Sean Valderas and Linsday Conant, who are based in Irving, Texas.
The Nokia Care Team is really active on so many channels, including Twitter and Facebook – what does it take to meet customers’ needs so well?
Sean: “It really comes down to our team – we have just the right mix of individuals to get customers’ questions taken in, prioritised and solved. We have seven folks who are professionals at their specialties, most of whom have at least ten years of experience.
“When we get a request via Twitter. we have great tools for managing the question from inception to solving it. We assign it to the right person for expedient service.
“We find Twitter to be a challenging medium because of the 140 character limit, which is why we use email when we need to.
“The majority of our communications are reactive. However, we try to be proactive whenever possible. When doing a proactive communication, we try to anticipate challenges our customer might have and meet any issues head on. We try to inform.”
What’s one service you want Nokia users to know more more about?
Sean: “We want folks to know about SmartStart – our concierge service for Nokia owners in the US. Also, folks need to check out our Facebook page, which has all the resources we have for customers in one place.”
Tell me about the makeup of the team.
Linsday: “We have seven Care professionals, each with their own area of expertise. Here’s the rundown of each member:
Sean Valderas: 12 years at Nokia, Social Media Manager, Services Quality
Lindsay Conant: Social Media Manager
Kent Wilson: 13 years at Nokia, Product Quality
Ron Fleck: 14 years at Nokia, Product Quality
Walter Jarek: 12 years at Nokia, Product Quality
Pierre Lampe: 10 years at Nokia, Product and Services Quality
Jana Tate: 15 years at Nokia, Product and Services Quality
What’s the oddest request you’ve received?
Sean: “The funniest question we get (and it comes in often) is whose hands are in the Nokia screen animation.”
What’s the furthest you’ve gone to meet a Nokia user’s needs?
Sean: “Oh that’s easy – late last year, long time Nokia customer Mike Macias reached out to @NokiaCareUS for help on Oct 31st because the camera on his Nokia N8 stopped working and due to the fact that this device takes great pictures, he wanted to get it fixed ASAP to ensure he could take pictures of his soon-to-be-born son – his wife was expecting their first baby within days.
“I immediately took on the case and had a new device shipped to him overnight.
“He subsequently posted thank you for the quick resolution and shared with the Care team the pictures he took of his new born son. The Care team also sent his wife flowers as well.”
Give me a sense of volume…how many cases do you guys handle on an average day? Which social media channel is most active?
Sean: “We close about 12 cases per day – ranging from product/applications/services. Twitter generates the most requests and it’s our most active channel.”
How do you drive the Care team to excel?
Sean: “We give Nokia Care US employees the freedom to speak as a person, not necessarily as a branded Nokia spokesperson. Also, you’ll see our folks active on official channels and on their personal Twitter accounts, and that’s encouraged.
“Lastly, we engage the community in ways other company’s support groups don’t. In addition to answering questions and closing tickets, we do giveaways and networking events to draw our community in.
Linsday added, “Last year, we ran a great competition where Nokia Care US donated funds to a charitable group where Nokia Care fans nominated organizations to receive a cash reward. As a result, we donated $2,500 to the International Justice Mission, which exists to fight and prevent modern-day slavery.”