HP
to Use Social Tools for Business Goals
The
company has created an online consumer support community. An online
support forum, customer care site, online classes, and how-to videos are
among the components of the community-centric initiative.
It has
announced a series of programs to help consumers get answers to
questions quickly and effectively online.
- A revamped global
peer-to-peer online support forum allows members to connect with one
another to exchange insights and tips, and get answers to each other’s
questions regarding their HP consumer products.
- The updated HP Customer
Care website makes it easier for buyers to find the information they
need to solve issues.
- Online classes, offered at
no charge, are to help customers with subjects like migrating to
Windows Vista, safe wireless computing, and digital scrapbooking.
- A series of online videos
will provide tips and tutorials on topics ranging from connecting dual
monitors to configuring a TV tuner on a PC.
HP
quotes Forrester Research to say that three out of four online adults in
the United States now use social tools to connect with each other,
compared with just 56% in 2007. Traffic to the HP Customer Care site
increased 18% from January to October 2007 compared to the same period
in 2008 as more consumers go online for support.
The
online community initiative is the result of recent investments by HP to
deliver better consumer technical support worldwide. Internal HP surveys
show these investments are making an impact – satisfaction with HP
consumer support improved 30% from October 2007 to October 2008 with the
launch of a new customer support infrastructure, new call centers and
agent training programs in early 2008.
“These
programs represent a growing evolution in consumer support,” said Tara
Bunch, vice president, Global Customer Support Operations, HP.
“Providing a way for customers to assist each other through a community
and get better support online helps us achieve our goal of improving
customer satisfaction worldwide.”
Leading
these online support programs is the newly designed consumer support
forum where community members can share ideas, ask questions, and help
other members with solutions. The forum is divided into different
categories based on broad topics such as operating systems or wireless
networking for notebooks.
Community members can personalize their HP experiences by tagging or
bookmarking key boards, threads and messages, or by adding RSS feeds to
keep track of new posts on key topics.
HP
plans to add additional components to the consumer support forum,
including blogs for technical gurus and community members, online
seminars with moderated questions and answers, and wikis to enhance the
support library with new content.
HP will
be actively monitoring the forums to help identify common support issues
and gain customer feedback and insights. If customers can’t find
solutions to their problems, assistance is available directly from HP by
phone, email, and real-time chat.
The HP
consumer support forums are available worldwide in English and will be
rolling out in additional languages in the future.
The HP
consumer support forums are available now at www.hp.com/support/consumer-forum.
Photo courtesy: HP
