Executive summary

Spectrum is among the largest providers of video, high-speed data, and phone services in the United States, connecting more than 15 million customers across 29 states to entertainment, information, and each other. Spectrum is in the business of connecting people, so they understand how important — and challenging — it is to communicate with their customers on the channel they prefer. To meet the needs of their brand, care agents, and customers, Spectrum onboarded Khoros Care and developed a Khoros-powered community.

Before partnering with Khoros, Spectrum’s social care team knew they had insufficient social media management technology and processes to meet the needs of their business. They needed to demonstrate the value of Khoros Care to their leadership team in order to adopt it. At that time, the vast majority of Spectrum’s customers were still using traditional support channels like voice and chat, and although increasing numbers of customers were seeking support via social media, the business was unsure about the value of assigning customer service agents to monitor social channels like Facebook and Twitter.

Spectrum had previously tried a partnership with a social media management solution that specialized in social listening, but the social care team found themselves relying on Excel spreadsheets, email, Facebook, and Post-It notes to do what the solution couldn’t. Spectrum’s social media team communicated to the business that an increasing number of customers were looking to connect via social media. They also expressed that the highly visible nature of social media means that quality customer care standards in the channel serve as brand protection. After the social care team presented these important points, the brand decided to partner with Khoros.

With Khoros, Spectrum had a more efficient engagement solution that could also track and analyze customer interactions and agent performance for reporting and scaling purposes. Khoros Care also proved critical in sustaining Spectrum’s customer relationships in the midst of a serious communication blackout during Hurricane Sandy. With cellular towers overwhelmed and internet and television services down, customers turned to the only remaining avenue of contact with Spectrum: Facebook and Twitter via their smartphones. With Khoros, Spectrum agents were able to effectively communicate with customers on social media during the crisis.

Spectrum also built a Khoros-powered community to provide a centralized home for conversations about the brand. The goals were to engender goodwill, provide transparency, and offer the ability for Spectrum to weigh in when appropriate. With their community, Spectrum can now respond directly to forum posts, create and escalate cases, and direct Facebook and Twitter users to relevant posts within the community, saving the company time and money.

Just a few short months into their partnership with Khoros, Spectrum more than tripled their social media team and saw noticeable increases in their productivity and ability to respond to customers. The integrated nature of the Khoros Care solution also allowed agents to tackle cases more quickly, leading to a 57% improvement in agent productivity. Now, Spectrum’s social customer care team finally has one streamlined platform where they can identify messages that need a response, manage social conversations to resolution, and gather data on their performance.

“Onboarding the Khoros Care solution helped us to very quickly organize our efforts: we turned tweets into cases that could be assigned, tracked, and reported on, and that gave us insight into how many people it takes to manage the volume on social media effectively.”

— Carter Calle
Alternative Care Strategies Manager, Spectrum