The webcare team that you have is both old and new. How does that work?
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 4:39 am
Who doesn't know them? The Consumers' Association is an association that stands up for the rights of the Dutch consumer. With terms such as 'legal cooling-off period', 'termination of purchase agreement' and 'best in test' they are pushing Koot and De Bie to the throne with additions to everyday language. The association has daily contact with us consumers, and has been rigorously working on webcare since July 2013.
I meet Lara Peeters (social media coordinator) and Romy Penningnieuwland (social media editor) for a candid conversation.
Respond proactively on social media
Webcare is a hot topic: in recent weeks, several articles have appeared on this subject . But where is the boundary of what still falls under webcare? And what are the consequences for organizing the human effort that is needed to provide webcare?
Romy: “We actively search for complaints on Twitter in particular, but also Facebook and other platforms. Not only about the Consumers' Association, but also the big companies to see what's going on. For example, if there are a lot of complaints about T-Mobile, we respond by giving advice or referring them. We respond directly on Twitter, so others can see what you answer right away. On the phone, you can only help one person at a time and that is a big advantage of webcare for us.”
One year ago, the Consumers' Association started webcare on the Twitter account @CBHelpt. Romy is very proud of its success: "We built that account from scratch, in fact, none of us had any experience with social media. Many followers were very satisfied with our services there. We received many positive messages and can really see that there are ambassadors now." Lara adds: "Until recently, this was separate, but now we have merged, and fortunately many followers have moved with us to @consumentenbond . This experiment has led to the current webcare team."
Lara says that she first spent a year internally getting people excited about social media in general. The strategic use and importance of a hashtag were discussed in presentations at all levels. After a year and a half of lobbying to put this team together and with some help from external consultants, she can now finally get started as she had envisioned.
Lara Peeters (social media coordinator) and Romy Penningnieuwland (social singapore mobile phone number list media editor) in front of the Consumers' Association office
Lara Peeters (right, social media coordinator) and Romy Penningnieuwland (left, social media editor) in front of the office of the Consumers' Association. Photo by Imagehunters.net
Romy: “Yes, the staffing is new. We now have three dedicated people, where previously five people from Service & Advice were gradually scheduled for the webcare shift. In fact, more FTEs have now become available. We are now also together in one office, close to the web editors. That makes a difference, it is simply not efficient to be far apart with such a fast medium. At first, it sometimes took quite a while to pump a question around the building and then you could not respond to it quickly – which of course is part of the dynamics of social media.”
Lara: “The people in the team are all very experienced in customer service. You need a lot of substantive knowledge and a lot of knowledge of the organization, sometimes you also have to respond as a spokesperson. You have to know what you can and cannot say as an objective association, that is why webcare only employs people who have been employed for a few years.”
Service comes first
I wonder how far the involvement of the webcarers goes. Do they also work in their free time or is it a classic office job with maybe late-night shifts? Romy's sober answer surprises me: "In principle, we are just as open as the call center, so partly in the evening. Now we have a team iPad that we take home in the evening, a kind of rotating trophy. And in the weekend an hour on Saturday or Sunday. It is not very fixed, we just see what is going on.
I meet Lara Peeters (social media coordinator) and Romy Penningnieuwland (social media editor) for a candid conversation.
Respond proactively on social media
Webcare is a hot topic: in recent weeks, several articles have appeared on this subject . But where is the boundary of what still falls under webcare? And what are the consequences for organizing the human effort that is needed to provide webcare?
Romy: “We actively search for complaints on Twitter in particular, but also Facebook and other platforms. Not only about the Consumers' Association, but also the big companies to see what's going on. For example, if there are a lot of complaints about T-Mobile, we respond by giving advice or referring them. We respond directly on Twitter, so others can see what you answer right away. On the phone, you can only help one person at a time and that is a big advantage of webcare for us.”
One year ago, the Consumers' Association started webcare on the Twitter account @CBHelpt. Romy is very proud of its success: "We built that account from scratch, in fact, none of us had any experience with social media. Many followers were very satisfied with our services there. We received many positive messages and can really see that there are ambassadors now." Lara adds: "Until recently, this was separate, but now we have merged, and fortunately many followers have moved with us to @consumentenbond . This experiment has led to the current webcare team."
Lara says that she first spent a year internally getting people excited about social media in general. The strategic use and importance of a hashtag were discussed in presentations at all levels. After a year and a half of lobbying to put this team together and with some help from external consultants, she can now finally get started as she had envisioned.
Lara Peeters (social media coordinator) and Romy Penningnieuwland (social singapore mobile phone number list media editor) in front of the Consumers' Association office
Lara Peeters (right, social media coordinator) and Romy Penningnieuwland (left, social media editor) in front of the office of the Consumers' Association. Photo by Imagehunters.net
Romy: “Yes, the staffing is new. We now have three dedicated people, where previously five people from Service & Advice were gradually scheduled for the webcare shift. In fact, more FTEs have now become available. We are now also together in one office, close to the web editors. That makes a difference, it is simply not efficient to be far apart with such a fast medium. At first, it sometimes took quite a while to pump a question around the building and then you could not respond to it quickly – which of course is part of the dynamics of social media.”
Lara: “The people in the team are all very experienced in customer service. You need a lot of substantive knowledge and a lot of knowledge of the organization, sometimes you also have to respond as a spokesperson. You have to know what you can and cannot say as an objective association, that is why webcare only employs people who have been employed for a few years.”
Service comes first
I wonder how far the involvement of the webcarers goes. Do they also work in their free time or is it a classic office job with maybe late-night shifts? Romy's sober answer surprises me: "In principle, we are just as open as the call center, so partly in the evening. Now we have a team iPad that we take home in the evening, a kind of rotating trophy. And in the weekend an hour on Saturday or Sunday. It is not very fixed, we just see what is going on.