Case Study updated in December 08 debats.sncf.com Improving the « corporate conversation » for a transportation leader

Overview Presentation of SNCF Hosting the conversation Improving the relation

Presentation of SNCF

Hosting the conversation

Improving the relation

1 | SNCF Presentation

SNCF: European leader in transportation High speed train transportation TGV: a brand that offers quality travel experience Freight services Rail, road & services freight Daily commuter services Regional and local services Infrastructure Engineering © Licenced under Creative Common -- http://www.flickr.com/people/alandesitter/

High speed train transportation

TGV: a brand that offers quality travel experience

Freight services

Rail, road & services freight

Daily commuter services

Regional and local services

Infrastructure

Engineering

Key figures € 1 billion net attribuable profits in 2007 220,000 staff at the end of 2007 € 100 million investment between 2008 and 2010 12 million extra TGV seats over three years 223 mph will soon be the benchmark for TGV speed 500 km of rail track renovated in 2008 © Licenced under Creative Common -- http://www.flickr.com/people/lance_mountain/

€ 1 billion net attribuable profits in 2007

220,000 staff at the end of 2007

€ 100 million investment between 2008 and 2010

12 million extra TGV seats over three years

223 mph will soon be the benchmark for TGV speed

500 km of rail track renovated in 2008

SNCF and its affiliates

The #1 e-commerce website in France

… and a constant stream of queries and comments on the web

2 | Hosting the conversation

Corporate website (2006)

Corporate website (2007)

Corporate website (2008)

The issue at hand Too many comments about the company, not enough discussion with the company The SNCF being a household name in France, transporting hundreds of thousands of travelers on a daily basis, the company is naturally the object of countless discussion threads, comments, posts, tweets, in all corners of the web .

Too many comments about the company, not enough discussion with the company

The SNCF being a household name in France, transporting hundreds of thousands of travelers on a daily basis, the company is naturally the object of countless discussion threads, comments, posts, tweets, in all corners of the web .

The issue at hand Too many comments about the company, not enough discussion with the company 3 options: Bury hand in sand and hope it all goes away. Somehow. Respond to questions, comments and critics on hundreds of forums, blogs and threads each day (if you can find them all). Repeat. Provide a platform to channel the questions/comments/rants, and facilitate the company’s ability to respond The agency answer Take advantage of the launch of the new corporate site to open such a channel and engage the conversation directly with customers

Too many comments about the company, not enough discussion with the company

3 options:

Bury hand in sand and hope it all goes away. Somehow.

Respond to questions, comments and critics on hundreds of forums, blogs and threads each day (if you can find them all). Repeat.

Provide a platform to channel the questions/comments/rants, and facilitate the company’s ability to respond

The agency answer

Take advantage of the launch of the new corporate site to open such a channel and engage the conversation directly with customers

How to initiate a « many to few » conversation? Favor horizontal conversation Customers can ask questions directly to those employees involved with their area of interest (HR, schedule & passenger info, e-tickets, etc.) peer-to-peer exchange over the corporate wall Using a digg-like system to elect key questions of the day Other web users can comment and vote on the question if they share an interest in the question (e.g.: why did you change the train schedule of my commute?) Once a question reaches the top, SNCF volunteers provide the answer that is automatically emailed to all users who voted or commented on the question The site becomes the go-to place to obtain responses from the company about its activity, plans, recruitment plans, development and services.

Favor horizontal conversation

Customers can ask questions directly to those employees involved with their area of interest (HR, schedule & passenger info, e-tickets, etc.)

peer-to-peer exchange over the corporate wall

Using a digg-like system to elect key questions of the day

Other web users can comment and vote on the question if they share an interest in the question (e.g.: why did you change the train schedule of my commute?)

Once a question reaches the top, SNCF volunteers provide the answer that is automatically emailed to all users who voted or commented on the question

The site becomes the go-to place to obtain responses from the company about its activity, plans, recruitment plans, development and services.

An interactive approach (Version 1) List of questions of the week receiving the greater number of votes List of spokespeople to whom questions may be addressed Quick-start guide Diagram showing a question’s progress until it is answered

3 | From conversation to improving the relation

Initial results from the platform 331,606 pages seen Average time spent on the platform is 2.30 minutes A growing community of 9,500 users to-date 6,000 questions and 700 answers

331,606 pages seen

Average time spent on the platform is 2.30 minutes

A growing community of 9,500 users to-date

6,000 questions and 700 answers

Positive reactions from web users on the platform and across the web “ The SNCF answered me at 200 kph” “ I am totally satisfied with the answer Eric gave. My question was ambitious and, it’s true, the Cherbourg-Caen-Paris line isn’t profitable” “ The SNCF is totally revamping. I must say that the approach the company has chosen is really interesting. The concept is very close to the participative Web2.0. It’s a very good fusion.” “ I must say that the idea of being able to dialogue with people from the sncf is interesting and relevant, even if it’s stuffed with promo!” “ In any case, after the periods of labor unrest (and maybe just before new strikes) SNCF’s choice to listen and participate deserves to be commended. We will try to following the results and opportunities for the company and its customers” SNCF.com turns into Web TV and opens a dialogue with its customers SNCF 2.0: the brand becomes a medium The SNCF dares in-depth debate and I like that! “ You can find rich media content for a corporate site which de facto places the SNCF as a pioneer and shows that you can be an old lady and still know how to exploit the Web and especially, all of the accumulated wealth of content in different forms.” “ More interesting, they have also opened a very ambitious online dialogue space: Opinions and debates. There again, I commend the commitment of the SNCF which is showing its goodwill in going out to dialogue “in the (digital) field” with Web users.”

Survey of the community: key results Two thirds of the community ( 62% ) indicated the platform improved their knowledge of the company and its services, and their perception of the company Over 80% indicated they wanted to platform to stay in place indefinitely (it was supposed to be a temporary event) Although the platform was supposed to last only 2 months, in light of the results, it will now remain open indefinitely. It is now over a year old and has been upgraded to a new version.

Two thirds of the community ( 62% ) indicated the platform improved their knowledge of the company and its services, and their perception of the company

Over 80% indicated they wanted to platform to stay in place indefinitely (it was supposed to be a temporary event)

Although the platform was supposed to last only 2 months, in light of the results, it will now remain open indefinitely.

It is now over a year old and has been upgraded to a new version.

Thanks Gracias Merci Danke Grazie Dank u Dziękuję Arigato Gozaimasu Eυχαριstω Teşşekürler

Thanks

Gracias

Merci

Danke

Grazie

Dank u

Dziękuję

Arigato Gozaimasu

Eυχαριstω

Teşşekürler