Goodbye Call Center, Hello People Power – The giffgaff Experiment
By Matthew Lees
giffgaff is a UK-based mobile telephone service provider that runs off the O2 (Telefónica Europe) network. Basically, what it offers is a pre-paid SIM card that you pop into your (unlocked) mobile phone. (European wireless phone service operates on the GSM standard. In the US, many mobile carriers provide “locked” phones which only accept one type – their type — of SIM card. There’s much more flexibility and compatibility across Europe and, indeed, through the rest of the mobile-phone-using world.)
At giffgaff’s Web site (http://www.giffgaff.com), you can order a giffgaff SIM card and add money to (a.k.a. “top-up”) your existing card.
What you can’t do at the site, though, is contact a customer service representative. Not by phone and not by online chat.
giffgaff does provide a single email address for inquiries; automated acknowledgments promise a response within 24 hours. So somebody is handing email support, which is an asynchronous communications channel. But giffgaff does not have agents who provide synchronous support. (I suppose, though, that if you were to show up at giffgaff’s HQ in Slough, England, there’s a pretty good chance they’d help you out in real time. Based on the tone of the language used on the site, they seem an amiable, if borderline mischievous, bunch.)
No Operators Are Standing By
By not having customer support reps awaiting your calls, giffgaff can keep its prices low and its operation streamlined.
Instead, the company provides support nearly exclusively via Web-based self-service and its customer community. giffgaff’s FAQs, question and answer area, and discussion forums are its primary customer service mechanisms.
Within the community, which is running on Lithium Technologies’ Social CRM platform, giffgaff customers answer each others’ questions. Hence giffgaff’s taglines: “Mobile network with a difference” and “We’re people powered.”
It’s Payback Time
All online communities rely on the contributions of a small but essential numbers of dedicated members who answer a large and disproportionate number of questions. These “active contributors” or “super users” are the lifeblood of their communities and an essential part of their communities’ cultures. They typically participate for the personal and professional connections they make, the inside information they may get, the opportunity to learn, the ability to enhance their reputation and “strut their stuff,” and the sheer fun of it.
giffgaff adds another motivation to this list: making money. The more questions you answer, the more “Payback Points” you receive. Payback points (100 points = £1) can either go toward topping up your giffgaff account or be deposited into your bank account as cash.
In fact, there’s more to Payback points than just answering more and more questions. The better your answers are, the more points you receive, too (this is done via Lithium’s “accepted solution” feature). And you can also earn Payback points by acting as a giffgaff evangelist, getting friends to join and promoting the service (e.g., through social sites and networks such as YouTube and Twitter).
A Sustainable Support Model?
It’s a relatively new business and a relatively new community, having only launched in Q3 2009. And it’s still in beta (although this doesn’t mean what it used to; Gmail was ostensibly in beta for about five years). The site is certainly focused and playful. Is it effective, though? It’s too soon to tell. But here are the questions percolating in my mind:
• How are giffgaff’s group andsocial dynamics different from those communities that don’t have financial incentives? I’d expect that that the giffgaff community wouldn’t put up with much nonsense, as that would get in the way of earning points. But would this lead to a more or less tolerant community and enjoyable community experience?
• Can giffgaff provide satisfactory support on a long-term basis without a contact center?
• If so, can this model work in other industries, or are there aspects of giffgaff’s business (e.g., the telecommunications industry, its particular demographics, etc.) that may make it work for them, but not elsewhere?
A quick Web search shows that “giffgaff” is a Scottish word referring to mutual accommodation or mutual giving. Seems like an appropriate name for an ostensibly people-powered network. Kind of a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” thing. If things at giffgaff go according to plan, the UK could see an awful lot of scratching…
Back to the blog
This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 8:59 pm and is filed under Best Practices, Social Media Industry, Social Media Trends. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
3 Responses to “Goodbye Call Center, Hello People Power – The giffgaff Experiment”
Hi Matthew,
I thought I’d wave at you from overseas, I’m Vincent, the community Manager at giffgaff (which, btw, is no longer living with the parents out in Slough. We’ve spread our wings and upped sticks for the picturesque village of Beaconsfield).
You asked about our community. We’re finding that the social dynamics of giffgaff are roughly the same as in other communities, due to the fact that in day to day communications people don’t tend to think in the terms of points when they reply to questions. The only thing you don’t see happening very often is the chewing out of newbies on our forum. It’s a difference we rather like.
As we grow, the stock of information in our community, our support database (fed by content from the community), our (currently in development) wiki, and our growing member numbers will all contribute to an even more effective community support function. So we’re more excited than concerned about the long term future of the community.
The community model itself certainly isn’t something unique to the telecoms category, but does require a radical shift in business model, hence it’s a difficult one for an existing brand to adopt. That’s why we’ve built giffgaff from the ground up, with our community, and their needs and feedback, at the centre.
Drop by and see what changes as we continue to grow!
MatthewLees says: Robbie and Vincent – Thanks for chiming in with some perspective directly from giffgaff. In particular, I’m glad you (Robbie) pointed out that your question-answering customers aren’t purely in it for the cash; it’s a more complex dynamic than that (which is a good thing).
And that you (Vincent) made the point that such customer-focused support and word-of-mouth marketing models require a “radical shift” in business model. It is indeed easier if your organization starts out this way, but there are indeed businesses that have moved — and are moving — in this direction. In many ways, the fast-and-furious growth of social technologies and social media is making this all happen faster.
A decade ago I lived in London and did a bit of traveling throughout the UK. Sadly, I never made it to Beaconsfield or Slough. But thanks for bringing a little bit of Buckinhamshire and Berkshire counties to these pages.
Hi Matthew, thanks for the interest in giffgaff and the very fair assessment of what we’re tryng to do. I’m Head of Member Experience for giffgaff which means I look after the online customer support and the customer marketing.
On your questions, I’d say our community is very similar to other communities in that we see the same type of super user activity, but you’re right in that there is so far less ‘off topic’ content; which may change as we grow. And we do have some fun content (search for ‘slipper’ next time you’re on
).
Long term is obviously still to be proven, but I’m sure this model can work in other industries, especially ones where there is increasing complexity in product and service offerings.
If any of your readers want to check out giffgaff then this is a good place to start:
http://community.giffgaff.com/t5/Contribute-Innovation-Promotion/The-many-different-ways-to-contribute-to-the-community/m-p/2869/highlight/true#M702
Cheers
Robbie