The BlackBerry Support Community Forums (http://supportforums.blackberry.com) is an award-winning, thriving and vibrant online space where BlackBerry customers can assist each other with technical issues. With over 78 million BlackBerry customers globally, and over 520,000 registered members in the support community, Research In Motion (RIM) has nurtured a peer-to-peer model for support, overseen by BlackBerry Technical Analysts, that ensures customers can enjoy the highest level of support at any scale.
The BlackBerry Support Community Forums are growing quickly, and will continue to do so as they expand to support more regions globally (Spanish and Indonesian support are currently available, in addition to English). RIM has seen annual average growth of the community of 30%, with last year averaging an even higher rate of growth at 40%. For a quickly growing community, peer-to-peer customer support can be an efficient solution for businesses, creating cost savings that can be passed on to consumers, while also strengthening bonds between community members based on their passion for products and services. Gartner, a market-research firm, estimates that communities of customers can have a huge impact on support costs, reducing them by as much as 50%.
Since launching in 2008, RIM estimates that the BlackBerry Support Community Forums have contributed to millions in cost savings, while the success of the forums shows that #TeamBlackBerry is stronger than ever.
At the center of this successful community are forty BlackBerry Super Users – passionate BlackBerry customers who volunteer their free time and collectively account for 19% of all posts on the forums, while only representing a fraction of 1% of the community's total members. Together, the BlackBerry Super Users spend over 350 hours a week participating in the community and the posts counts for each Super User range from 500 to more than 50,000 posts! On average, they collectively spend approximately 1,500 hours a month in the community, addressing technical issues for customers, and by extension, saving the customer from having to contact their carrier or RIM for support.
The Super Users are the undeniable grease in the engine that keeps the BlackBerry Support Community Forums running. To help ensure the Super Users have all of the tools necessary to assist others, RIM launched a private 'Expert Arena' where they can collaborate with RIM technical experts and with each other to find solutions for complicated issues. In the 'Expert Arena' the Super Users can:
As the BlackBerry Support Community Forums grow towards 1,000,000 members, the Super Users are growing as well, and contributing more every day. This year, one Super User passed the 50,000 post mark and became the community's first 'Resident Expert' – today Joey Sanders has over 55,000 posts.
RIM knows that #TeamBlackBerry has high standards for customer support. Nurturing a scalable support community that is future-proofed for additional membership growth is a top priority for RIM's social customer service team. And, as we demonstrate below, the community contributes measurable business value in the form of cost savings.
As noted above, RIM estimates that the BlackBerry Support Community Forums have contributed to millions in cost savings through peer-to-peer support. The Super Users punch well above their weight in helping BlackBerry customers find answers to their support questions. Since launch, the Super Users – who make up a fraction of 1% of the community’s members – have contributed 35% of all interactions that have been marked as Accepted Solutions by forum members.
Additionally, each Accepted Solution from a Super User has a longer-term impact for other customers who are able to answer their support questions based on an existing Accepted Solution, deflecting even more calls.
The success of the BlackBerry Support Community Forums has been recognized in the past with and award for the Best Community Story at the Lithium Social Customer Excellence Awards 2011.
The BlackBerry Support Community Forums are expected to double their membership in the next two years. RIM and the BlackBerry Super Users will be working together to ensure that as the community grows all members are able to access high quality support when they need it. Amidst all of this growth, RIM isn't slowing down its trajectory to continue to empower and support customers, helping them discover more about BlackBerry products and services, and growing a continued sense of loyalty for a brand they know and love.