FICO Scores with Customer Social Networking
by Joe McKendrick
There’s no doubt that Fair Isaac Corporation, the folks that developed the FICO scores that set the standards for consumer and business creditworthiness, is in a highly information-sensitive business.
However, a social networking approach is helping to cut customer service costs, while getting information to customers in a more efficient manner. My colleague at the SmartPlanet “Business Brains” site, Heather Clancy, recently posted an account of FICO’s foray into social networking. The company’s MyFico.com site is managed by 10 volunteer moderators at any given time, to help educate consumers about topics such as how to influence their credit scores, automobile financing, and student loans. The site handles an average of 15,000 posts per month.
The ability to turn customer service over to committed volunteers is a major component of the value-add and cost savings associated with social networking, as calculated in a recent Forrester study, described here in a recent post.
