How Hertz Became the №1 Car Rental Brand for Customer Service on Twitter
Jun 27, 2017

Hertz is also the largest worldwide airport general use car rental company with more than 1,600 airport locations in the U.S. and more than 1,300 airport locations internationally.

Operating a 24/7 joint marketing and customer service Twitter handle, with over 50k followers, we take a close look at how @Hertz stack up against its competitors @EnterpriseCares and @Avis for customer service on Twitter.

Summary

With over 15,000 inbound mentions over a period of 12 weeks, Hertz ranks highest as the most engaged, responsive and fastest car rental brand to respond to customers on Twitter.

When you benchmark that level of performance against other leading U.S based car rental providers, you can see why its so impressive.

Social Customer Service Performance

Average Response Time

Hertz on average maintain a fast 16 min response time on Twitter. Given the volume of inbound mentions they receive around the clock this deservedly places them in the top 10% of brands on Twitter for response time.

First Response Time

The Hertz social team work tirelessly to support and be available for their customers in times of need. They lead the way as the fastest car rental brand on Twitter reaching out to customers with a first response time of 21 mins.

Inbound Mention Volume

Over a period of 12 weeks Hertz received a total of 15,131 public mentions to their handle on Twitter

Response Rate

…of which they responded publicly to 8,776 (58%) of mentions…

Response under 30 mins

…with 7,989 (90%) of those responses made quickly in under 30 mins.

Customer Support

Hertz customers love to use Twitter to vent their frustrations, get a direct response, and fast resolutions to problems they are experiencing on the ground at the many Hertz locations around the globe.

The Hertz team work hard to not only respond to customers quickly, but to ensure that customers are listened to and heard. The team offer a calming presence on Twitter, and are able to listen and read their customers more effectively, using empathy and attentiveness to respond to customers in difficult situations, and turn lonely negative experiences into more positive human interactions.

Hertz also receive high levels of advocacy on Twitter, with customers regularly checking in to tweet about the great service they receive on the ground from staff at Hertz locations around the globe.

Servicing such a demanding, high volume customer base over channels like Twitter is challenging, and the combination of supporting customer issues, and positive brand advocacy is reflected in Hertz’s overall sentiment score.

Conclusion

Arriving at a new destination, or unfamiliar location to pick up a vehicle can be logistically challenging and sometimes a lonely experience. By making themselves available in real-time on social channels like Twitter, Hertz are able to respond quickly and empathise with a vast, distributed customer base that is constantly on the move across many locations around the world.

For this, the Hertz social media team receive our utmost respect, and are deservedly ranked as the №1 car rental brand offering customer service on Twitter