The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), once the butt of every joke and insult, has really turned itself around in the last few years – at least in terms of its customer response and fault resolution.
More than anything else, its social media presence is remarkable. It has positively used the power of social networks to provide timely information, as well as assisting customers in the resolution of complaints. Maybe that's the reason KESC's overall image is slowly but surely changing.
In the last few months, it has generated positive coverage in the media and continues to do an exceptional job at dealing with aggravated customers.
Here is a summary of its performance on various online platforms.
Overall rating : 4/5
Design: 4/5
Ease of use: 4/5
Frequency of updates: High
Having a webpage these days for a company is not just recommended but essential for survival. So it isn't really such a big deal that KESC has a working webpage.
However, what is impressive with the KESC webpage is the overall ease of use, design and the timely information provided. It has plenty of useful features such as KESC Fault Reporting, where you can easily file a complaint or inform the company of any safety-related issue. It also has an innovative e-payment system which can save you a lot of time and effort.
Still, some customers have complained that they experience a few glitches in these systems every now and then.
The media centre is updated regularly with images, news and videos of KESC-related events and current happenings. For instance, reporting positive news such as KESC exempting electricity bills of Abbas Town for the next six months can really help in building goodwill of the company.
Customers can also download power shutdown notices for each month to see the load shedding schedule for the coming days. KESC also has the latest sustainability and annual reports, mission, vision and partners’ info available on its site.
KESC Twitter Handle: @KESC_Ltd
Overall rating: 5/5
Frequency of update: Very high
Quality of tweets: Great
With a Twitter bio that says, "Working with YOU to make Khi once again, 'The City of Lights'," it immediately puts a smile on the customer's face. But the way KESC's Twitter account is used to disseminate information, help customers and resolve issues in the toughest of times is extraordinary.
No matter how disrespectful and demeaning the customer may be, the tweets from KESC are never impolite or sarcastic.
With more than 5,000 followers, the way KESC responds to every DM, tweet, update and comment of every customer's complaint is commendable. It also shares load shedding and outages schedules for different areas in advance.
The following areas will face outage from 9am-6pm tomorrow (16th Mar) due to Preventive maintenance: DHA PH 1 ext, PH 2 ext, PH 4, 5, 6
@chumpo1234 Yes they are working on it, hence the shutdown. Should be up in about 60-75 mins.
@imRizwan4u dear sir DM us your home address so we may follow up
@amustafa76 dear sir what prob are you facing ?
KESC Facebook pageOverall rating: 5/5
Frequency of update: High
Quality of updates: High
With over 1700 likes, KESC's Facebook page has a surprisingly lower number of ’likes’ than expected. Its updates and performance are similar to that of its Twitter page. The page is updated fairly often, with statuses like "KESC has extended the due date of bill payment by one day in view of the current situation in the city", and photo albums filled with images from its employee trainings, partnerships, signings, corporate social responsibility efforts which show an insider view to the company.
However, I felt the page was too focused on KESC itself. Other company’s Facebook pages not only promote their own services, but often post overall industry-related international news and events to promote debate and conversation.
Overall rating: 1/5
Frequency of update: Low
Quality of updates: low
KESC's blog seems like a great effort deserted too soon. It could've been a place where employees could've written posts about their working experiences at KESC, they could've shared posts about industry best practices and future plans.
However, the blog has not been updated at all since 2011. It is also hard to verify whether the blog is official or not. In any case, the company should either take ownership of the blog and update it frequently, or it should completely remove this WordPress account altogether as it could prove to be misleading.
Overall rating: 3/5
Frequency of update: Medium
Quality of updates: Medium
KESC and its employees are all very much present and accessible on LinkedIn. Still, it is nowhere as active as its Facebook and Twitter pages. The LinkedIn page usually posts its company press releases, news updates and announcements about new hires. It seems that most of the information on it is quite similar to its Facebook page.
Again, it is unfortunate that KESC is not using its LinkedIn page to post business questions to its network, and to the greater LinkedIn community to initiate debate.
Overall, KESC has a pretty well-synced and consistent online presence. It consistently has the same logos and introductory information on all social networking sites and websites. They have regularly updated Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts.
Upon doing a Google search, all related websites show up, instead of any negative news. Considering its past reputation and the amount of aggravation power outages can cause, there may be plenty of negative reviews out there, but it seems that KESC has done a fair amount of Search Engine Optimisation.
The only place where KESC needs to step up its game is the company blog. I suggest KESC to immediately hire a media-savvy intern to regularly manage its blog!
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