RICHMOND - Recognizing an opportunity for another outlet to assist customers with their DMV needs recently led to international recognition for the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and its use of social media for customer service. From September 2020 to October 2021, DMV's social media team effectively assisted 54,693 individual customers.
DMV received a Public Affairs and Consumer Education award from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) earlier this month at the organization's international conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
"Customer expectations for their DMV experience have changed in recent years. We've been listening, and one of the things that was apparent was the desire to communicate with us digitally through social media," said Acting DMV Commissioner Linda Ford. "When demand jumped to thousands of messages per month, our social media team transformed our channels into a customer service hub connecting customers to resources they needed to handle their DMV business."
The focus of DMV's social media outreach, managed by the Communications Office, has always been to engage with customers, and provide valuable agency information and safety messages. When the demand for customer service through social media jumped from hundreds of messages per month to thousands, DMV's social media team adapted quickly to meet the need.
Social media staff forged partnerships across the agency to solve specific customer problems and ensure their issues were resolved in a timely and efficient manner.
Customers can reach DMV on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by tagging or messaging @VirginiaDMV. Private messages are accepted from 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday-Friday.
To learn more about AAMVA's award categories, judging criteria, and this year's recipients, visit the AAMVA Awards Program website.