DETROIT -

With 70 million of its vehicles in operation today, General Motors says that more than 7,000 customer interactions flow through its GM Customer Assistance Center each day.

And at the center of it all is Jim Moloney, general director of customer assistance and relationship services, who has turned to social media and analytics to stay on top of things when it comes to making sure customers get what they need.

Moloney and the customer center were the focus of the latest “Faces of GM” video blog, where he touted the importance of social media in handling customer concerns. In fact, many of those 7,000 daily interactions are done through the Web.

“I run the call centers for the U.S. dealer body and their consumer base,” Moloney said in the blog. “We do this through a variety of mediums, but are increasingly using social media and other pro-active means to engage the consumers.”

“Customers will call us, looking for information on new vehicles, complaining about existing ones (and asking) ‘Where do I find a dealer? Are there incentives out there? Does this option come with this vehicle configuration?’

“We started out monitoring nearly 100 sites and when there’s an ‘actionable opportunity’ — more than just a pure comment — we have the opportunity to reach out,” he added.

General Motors has roughly 70 million vehicles on the road today, 20 million of which are still covered by warranty, Moloney said.

“So we have to absolutely make sure that everybody’s having a good ownership experience,” he said. “We’re using social-media tools; we’re using data analytics to get much more proactive.”

To learn more about Moloney and how the center operates, visit the Faces of GM blog link at http://www.facesofgm.com/2012/03/29/jim-moloney-getting-ahead-of-the-curve.