Social Media = Smart Customer Service

It was intriguing to read that Comcast, a company with so-called terrible customer service, actually took to the "social media airwaves" in response to a loyal customer's "snide remarks" on twitter.  The customer, C. C. Chapman  had tweeted his dissatisfaction concerning the substandard quality of his HD picture during a Celtics ballgame.   Lucky for Comcast, the company had actually hired a watch-dog for instances just like this one - the representative was hired to monitor conversations in social media that referred to Comcast in any posts.   Chapman almost immediately received a tweet back, followed by a call from the service center, and a technician was out the same day to provide service.  Chapman's response?  "Now my HDTV rocks!  THAT, my friends, is customer service and how it should work all the time."

Essentially Chapman states in order for brands to maintain solid satisfaction with their customers they need to "pay attention" (like Comcast with their prompt response via social media-induced customer service) or lose business to their competitors.

Morgan Johnston, Corporate Communications with JetBlue Airways, says about following its customers on Twitter - "It's not marketing, it's trying to engage on a level other than mass broadcast."   

Preventive behavior for business should include the implementation and continued use of social media as evidenced by the Comcast example.   As the article states, "the concept of responding to customer unhappiness is certainly not new... the difference with social media is the speed and ease with which this occurs as well as the sphere of influence."

 

References:

Qualman, E. (2012). Socialnomics: How social media transforms the way we live and do business (2nd Edition).
Wiley.
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