Social Networks & The Customer Experience

Upon arriving back home from a week-long vacation, I was unpleasantly surprised to return to a house with no cable, internet or phone service.  This came at especially bad timing as my wife had recently lost her mobile phone.  After calling our provider (Comcast) and getting a generic message about an outage, (post navigating through the confusing phone menu) I opted to wait it out for the afternoon as the recording recommended.

By evening we had no service and after waiting on the line again I had finally gotten through only to get the expected "we'll send a technician between the hours of..." message.  The Comcastic puppets couldn't put a smile on my face at this point (actually, they've always creeped me out), but Frank—a Comcast employee who provides customer service on Twitter did.

Within a few minutes on a Sunday evening, Frank responded to my complaint letting me know that it was most likely not an outage in my area, but a problem at my house. He also guided me through a process that would have fixed it (if I had a amplifier vs. a splitter), but it was still nice to get the education on the difference, not to mention the personal touch delivered through what is supposed to be an impersonal medium.

I've spoken about at length, the real opportunity for organizations looking to figure out how to tap the power of the social movement lies on the experience side more so than the marketing.  Whether it's consumer or enterprise, companies can gleam insights from customers and actually extend the customer experience as I've outlined in my story,  Critics may say it's a waste of time—especially when tapping relatively small networks such as Twitter, but I believe this is a strategy built of fragmentation and niche value vs. mass appeal.  Digital channels have evolved in to infinite touch points meaning that technology has permeated our lifestyles in a very organic fashion.  Networks offer us a glimpse of what the potential is for companies to provide better experiences in an automated age.

If I have a problem with my Comcast service—I'll probably ping Frank again.  You might make a phone call, but a good experience at the root is built on empathy and understanding how people want to interact with you. Franks knows that while I don't use my phone as much as I used to—I still crave human contact and a helping hand. Nice to know I can get it in a way that aligns with my lifestyle.

Comments

[Toby]

Great story. Now the big question .. if there were no Frank on Twitter to resolve your problem would you consider switching providers? Or much did Frank influence you remaining a Comcast customer?

[Shawn Petriw]

Someone please give Frank a promotion, or at least a nice bonus.

[Alan Wolk]

David: While I agree with your points on this, I can't help wondering why the non-Twitter/Frank customer service experience has to be so awful. I mean if they'd put you through to a live person (versus an endless phone chain) or given you accurate information in the first place, would Franks' intervention have seemed so magical?

It can't be a good thing for a brand to have such wildly divergent customer service experiences. I'd suggest they look at the benefits of what Frank is doing on Twitter and build from there.

[Ben Rowe]

Great post David,

I've recently subcribed to RSS feeds of twiiter (summize) searches, so that I can respond personally to any tweets from customers.

In almost every occasion, people have been falling off their chairs in delight when they receive a personalised response.

And I'm sure that translates into positive word of mouth - either inside or outside the Twitterverse.

Definitely worth doing.

[Kyle Lacy]

I have had the same success with @comcastcares. I'm glad someone is finally throwing this out there. However, it would be nice if that worked on their phone response time. It is absolutely terrible.

Great post!

[Mark Story]

David,

Long time follower, first time poster.

Excellent thoughts on how, for a company that is often derided for their poor customer service, can use a FREE tool to deliver information in a way in which most technical people are comfortable receiving it.

I blogged about it http://tinyurl.com/5txbp8, but wanted you to know that I often use your posts for the class that I teach at Georgtown.

Best,

Mark Story

[Dave Shelleny]

Great post, and a great example of how things should work. I unfortunately had to go through a month of Comcast spotty service, dropped calls and connections. Explanations from the Comcast help desk ranged from regional outages to problems in our home. I was escalated as far as I could go, but all I received was a runaround, so I pulled out all our boxes and modems, and switched services to WOW, and have been happy ever since.

Long story short - making smart moves like @comcastcares is a step in the right direction, but the real fuel to social media is really looking at and fixing the company's existing customer service structure. Social media gives the customer a bullhorn to shout about company's successes and failures, and if the root of the problem isn't addressed, all the 2.0 in the word won't save them.

[Paula Thornton]

Here's the under-reported headline of the century -- and the Twitter version costs a fraction of ALL the other channels and far more effective. Take that one to the bank.

[JPH]

I follow @comcastcares on Twitter, and while I have yet to need his services, consider this: Just his Twitter existence scores a few positive brand points with me. I appreciate individuals and organizations that are jumping in and looking for ways to creatively harness tools like Twitter, and I appreciate that @comcastcares sprinkles a few personal tweets among his customer service responses.

[Casey]

I think it's great that companies are taking advantage of these social networks. Instead of a bad reputation or a comment about a negative experience they are able to offer quality customer service. It's a nice feeling to know that they're available when you need them because it’s not only about giving the customer what they want or need it’s about listening to the customer.

[Renjith]

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[James Ramos]

Enjoyed reading your blog story! That was pretty clever of Frank to communicate with you, via Twitter.

[bobby]

Great story I just started using twitter. I really enjoy twitter so far.

[David Jones]

I love hearing stories like this, but I'm always left feeling a little uncomfortable. This can't possibly scale. Frank can handle Twitter right now...it's not like they're putting a note on the website that says "for faster and better service contact @comcastcares on Twitter."

Connecting with customers at whatever infinite touch point they may be at, may well become the norm, but I get a little concerned about how some companies are treating social media as the super-secret express customer-service line/complaints department.

[Anna Martensson]

I just stumbled across this story and it is interesting how a twitter account can 'provide' so much help in terms of dealing with the phone problem. Finding new ways to reach out to customers should be prioritized by most companies and thus minimizing the frustration occurring when not feeling the satisfactionary help. Although, just a simple thing like trying to change a misspelled last name on a bill can be just as 'irritating' as trying to fix a problem, as it (after 15 calls) does not get me closer to a solution, just gives me more options of what I don't need!

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