Posts Tagged ‘social media’

Why Twitter will Dominate Customer Service

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

“Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed.”

No – actually, I will not. I have had enough!

I’m done being the guy that:

  • spams “0” until my finger hurts
  • swears vulgarities in hopes there is a quality-control monitor in place to pick-up on my “anger” level
  • has to talk to someone half-way across the World who I don’t understand
  • waits on hold for 45 minutes being told I’m a “valued customer” by a broken record.

Oh, and I refuse to visit “your online help center”, because you have packed it so full of FAQs and links, I need help navigating that too! All I want to do is talk to a human being!

From this day forward I am making Twitter my preferred method of contact with customer care! Here is why I think you will “follow”:

Why I Tried Customer Service on Twitter

Last week I called Verizon looking to upgrade my service and spend more money. I was cooking myself some dinner and had my mobile phone on speaker, waiting for someone to pick up.

I cooked. I ate. I cleaned up. I hung up.

Call Duration: 45:06

“Ridiculous. Obviously there are not enough people staffing phones,” I said to myself.

Expecting I would have to try again another day & time, I jumped on the computer to finish up some work. TweetDeck popped up some local news. That’s when it hit me! Why not contact Verizon on Twitter? I wonder if they have an account…

Sure enough, there are two support accounts: @VerizonSupport and @VZWSupport (wireless)

I’ll admit it – I never thought they would respond. I never thought it would be quick. I never thought I would get a phone call if I asked for one. I never thought I would be contacted by a rep. in under an hour. I never thought I would be telling anyone how awesome it is, but you HAVE to try it! It really works!

Three Ways Twitter Rocks for Customer Service

Customer service on Twitter is a win for everyone involved:

1. Faster Resolutions

No 20-item menus. No cheesy hold music. No automated robots. No more wasting my time trying to get to a real person! There are 140 characters to communicate what I need from you. I can’t waste your time if I wanted to! You can’t waste my time either! Short, sweet, and to the point!

2. Reduced Cost

Time is money – for both companies and customers. (I think companies forget that.)

These faster resolutions allow you to save your customers more time and for you to save on staffing & operational costs. Just like web chat, customer service reps. can manage more than one conversation on Twitter at once. Efficiency rules the World! Work smarter, not harder!

3. Feedback & Quality Control

Stop paying for third party quality-control and feedback mechanisms. The best feedback comes from honest conversations with your customers. They only way you can have an honest conversation with your customers is to actually talk to them – build the relationship. Tear down those corporate walls and be approachable. Participate yourself! Twitter is FREE!

Fastest Way to Get Help on Twitter

The first time you contact a company via Twitter, it might take a little while – but repeat inquiries will go much faster. Here is how to get the ball rolling:

  1. Google the “Company name” + “customer support” + “twitter” to find their account. Example: “Verizon Wireless Customer Support Twitter” Bam, first result.
  2. Ask your question…OR
  3. Ask their service account to follow you so you can direct message them. “Hey follow me so I can DM you? Thanks!”
  4. Is your question complex or are you concerned about privacy like I am? DM a request “I’m not waiting on hold ever again. Please have a rep. call me 555-555-555.”
  5. Answer your phone when they call!

Whenever I need help now, I DM the company and ask them to call me. 99% of my issues with customer service departments have been eliminated since I started using Twitter this way.

I am somewhat concerned my recent success is based on the fact many are unaware they can use Twitter for help. However, I truly hope the efficiency and streamlined communication Twitter offers is the real reason I get better results.

The next time you need something, DM the company on Twitter – put the ball in their court!

Tweet at us via @X_YouAreHere or comment below to let me know if it has worked for you!

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Posted in Show Management | 4 Comments »

Changing Direction – What’s the Difference between 360 and 365?

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

‘Doing a 360’ is a phrase I’ve often heard when people talk about changing directions. It’s not really accurate though, because if you did turn 360 degrees, you would only be spinning around – and end up facing the same way. That’s not changing direction.

‘Doing a 180’ would be a complete about-face. While a more accurate indicator of a change of direction, how often do we really want to go in the exact opposite direction?

As professionals in the events industry watch other media types struggle to maintain relevancy, it is clear that big changes are happening, and more changes are coming – whether we’re ready or not. Media consumers and media buyers are increasingly finding new ways to connect, have dialog and create relationships.

Face-to-face media still plays an important role in business as buyers and sellers still want to actually meet each other. Prospects still want the experience of immersion and participation in an active marketplace of competing ideas, products and suppliers. Vendors still value tradeshows as an arena for competition, for meeting new prospects, and for contact with customers.

But many of the event’s non-essential attributes are under enormous pressure as new-media, digital options and new technology platforms encroach on traditional face-to-face events.

• Attendees and exhibitors both, are increasingly utilizing other media options for research, education and information gathering.

• Changing demographics and new technologies bring new demands and represent real challenge – but also create a unique, but poorly understood opportunity to advance the state-of-the-art in events.

• The economic pressures of the recession are contributing to an accelerated drive of travel and marketing budgets toward alternative media.

Clearly, tradeshow organizers need to rapidly change some of today’s standard practices. But change what? Do they ‘Do a 360’? or a 180’? Of course not. But they do need to change their mix of technologies, processes and behaviors to keep their core product exciting, novel and necessary.

The event can no longer remain its own media silo – it must actively integrate with its attendees and exhibitors and with other media types.

In today’s atmosphere of broad reach, constant contact and continuous engagement – expecting your customers to alter their normal dialogs, to change their marketing activities to meet your specs, and to pay for short-span sponsorships is not a path to the future.

The modern event will encourage all participants to leverage their own content, contacts and social networks – and it will enable it on an ongoing basis. It must put a special emphasis on facilitating the conversation among attendees and exhibitors by becoming an integrated part of the marketing mix of the modern enterprise.

What events need now is not ‘Doing a 360’ — but ‘Going 365’.

When you add it all up, the difference between 360 and 365, is success!

What changes has your event tried? Have you found your best direction?

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Posted in Add Value to the Event, Show Management | 13 Comments »