Twitter has proven itself useful for a variety of purposes with businesses of all types. I have seen B2B and B2C businesses use Twitter for one-on-one networking, group dialog, mass media, contests, parties, you name it. All with varying degrees of success. So how can businesses use Twitter for customer service, which any marketer will tell you, is one of the most opportune functions within a business for marketing?
Following is the chronology of a recent experience I had with Blog Talk Radio effectively utilizing Twitter with me to resolve a customer service issue. It’s a great example of how Twitter can be used for damage control, reputation management, and customer service.
A few weeks ago I was attempting to listen to a broadcast on BlogTalkRadio.com. Shortly after the broadcast began, I started hearing audio from another source. It was an ad, or commercial of some sort. It didn’t cross my mind that it was coming from the Blog Talk Radio page but after nearly a minute of trying to locate the source of the audio in another browser window, I discovered it was indeed coming from the Blog Talk Radio page.
This makes no sense, I thought. Why would they be running audio ads on a page that was broadcasting an audio program?
After having no success shutting off the ad, and thus incapable of enjoying the radio broadcast, I turned to Twitter to share my shock, not even thinking about soliciting a response from BTR.
About an hour later, I received a response (below), clearly indicating that the BTR folk are on top of their Twitter game. In the response they asked me to send my phone number so they could call me.
Notice they requested that I “DM” them my number. “DM” in the Twitterverse stands for Direct Message, which is a way for people on Twitter to communicate messages not visible to anyone but you and the recipients. For them to suggest this shows not only that they have a good handle on Twitter technology , but also a consideration for my privacy.
Shortly after I sent them my number I received a call. The lady who called explained that they were receiving reports of the same problem from other users and that there appears to be a glitch in the advertising software which manages the ads that run on the site. The woman talking with me said she was documenting reports of occurrences so they could troubleshoot and resolve the issue. It was a friendly conversation that put my mind at ease knowing that the experience was a glitch and not by design. Like I said earlier, I was shocked to be hearing audio in an ad while listening to an audio broadcast.
In the end, Blog Talk Radio saved a customer. Not so much because I now know the audio ad was not supposed to exist, but because of how they handled it. The experience demonstrated to me a mindful awareness to modern technology and a capacity to resolve issues with it.
There are probably numerous cases like this because many companies are learning, sometimes the hard way, that you must have a game plan for your business with Twitter. Even if your business is not using Twitter for marketing or networking purposes, you want to make sure you have proper alerts in place to monitor Twitter activity in case anyone in the Twitterverse mentions your company in a negative or even a positive light.
For assistance with how you can protect your business on Twitter, complete the form below to request a free consultation where we can discuss your situation and individual business needs and guide you through setting up some simple measures.
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