Shouldn’t all brands improve their service in the age of Twitter and social media?

Right on, Edward! More than anything, your two anecdotes illustrate the that service is more important than ever in today's high-tech, high-expectations environment.

I don't believe high service necessarily means high cost. Serving customers well requires engaged employees who can confidently do right by them. As others have commented already, it's about culture more than compensation. For example, my colleagues at Patagonia were among the most committed I've ever worked with. Retail is notoriously cheap, so it wasn't the pay. We were David against Goliath, and we were educating the customer about what they should expect from corporations.

As Brad Noble found out, Patagonia's lifetime guarantee is real. It's been company policy since Patagonia was founded, and reinforces the brand's promise of "built to last". It's the culture.

Edward - yes, this (all this seemingly mundane dialogue) is more important than anyone can comprehend right now. And it's only going to become more important as we keep connecting. I tweeted yesterday that we (in the ad biz) need clients to focus on the ROI of their product offering, not necessarily their marketing. After all, a good product sells itself. We can make anything irresistible, but only a quality product offering keeps people coming back and keeps people talking. We've all heard that the best advertising is word of mouth. Why? Because we value the opinion of our peers above any great print ad. The problem with word-of-mouth advertising however, is that it's a two-way street. Bad product = negative advertising. Twitter/SM only magnifies this - both for the good and bad.

Jim @smashadvu00e2u0080u0099s last blog post..Five Reasons We Won't Give You A Second Chance

Great read, Edward. For some reason this reminded me of the great line from Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential: u00e2u0080u009dI wonu00e2u0080u0099t eat in a restaurant with filthy bathrooms. This isnu00e2u0080u0099t a hard call. They let you SEE the bathrooms.u00e2u0080u009d If a business/brand isn't going to make a strong, or even adequate, public-facing effort, it deserves to feel the wrath of that same public's criticism -- criticism that's now instant, and, therefore, more honest and fresh than ever before thanks to social media (sent while the wounds of bad service are still bleeding, i.e. while you were still waiting in Avis' line while the dude at the counter, ironically, was probably Tweeting his followers about how much work sucked that day). Well played, sir...and kudos for giving props via Twitter to the deserving restaurant later on. Might we be creating a nation of cyberNaders, protecting & fighting for basic consumer rights with each and every Tweet?

Carol:
You are definitely right about one thing, the end of the middleman. A brand has so many simple, easy, instant ways to connect with people now (presuming they're interested and paying attention) that it only makes sense for them to master them. One challenge will remain whether or not a brand can scale its "fans and followers" the way it can a target audience; the former may be more valuable, but is smaller in size. So, back to one of my points: isn't a brand's best opportunity to mobilize people to spread the word on its behalf? And if it encourages both positive and negative, won't it appear more authentic and surprising, in a way that will induce more people to pay attention and help the brand itself modify behavior to get even better at whatever it does.

Michelle:
Good, simple summation. So far it seems that consumers understand this a little more clearly than brands. Hopefully they'll all catch on soon.

Appreciate the perspective and clarity of Edward Boches's thoughts. Businesses need to take control of their brand on the web and act upon this opportunity, or else they will suffer the consequences.

Leo Bottary's comment, "How many great customer service companies out there are in need of bailout money" says it all!

My quick answer to your question is, "I hope so." If the advent of Twitter and other social media tools doesn't do the trick, then it may be helpful for companies to ask themselves: How many great customer service companies out there are in need of bailout money? Zero.

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Twitter has many uses from media relations (press release will be history) to customer relations. I suspect that media relations will actually start to merge with customer service. One more way the Internet has 'cut out the middleman'. Great piece, Edward. (And I'll check out that restaurant next time I'm in Milwaukee, which may be tomorrow).

Great piece!

Social media has created an environment that's beneficial to companies already walking the talk, while exposing companies with bad customer service, inferior products, or that compromise their brand promises.

Social media rewards brands that are doing the right thing and punishes the brands that aren't. Don't you just love justice?

Michelle Trippu00e2u0080u0099s last blog post..Old Media Falling Into The "Digeration Gap"

Great insights here. I think that, beyond the actual employees, is the support structure (or lack thereof) put in place by the companies themselves.

In the case of Avis, one associate with no back up and probably as angry about it as the customers. Yet in the restaurant, there was an entire team that made that experience possible. The hostess, the waitress, the cooking staff, everyone worked to get you in and out. They knew they had each other's backs so they each stepped up.

Jessica:
Couldn't agree more with the idea of figuring out what motivates employees. Besides compensation it's often just feeling good about the brand they work for. They want to work for a winner and a company other's respect.

Does this approach show a company's bravery? Absolutely, I would applaud their efforts and support them.

You are also right on the cultural front...if you can excite your employees (by any means) then you can support this kind of a program.

It's a risk. But one that should be worth taking if you think your service is up to the task.

Stuart Fosteru00e2u0080u0099s last blog post..The Importance of Titles

As opposed to relying on a printed receipt to drive an online behavior ...

Apple asks for your email at in-store checkout, and then sends you an email receipt. Would be easy to link to tools to comment right from something like that.

Even better: At checkout, ask for the customer's phone number (already happening at many stores). Send an SMS thank you / receipt with a link. This takes advantage of the mobile context, where the in-store experience is top-of-mind.

@bradnobleu00e2u0080u0099s last blog post..Looking down a powdery Chute from the single.

After working in customer service for years, I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, people are quick to call customer service when service is under par but not nearly as quick to do it when service exceeds expectations. Little reminders don't hurt if they are done with wit. As for Stuart's comment about raising service without raising cost - I think that the two are often intertwined, but service is by no means dependent on cost. I do think, however, that it is dependent upon time invested by management. Invest the time to know what drives your employees and you will be able to motivate them to take pride in the service.

Stuart:
I'm not sure it has anything to do with salary. Any company can find a way to make employees feel pride. And every company should be aware of the fact that they are vulnerable to the negative or the possible beneficiaries of the positive. I, too, would be totally opposed to the Big Brother thing, but still think it would be a brave company (and there's credit in that) who would stand behind its service enough to invite you to express your reaction whatever it might be.

Brad:
Great story. Makes me want to go there. Now, all they need is a receipt that suggests or asks or invites you to share your experience on Twitter or whatever social network you prefer.

I think that small businesses especially are extremely wary of portraying a big brother like presence. They want their employees to feel comfortable and not like they could be easily replaced.

It's got to be a business culture thing. Transitioning into something like this will be met with fierce resistance...especially from people who really aren't being paid enough (in their minds) to care.

How do you improve service without raising costs? I don't know if you can. That's why I think more companies haven't gone in this direction.

Stuart Fosteru00e2u0080u0099s last blog post..The Importance of Titles

This post reminded me of a post I meant to write, but haven't ... because at least 1/2 of the conversations I've had in the last 3 weeks have been about the in-store experience I had at Patagonia 3 weeks ago.

Two old Patagonia jackets with broken zippers. They'd been hanging in my closet for 3 or so years. (Bad year for zippers, I guess.) Brought the jackets to the store on Newbury, and asked them what they could do. Repair? Replace?

They offered me both options. And, b/c repair was going to require shipping and labor, they seemed to prefer that I accept their offer to replace them.

They gave me a store credit for the value of each jacket -- when each of them was *new*. I couldn't believe it.

Why would I ever buy a coat (that isn't an Arcteryx hard shell) from a store other than Patagonia? And what would a store have to do to get me to stop talking about Patagonia and start talking about them? I don't know. But good luck to them.

@bradnobleu00e2u0080u0099s last blog post..Looking down a powdery Chute from the single.

K:
No doubt, if they have resources, they can take the Comcast approach. But if I owned a bar, a restaurant, a boutique, a gallery, I would have a little card or sign that reminded customers (in a clever or thoughtful way) to share their reactions positive or negative with their community. By suggesting they welcomed criticism, it would probably improve service by staff and employees who realized that bad service would more likely get shared.

Wholeheartedly agree, and I think the truly exciting opportunities are for the little brands that serve local communities.

And the flip side is asking whether brands should be using social media to improve their service - Comcast comes to mind.

great piece.

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