Digithoughts

Tuesday was quite a day for me in terms of customer service help via Twitter. I have read the case studies on companies like Comcast and Zappos using Twitter to provide better customer service, but I wanted to shed some light on other companies using Twitter to help customers.

I received a newsletter from Entertainment Weekly. This was not surprising or unwelcome, as I am a subscriber. However, as I read the email, I realized some of the content was outdated. The email was for tickets to advance movie screenings, however the movies listed as examples were all from 2007. This is not typical of EW; as a weekly publication, they are always on top of the latest information in media and entertainment. I tweeted about in hopes of pointing it out to them (not to be a jerk; I also manage online content and appreciate when things like this are brought to my attention so I can make the appropriate corrections) and also because as far as Internet faux pas go, this one was funny.

"Hey @EW, you should update your newsletter. It’s a little late to see "Rush Hour 3, Shrek The Third, and Dreamgirls BEFORE they hit theaters"

About 5 minutes later, @EW was not only following me, but had messaged me asking which newsletter it was and what it said exactly. This simple act of tweeting speaks volumes for them. Obviously, they monitor Twitter very closely. They were also very personable and appreciative of the feedback (I was concerned they’d think I was being snarky). Being on the front lines of the entertainment business, a strong social media strategy is a must, but this also shows that they in fact pay attention to what people outside of the industry say about their brand. Good work Entertainment Weekly!

Prior to that, I had complained on Twitter about my doctor’s office, which is part of the large medical group, Sharp HealthCare. The next day I had a reply from them telling me to contact them to resolve my problem. I did not even @reply or hash tag them in my original post. It was refreshing to see a healthcare provider who probably has thousands of patients, care about my tweet.

Using Twitter for customer service is two fold; you need to pay attention to what people are saying about you and make yourself available to assist in a prompt manner, as to avoid further negative comments. One of the most valuable uses for Twitter is reputation management. Both these companies are shining examples of a well executed Twitter strategy.

Since I was having a great day via Twitter, I reached out to my fellow Digitarians to share some of their experiences with companies using Twitter for customer service. I wanted to highlight companies that are doing this well, that might be flying under the radar.

I was having never-ending issues with my Internet provider at the time. It came to a point where I didn't have Internet for over a week... do you know what that feels like? I felt like I was missing an arm. Anyway, I complained about them to Cox Communications on Twitter (making sure to @ both accounts). After my third complaint, I received a call from Cox offering me all of their high-end services for the same price I was paying before. Thanks @Cox_Comm!

Adam Storr
Business Development & Marketing Coordinator

One of the analytics tools we use, Omniture SiteCatalyst, has a customer service twitter @OmnitureCare. This twitter is run by Jorgen Sorensen, who is a "Technical Support Consultant for Adobe ClientCare. Acting representative of Adobe Client Services for Omniture technology on Twitter."  

We often tweet a problem we are having, and Jorgen responds directly with at least one of the following: 1) the answer 2) an idea of how many other people are experiencing the same issue 3) no answer, but a promise to open a ClientCare incident to investigate the problem.

Lauren Hock
Web Analyst

Please share any great experiences you’ve had with customer service via Twitter. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Reena Leone Marketing and Social Media Coordinator

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