chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in You are Always On

Re: You are Always On

amer — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 01:51:06 -0000

where are you .why you call me.sorry you .i need you.call me

Re: You are Always On

IMD OWP — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:08:46 -0000

Good advice. After all social media after all is a very powerful tool.
David Plouffe’s,( President Barack Obama’s point man on social media) innovative strategy not only got Obama elected but also managed to raise the largest amount of campaign funding in election history.
At the IMD OWP 2010 , David Plouffe will share his insights on the historic Obama campaign

Re: You are Always On

IMD OWP — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 09:34:54 -0000

Good advice. After all social media is a very powerful tool.
David Plouffe’s,( President Barack Obama’s point man on social media) innovative strategy not only got Obama elected but also managed to raise the largest amount of campaign funding in election history.
At the IMD OWP 2010 , David Plouffe will share his insights on the historic Obama campaign

Re: You are Always On

Sherry Littlefield — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:56:58 -0000

"The rest of us out here in the real world simply put our big boy britches on and deal with the day in an adult manner. Try it. It works."

You mean like complaining anonymously online? Double-standards: the calling card of the abysmally immature.

Re: You are Always On

Kathy Brandon, Happinesschick — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:09:43 -0000

Exceptional Article, thank you for compiling and sharing these insights! I really like the part where you talk about checking back after the solution to check in. There are so few deep follow up programs out there, this is a great process to put in place to make clients feel cherished by your organization!

Re: You are Always On

Timi Stoop-Alcala — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:11:55 -0000

Hello, Chris. Interesting what you said about people judging the whole experience. I agree, but I think in many cases, we only begin to see the experience from a broader view when a sense of completion has bee achieved or a conclusion has been reached. When something's ended and over, then it's easier to review it as a whole. But memory's a tricky thing. We'd probably remember more the last encounter with a product / brand than the other times. And even if we do remember more experiences, the feelings associated with the brand from the last encounter might prevail more -- which makes the approach you raised even more important.

Thanks for the insights!

Re: You are Always On

Alexandra Levit — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:01:14 -0000

Hi Chris,

As you mentioned Stephen Covey, I thought your readers might like to know that he's doing a webinar on some of these issues in August. Here's the link:

http://www.franklincovey.co...

Let's talk soon!

Best,

Alexandra Levit
Business/Workplace Author and Speaker
http://www.alexandralevit.com

Re: You are Always On

Keller Hawthorne — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:48:51 -0000

This advice applies to all things business. We want to present our best face to our customers. When things get too heated, or we begin to take things personally, it's wise to stop and let the heat boil over.

I've found comments that I've taken personally at first often lose their sting if I let myself regroup and calm down.

Re: You are Always On

Kathleen at Seet to a Tea — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:21:17 -0000

As the CEO of a new company I found this post and the underlying post very interesting, indeed. Customer service is utmost, especially in this economy. I have open discussions with my staff everyday, and try to enlighten them with stories like this to back up our policies. Thanks for a great training idea for our next meeting!

Re: You are Always On

Elizabeth B. — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:09:56 -0000

Chris, once again you wrote an excellent post. When something riles us, we have two choices, we can either "react" to what has happened or we can "act". Taking a step back helps us get our heads back on straight and gives us a moment to think clearly so we can choose the best way to act as opposed to immediately reacting and perhaps doing something to our detriment or the detriment of our brand.

Re: You are Always On

melissahowe — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:19:50 -0000

Logical advice that needs to be said. Thanks!

Re: You are Always On

Hilary JM Topper, MPA — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:38:56 -0000

Chris, you are right on here (no pun intended)! It's hard for us as CEO's and thought leaders to take a step back and not react immediately, but that's what we need to do. I often find myself in a similar situation when something gets me angry or frustrated, I tend to start to blog about it but I don't post anything. Then I walk away and make a decision about whether or not to post it. Once it's up on the Internet, it's there for good.... Thanks for this insightful post!

Re: You are Always On

PatGB — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:38:35 -0000

Looks like law of attraction at work on Doug's part, based on how he opened up the conversation. In other words, he apparently had a memory of Best Buy's practices when it comes to pricing. We get what we expect (or worry about or ponder, etc).

As to reacting versus responding, people can't push your buttons if you don't have buttons. Every day, I work to soothe the unhealthy buttons I have picked up along the way.

Re: You are Always On

Dave Kawalec — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:15:59 -0000

I definitely understand what you're trying to say and in general, I agree. Just in this specific case, it looks like Doug is trying to pick a fight. I don't think this is really that much of a mess for anyone. It seems much ado about really nothing.

Re: You are Always On

rulesofweightloss — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:46:18 -0000

Nice blog I like this skin

Re: You are Always On

jessicarozitis — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:04:24 -0000

Great post. I totally agree with 'taking it offline'. More business leaders need to be aware of this.

In this day and age, we tend to react too quickly. Take a breath, wait 24 hours, and then react. You will find that your tone will change, and for the better.

Re: You are Always On

jgoldsborough — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:37:22 -0000

Lessons all around for sure. And reputation factors in here too -- e.g. you sharing all ways Best Buy does engage, reach out to customers via social media.

Just seems to me like someone at BB should have reached out to Barry at some point and recommended where to direct these types of CS tweets. And maybe they did but he was just having a bad day.

Human nature definitely a factor here and good thing that usually none of us are judged solely on one set of tweets or one interaction, know what I mean? In this case, I'm not sure Barry or Doug would want that.

Seems the key is how they've engaged in the past and going forward, both of which this situation shines a brighter light on.

Re: You are Always On

Danny Brown — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:23:01 -0000

Great to hear of your role in getting Sprint into social media and how to deal with customers, Justin (though sounds like the PR team had their hands full!). :)

I agree that Best Buy should have a dedicated @BestBuyCares type of deal - seems the logical thing to do.

However, they do have quite the presence on both Twitter and throughout social media. There's the obvious @BestBuy and then there's also a bunch of Best Buy employees that are officially recognized by Best Buy. They can be found here:

http://ourheart.iambestbuy....

The thing is, Doug mentioned in his post that he's "keenly interested in retailers' use of social media". A quick visit to the Best Buy website would have shown him the various ways to connect with the right person for this query.

I agree that Barry could (should?) have responded with directions to a better avenue for Doug's tweet. But, as many have said, it was the weekend (a Sunday) and Doug's first tweet was confrontational. We're all human, and maybe Barry was miffed at having a customer service query sent direct to him on a Sunday in an argumentative manner? Who knows. Lessons all round and something I touch on in my next post :)

Re: You are Always On

jgoldsborough — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:03:32 -0000

Interesting perspective, Danny. Think you are right that when people have a complaint, they'll look for a representative of a brand and that starts at the top of the org chart. The question then becomes does the organization have a process to handle the complaints we know people will raise? If not, it's a setup for frustration on both ends, IMO.

When we started reaching out to customers at Sprint, it was just me and a few PR folks engaging, asking if we could help and then sending along customer issues to our Care team. The process was ok, but wasn't very fluid and meant our PR team had to remain as a touchpoint throughout because we were seen as face of customer outreach even though we didn't have customer account access. More chances for frustration on our end and the customer’s end.

Recently we finally got team of Care reps (e.g. @comcastcares) on Twitter under the handle @sprintcare and now everyone in PR knows that's where we send customer service issues. Seems like Barry needed a @BestBuyCares-type outlet. Does Best Buy have one? I looked but couldn't find one.

Is it great for Best Buy that Barry's active on Twitter? Absolutely. To me, that says Best Buy gets it. They must, their CMO is out here ready to engage. And I think we'd all agree Best Buy is often best in class when it comes to social media adoption, practices. But the company needs to have Barry's back in this case and make it easy for him to get Doug in touch with the people who can access his account or take his feedback and help. If Best Buy has that type of outlet on Twitter, does the "too open" question still come up.

Now all that said, I have to agree with Chris and respectfully disagree or divert from Scott Monty's comment on Doug Meacham’s blog. As a rep of a brand, you are always on no matter what, 24/7. You represent your brand and the brands of any other organizations with which you are involved. The key here is that Doug never should have had that tweet string to post because Barry's first tweet should have been: "Sorry to hear about your experience. @BestBuy or @BestBuyCares can help.

Re: You are Always On

A Client — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:29 -0000

I'm looking into developing a social media certification for my colleagues, hopefully to avoid this. Great post Chris.

Re: You are Always On

Justin Kownacki — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:30:34 -0000

Here's the kicker: You Are Always On... But Everyone Else Is Only Paying Fragmented Attention.

I don't know Doug or Barry, so all I have to judge them on is the exchange in this article. If you knew one (or both) of them, it might change YOUR perspective on what their conversation means. But to anyone else who reads it, they can draw conclusions from the available sound bites.

So: If anything we say or do online can become a sound bite by which others will draw conclusions about us, what does this mean for our ability to critically evaluate situations (or people) over time? Or is that not done anymore?

Re: You are Always On

Scott Gould — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:10:12 -0000

You're definitely always on. Learnt that a long time ago being a leader in Church life :-)

Re: You are Always On

JeffCole53 — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:25:21 -0000

Chris,

Great advice. One my first bosses in public relations always cautioned against overreaction. His mantra was "return small arms fire with small arms fire, if at all." It was one of the best lessons I ever learned.

Also, I agree about personal communication. Twitter, Facebook and other social media apps are nice, but only as a way to make the initial connection. It is important to have a real conversation with somebody - which means actually talking to them. I think too many people hide behind social media apps as an excuse not to have real human contact.

I have found that when dealing with angry people, humor often works. If you can get them laughing, you can find common ground and work the problem out.

Re: You are Always On

ColoradoLH — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:48:21 -0000

"I’m sorry for your frustration. It sounds like you feel unheard.”
Must. Use. This.

Re: You are Always On

Name — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:44:05 -0000

You showed yourself. Now scoot, and go be relevant.