Friday, June 26, 2009

What does it take to get some service round here?

What does it take to get the attention of a brand using social media these days?

By which I mean - what does it take to get some service around here?

The reality is that any brand or organisation that gives a shiney one about its customers, members or collaborators should be listening to what we have to say - and ready to act upon what it hears.

If you know a brand or org that isn't - (assuming it's one that does care enough to consider it ought to) then by all means (shameless plug) point them at the kind of social media listening services the likes of Brando Social (where I work) offer.

But assuming any kind of half decent blue-chipped customer wrangler is already equipped to listen/search/audit its reputation online, let's perform a test.

Let's see how fast a real live human representative of any of these brands get back to the community that is FasterFuture (ok, responds to this blog post).

It'll be a fairly straightforward test. I'll post about a series of brands (etc) below. And we wait for a response from a representative of the brand or org in question. That response should be a comment made on this post (moderation remains on - but I have pretty much 24/7 access and I'll publish them in the order I receive them).

So:
  • Qik. I love your customer service. Don't let me down.
  • Toyota. Surely you have representatives doing the listening in the UK too? I'll help by using the term Toyota Yaris (good little motor my wife runs :-)
  • Apple. I'm pretty sure you're listening. Just staggered you don't capitalise by responding. iPhone reference to help you out.
  • Ford. I'll help you out by saying Ford Fiesta. You have the advantage of Scott Monty. Make it count.
  • UK Government Director of Digital Engagement (he's never responded yet to my tweets or my article in PR Week for that matter). There you go, PR Week - you can play, too!
  • McDonalds - had another bad experience with you this evening... (inspiring this post)
  • Tesco - I dread my required and oh too regular visits
  • Sainsbury's - just to put you head to head. Shopping. There.
  • Coca-Cola - you better believe this is the real thing
  • Disney - I am about to pass off many of your characters as my own (if that doesn't get their attention...)
That's your starter for 10. (image courtesy)

Let's see how the first batch get on. By all means let's hear your suggestions for round two. I quite fancy making this a regular test...
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7 comments:

  1. Interesting experiment. I wouldn't hold out hope for Tesco - they manage to ignore me even when I'm standing trying to pay for a basket of their products.

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  2. Nice post, David - thank you! Shame there's no link love. ;)

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  3. Congrats Jackie. In at number 1 and representing qik.com. Will add the link love u richly deserve later. So who will be our gallant runner up?

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  4. David - thank you. It's an honor to be representing an American and global icon. For faster service, next time mention the Fiesta Movement. ;-)

    I didn't find my way here via your mention on Twitter, BTW. Looked through my RSS feeds & alerts at the end of the day when I finally had a chance to get to them. Nice experiment!

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  5. I feel a little bit sorry for McDonald's. You could at least have got the spelling right.

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  6. Fair comment and I will happily and humbly correct. However you shouldn't feel too sorry for them. If their listening doesn't include a variety of spellings they are not only dragging their heels, they are also dragging their knuckles.

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  7. Oh, I totally agree. To be honest, I just wanted to be absolutely certain that they didn't have any excuse. It would be a shame to give them a get-out... ;-)

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The rate of change is so rapid it's difficult for one person to keep up to speed. Let's pool our thoughts, share our reactions and, who knows, even reach some shared conclusions worth arriving at?