Influence, Schminfluence. People Matter.
6:33 PM
Edit Post
Two years ago at an industry event, an executive from a major airline told me frankly the company would NEVER go live on a platform like Twitter. “It’s Pandora’s Box” the executive exclaimed as we sipped glasses of wine, "There's no way we'd be on Twitter." I felt my eyes widen as I responded:
Prior to the summer of 1999, few people knew who Dave Carroll was. United Airlines did, but they didn’t seem to care – even though he’d been working to gain resolution on a customer service issue with United for almost a year. Dave had a band with a small following. He didn’t have a Top Marketing Blog listed in Ad Age’s Power 150. He didn’t boast more than 5,000+ Twitter followers or a kick butt Facebook Fan Page. In short, by current standards, Dave Carroll wasn’t an “influencer.”
United didn’t flinch when he warned them that, if he could not get satisfactory response, he would write a series of songs about United’s poor service and post them on You Tube for open consumption, votes and ratings. Perhaps United believe him. Perhaps they didn’t care because they were locked in the world of policy and procedure. Perhaps someone just decided that Dave Carroll didn’t really matter.
But boy, did he turn out to be influential.
It’s been a year and I’m resurrecting an old story by Internet standards. However, I'm doing so because I think Dave’s story illustrates some points about “influence” that many of the pundits in social media don’t seem to actively consider; primarily the fact that, in the present economy – and with a totally unstable level of predictability -- almost anyone can become an influential force overnight. Dave Carroll was an ordinary guy with a simple recipe:
Today, I leave you with this thought, but I’m following up with another “People Matter” post. Until then, consider Dave's lesser known "Video 3" from the United Trilogy. For those of you who suffer from short attention spans, my favorite part of this video occurs at (:50 – 2:10 minutes) where he makes some good points about customer service:
Companies: How does your company treat people like they matter? How do you use market segment, CLV, influence measures to enhance the service or experience you provide?
Consumers: How do the brands you support make you feel valued and respected? How much of this is "going beyond the call of duty" vs. "providing a base level of good service"?
All: This "broke" Dave Carroll's career. So, what do you think of his (relatively) new, non-musical, customer experience venture "The Right Side of Right?" Check it out and weigh in!
I understand your concerns, and here's the problem with this thinking: “Pandora’s Box” is already OPEN! Conversations about your brand are happening, right now, without you on the social grid. You can stick your head in the sand like an ostrich, but will only be a matter of time before the audience will demand your response. Wouldn’t it be better to enter the discussion proactively? Will it take a crisis to drag you into the conversation? Can’t you see that these tools, like the Internet – have the potential to strategically extend your business – specifically in the area of Customer Service?While my thoughts admittedly made a dent in this executive’s conscience – they didn’t make a dent in the company’s approach. Sadly, within a year, United Airlines was dragged into the open - totally unprepared - as Dave Carroll’s song, “United Breaks Guitars” became an overnight, viral phenomenon.
Prior to the summer of 1999, few people knew who Dave Carroll was. United Airlines did, but they didn’t seem to care – even though he’d been working to gain resolution on a customer service issue with United for almost a year. Dave had a band with a small following. He didn’t have a Top Marketing Blog listed in Ad Age’s Power 150. He didn’t boast more than 5,000+ Twitter followers or a kick butt Facebook Fan Page. In short, by current standards, Dave Carroll wasn’t an “influencer.”
United didn’t flinch when he warned them that, if he could not get satisfactory response, he would write a series of songs about United’s poor service and post them on You Tube for open consumption, votes and ratings. Perhaps United believe him. Perhaps they didn’t care because they were locked in the world of policy and procedure. Perhaps someone just decided that Dave Carroll didn’t really matter.
But boy, did he turn out to be influential.
It’s been a year and I’m resurrecting an old story by Internet standards. However, I'm doing so because I think Dave’s story illustrates some points about “influence” that many of the pundits in social media don’t seem to actively consider; primarily the fact that, in the present economy – and with a totally unstable level of predictability -- almost anyone can become an influential force overnight. Dave Carroll was an ordinary guy with a simple recipe:
- A good story, artfully told
- A clear plight or frustration that resonated with others
- Access to / proficiency with You Tube and other social tools
- Creativity and personality
- Some good friends
- A little dumb luck
Today, I leave you with this thought, but I’m following up with another “People Matter” post. Until then, consider Dave's lesser known "Video 3" from the United Trilogy. For those of you who suffer from short attention spans, my favorite part of this video occurs at (:50 – 2:10 minutes) where he makes some good points about customer service:
Companies: How does your company treat people like they matter? How do you use market segment, CLV, influence measures to enhance the service or experience you provide?
Consumers: How do the brands you support make you feel valued and respected? How much of this is "going beyond the call of duty" vs. "providing a base level of good service"?
All: This "broke" Dave Carroll's career. So, what do you think of his (relatively) new, non-musical, customer experience venture "The Right Side of Right?" Check it out and weigh in!
Labels:
customer experience management,
digital media; twitter; facebook; blogging; social networking;,
influence
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
FAVORITES
- On Trust & Influence
- Don't be Social Media Sharkbait
- The Social Media Engagement Continuum
- 10 Tips for Twitter Unmarketing
- Five Experience Funamentals
- Experience & Branding: The Three Word Rule
- Get Some Experience Healing!
- Discovering Customer Experience Pitfalls
- Not My Job: The CX Enemy
- Shoe Carnival: Watch Out for Carnies!
- Bathroom Usability
RECENT COMMENTS
SEARCH
Labels
advertising
air travel
bank experience
bathrooms
Best Practices
branding
brick and mortar retail
charlene li
Community
Content
Copy writing
cottonelle
customer centricity
customer experience
customer experience files
Customer Experience Leaders
customer experience management
customer experience pitfalls
customer experience; innovation;
Customer Relationship Management
customer research
CX
Defining Customer Experience Management
economy
Ethics
experience best practices
experience file
experience pitfalls
good customer experience
Group Think
Harassment
infrastructure
Innovation
life
marketing
marketng
motherhood
old navy
personal
Plagiarism
Plurk
privacy
reinvention
RESOURCES
restaurant experience
retail experience
security
Social Media
Social Media Expert
social networking
starbucks
stuck
target
toilet paper
trust agents
trust continuum
Twitter
usability best practices
user experience
user experience
UX
Web 2.0
Web Strategy
word-of-mouth
4 comments:
Excellent post. You don't have to be an "influencer" to go viral. You just have to put something out there that's get people to nod their heads and say, "yeah, what he said". How hard is it these days to "like", "share" or "retweet"? Social media has made a pr nightmare (or dream) one button click away for most businesses, and they should start thinking accordingly.
What an awesome post Leigh! I remember this story. How brilliant was it that Taylor responded by videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12WFZq2__0 / on protecting guitars and customer service!! Everyone can empathize with Dave Carroll and too bad for United. Why do so many companies wait for a crisis to happen? Eventually if they aren't prepared one will.
Influential is right... I have musician friends who never check guitars on United now because of this song. They have brought up the song when told no, and are allowed to carry them on. There is some real power in Social Media.
What a great post... I love the song too. It is apparent that some companies have not learned from United's mistakes, as we continue to see a bunch more attacks on Social Media.
Post a Comment