Why Does Twitter or Blog Work? Curious Case of Customer Service

I love my Maruti Swift. I loved my Maruti Alto, earlier. I have been thinking of buying a bigger car, for sometime now. Chevrolet (please don't read it as Chevvy, GM doesn't like it) Aveo, Tata Manza and Fiat Linea to my liking, I have been treading cautiously over the thought. The financial condition is not in the pink of health to accelarate.

But then I know that car buying is a one-year process, so why not test drive! Over the last five months, I have called up couple of dealers in Chennai for a test drive. Surprisingly, I would get a call from these dealers for a time and date, but that's about it. At least on two weekends after complete assurance, I was left 'on-the-road'. I tweeted about it, last week, saying Fiat and Tata are probably overbooked and that is why they are not keen on offering me a test drive.

  

Tata Manza which has a presence in Twitter, immediately messaged asking me for my contact details. No later, I received a call from the same dealer whom I had contacted requesting for a time to arrange a test drive. But my happiness lasted for a short period. As it would have it, the test drive didn't happen as scheduled, yet again!

In the process I have realized that Twitter makes you heard. Though actual act is still subject to many other things.

I have also used Twitter to track and post developments for my employers. Blogs and customer complaint forums to 'listen' and act.

Is it that social media is working and traditional mediums aren't?

By the way, how does a customer reach out to companies?

• Traditional modes: Company office, Service centres, Fax (you won't believe, but I have realized with experience that this is the best way to reach to a company and get noticed), Telephone (not call centres)  
• New-age: Call centre (Toll Free Numbers), Email (standalone or through website)
• Latest-age: Twitter, Blogs, Customer Company Forums, Social Networking Sites 

If you carefully analyze the modes, you will notice that companies as much as possible have outsourced customer interaction management. Call centres especially have become the spine in the customer interaction horizontal. And blame it on outsourcing it doesn't come under direct purview of organizations. But seriously, isn't customer service core to a company. Shouldn't it be held by company. Well, that makes a topic for seprate discussion. On the other hand, traditional or latest mediums are is 'owned' by the company.

Why latest-age modes of feedback are more turning out to be more effective is not hard to figure out.  

1. Unlike call centre and email support, company's have so far not outsourced Twitter, Blog, Forum and Social Media support. But as I had pointed out in a previous blog of mine, this may not hold true if process specialists analyze and figure out how to standardize the responses. The entire BPO industry may find a new opportunity in adding these touch points under their menu card.
2.  It's public. Unlike the traditional mode, which is an interaction between just the consumer and the company, social media allows anyone with access to publish and post experiences. As my friend Karthik would say, this information can be accessed, retrieved and used by prospective consumers to make future purchase decisions.
3. And since it is handled by the company directly, it is likely to have employees who are far more capable and clued in that an outsourced customer interaction officer.

As I have also seen from close quarters, the social media is owned and monitored by the top management. Such close scrutiny may not be possible in other modes. Think if a CEO has to listen to all the nasty calls at the call centre. Or go through mails.

But, in my opinion, with so many people contributing so much on the net. It is bound to become unreliable. Search for any product or service that you may be considering on the net, I can safely assure you that you will find equal numbers of results, both supporting and decimating your consideration. Mouthshut and Complaints India, as it would be put by practitioners of Pranic Healing, emanate so much 'negative energy', it is not funny. One starts to wonder if there is not one product or service worth its price!

So do people actually use Internet to make purchase decisions?

Of course, the odd 80 mn odd Indians out of the 1 bn plus population might do it. But is it for making the purchase decision or gathering information. I take the risk in presuming that Internet usually is used to gather information. So, what's the difference? As I have noticed my own experiences, after gathering information it is always the word(-of-mouth) of my friend or an acquittance which is the final nail in the coffin, if I may say so.

Isn't it funny that Geoffery A Moore (oh no, not again) in Crossing the Chasm talks so much about referencing as the key to success! So where does the company begin. Looks like it's basics. Keep your existing customers happy first and continue to woo others. Now, isn't that what has been preached since time immemorial.

Twitter Delivery

So, Deepak Chopra and I were trying to figure out how the tweets are delivered. What is the logic?

1. I follow you: Your tweets comes on my timeline.
2. I follow you, you follow me: Your tweets come on my timeline and mine comes on your timeline.

That's simple. But it is not just the two of us in Twitter.

So here's another try.

1. I follow you, you follow me, but you don't follow my follower or those following me: Your tweets comes on my timeline. Mine comes on yours. But my tweet to my follower/following whom you don't follow doesn't come on your timeline.
2. I follow you, you follow me and also my follower/following: Your tweets come on my timeline, mine comes on yours. Additionally, my replies to my follower also comes on your timeline.
3. I follow you, you follow me, but I don't follow your follower/following: Your tweets come on my timeline, mine comes on yours. But your reply replies to your follower whom I don't follow doesn't comes on my timeline but will come on your public timeline.
4. I don't follow one, you also don't follow one: When I tweet to that one, it comes on your timeline. (I don't know how that works)
5. But wait. If I follow one and you don't but I put that person's Twitter id  behind my tweet it comes. But if I reply to the person, it doesn't. Can't figure out why?

Please note many experiments were conducted by Deepak Chopra and myself using TweetDeck to figure out how the logic behind Tweet Delivery. Must say we still haven't figured out.

Blimey, I tried to review what I wrote and I felt that I have done a better job than Cho Ramaswamy.

Why I Love Twitter more than Blog?

Instant Gratification!

I do not have to flesh out my thoughts. I do not have to spell check. Do not have to worry about grammar. I can be forgiven for typos. I do not have to wait till the one single, simple and often stupid thought develops into a big story. I do not necessarily have to give data to prove my point. Not that I need to do that in full-fledged blogging, yet. I get instant large audience that is if they are also online and if they follow me.

It is like the Blink concept in the book by the same name by Malcolm Gladwell.

But blog is like creating a masterpiece, relatively.

To blog is to explore. It is in-depth. You become better at articulating thoughts. You are serious about what you write and want to become better in expressing yourself, both thoughts and words.

Yes, we desire for authentic cuisine but often end up eating junk food. As long as we eat, it’s ok. Mr. R Narayanan, Director at Twenty Twenty MEDIA, used to say, “It doesn’t matter even if one reads porn, as long as one develops the habit of reading”.

6 Companies Setting the Standard for Great Customer Service on Twitter

Now this is very interesting. Till now, telephone, chat and email was a medium for companies to provide support or sell. Twitter adds to the list. While another opportunity for outsourcing firms in India to provide additonal service? Will the six companies use their IT or BPO vendors to provide support on Twitter, too?

6 Companies Setting the Standard for Great Customer Service on Twitter: "

By Jenna Lebel

The connectivity of social media has opened the door for companies in their efforts to engage their customers, solve their problems and build overall brand favorability. Aside from reaching fans of your brand, you can use the micro-blogging site to better serve them and improve your customer relations. The benefits of using Twitter as a customer service tool are unparalleled. Through Twitter, you can resolve problems for your customers, portray your brand in a positive way and set the record straight when it’s portrayed in a negative way. Arguably the most important benefit is that it can reduce costs since customer service via Twitter likely takes less time and money than a dedicated call center does. Here are examples of 6 companies who are very effective in using Twitter for customer service. Can you think of others? Share in the comments section below.

Whole Foods (@WholeFoods)

Followers: 1,755,414

Whole Foods uses Twitter to build relationships with their customers by not only having a corporate Twitter account, but also having a Twitter account for each Whole Foods location. Through the corporate Twitter account, Whole Foods effectively addresses customer concerns by directly tweeting at the customer with the response to all problems. Whole Foods answers customer service questions and takes actions to solve customer problems. For example, in response to one customer, Whole Foods tweeted “I just called P Street for you. The chicken breasts are fresh, but you can find frozen chicken strips in the store as well.” Whole Foods encourages customer feedback and as an added bonus, they offer a $25 gift card for the tweet of the day!

JetBlue (@jetblue)

Followers: 1,612,373

JetBlue uses Twitter to promote sales and provide information about flights and additional services. That’s only one way that JetBlue uses the micro-blogging platform. They also frequently use Twitter to respond to customers’ concerns and issues. JetBlue tweets use a light and friendly in order to keep unhappy customers somewhat calmer. For example, in response to a tweet concerning a 3-hour delay, JetBlue responded “JFK is on an air traffic control ground delay program due to gusting winds. We’re working to push flights safely asap!”

Zappos (@Zappos_Service)

Followers: 3,565

Zappos uses twitter for customer service by having a separate Twitter account that directly addresses customer concerns and enables customers to communicate with employees of Zappos. There are actually more than 400 Zappos employees tweeting! Sometimes an employee will introduce himself by name so that customers know that they are communicating with a real person (example from yesterday, “Good Wednesday morning! Stephanie here if you need any assistance!”) The employees who tweet for Zappos not only answer questions posed by customers, but also actively respond to compliments and other comments

Comcast (@comcastcares)

Followers: 37,613

Comcast has a separate Twitter account run by Frank Eliason, Senior Director of Comcast National Customer Service, that directly addresses customer service. Frank includes a complete bio as well as his blog URL and email addresses to encourage customer feedback and service assitance. In response to one customer’s concern about not receiving channels, Frank responds, “Not connecting to any channel? Any error message? Have you unplugged it and plugged it back in?” Frank’s identity behind the Twitter account gives a true sense of customer care because it lets customers know that they are directly communicating with an informed Comcast employee who will address their questions.

Microsoft (@MicrosoftHelps)

Followers: 4,693

Microsoft also has a separate Twitter account dedicated to customer service. This Twitter account has four customer service employees who tweet: Andrea, Andrew, Brian, and Zahn. Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 5:30pm, these Microsoft employees tweet to customers and answer questions and concerns. In response to a question about Windows Explorer crashes, Brian responded, “Since it’s happening on 2 different Windows 7 machines, I created an MS Answers post for you. http://bit.ly/b6NWwh –BK.”

Starbucks (@starbucks)

Followers: 756,106

Starbucks’ Twitter account aims at being very interactive with its followers. The bio reads “Freshly brewed tweets from Brad at Starbucks in Seattle, WA.” Brad works to address any customer concerns, comments and compliments. When responding to a complaint about a bad cup of coffee, Brad tweets, “@FaythMichelle Sorry about that. If it isn’t perfect, we’ll remake (repour/rebrew) it.” While the Twitter account is not dedicated primarily to customer service, Brad makes it a large part of his daily tweets.
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Twitter Killed Jyoti Basu

Let me assure you, Comrade Basu is still alive. He is extending his life as he did with his regime in West Bengal. But Twitter and its Twitterites killed him about two days back!

Clay Shirky rightly described this phenomenon in his book – Here Comes Everybody. The emergence of Web 2.0 has transformed internet from one-way lane to a two-way chaotic highway. Web 2.0 tools and applications empower every wanting user to create and distribute information in a way that was unimaginable in the past. The coinage information-overload falls too short to describe the current situation.

Twitter, in my opinion, has become the most active real-time news medium.

It was very interesting that 140 character obituaries were being written while the man was ‘dying’ (as Sagarika Ghosh’s tweet said). Well, I, too, mourned in a hurry. But was quick to google (another contribution of internet age as now the word has been recorded as a verb) and found that no such news was floating on the web. The news alerts only said that he was ‘dying’. It is two days, now, and comrade is still ‘dying’. Not that I want that poor old legend to die.

There is a joke that you must have heard about the authentic and credible The Hindu. It is rumored that the publication house would send their own doctors to verify before they print obituaries. Well, it does sound funny, but it is journalism. Investigate, ratify and, only then, publish. Oh, of course, don’t be biased.

While it is good for the Barack Obama and Shashi Tharoor to tweet and connect with masses, I doubt whether they will or should use it as a medium for official communication.

Just wondering, if, Obama will tweendor (Tweet-Wonder) about increasing troops in Afghanistan or remove embargos slapped on Cuba. Or will he discuss or brainstorm with the think-tank and advisors. Mr. Tharoor, on the other hand, will most likely Tweenicate (Twitter communicate) and leak every disagreement that he has in his ministry with the ‘cattle class’ in Twinderland (of course, Twitter Wonderland).

I am wondering that democratization of journalism might actually create a very chaotic information board for us. But after the ripples, the waves calm down. I am sure the chaos will prevail for some more time. Then consolidation has to happen.

Twitter has already become source, inspiration, distribution and interactive channel for media. Will Twitterites become the future journalists and Twitter the media!

US Worked Behind The Scenes

There was so much furore over the Iran elections. People in Twitter were urging others to wear Green to show their support to the demostrations against the results announced.

Recently, a comment by Hillary Clinton which was published all over irritated me. Let me make it clear, I neither a pro or anti establishment in Iran. But Hillary's stating that US worked behind the scenes to promote the demonstration in Iran is admitting to a shameful act. Not because the elections were rigged. I have nothing to prove if it was.

I just remembered the "surprise" election of George Bush in the United States of America. I still can't forget the scenes from the famous documentary - Inconvenient Truth. The "sudden" change in the results that catapulted Bush Jr to presidency and throwing of ballot papers from buildings are clear proof of election results being rigged in that country.

Result, the "war on terror". The seemingly unending war has created more hatred across the world.

May be US is worried that the Government-elect may turn out to be another "Bush-regime" in Iran.

Social Networking: Problem of Plenty?

My interest in writing blogs with renewed vigor was with a post on Orkut. I was not sure if social networking sites were fad or would become part of our lives. A reflection on my behavior indicated that I was using Orkut to find out my existing contacts online and interact with them. I was not keen on newer friends, unless they were fairer variety. So, I felt social networking was at best an extension of Yahoo Groups. But, of course, social networking sites have grown on to became photo album, video album, birthday calendar, game parlor and many more such things.



When I thought Orkut was all that I needed, someone initiated me into Facebook. I opened an account and didn't use it actively, until recently. Then my mails were peppered with invitations to join WAYN and many others. I have resisted the temptation. When I thought going was fine, LinkedIn came along. It has become a must. It has become an essential for someone in the corporate world to be active on LinkedIn. It can get you partners, sales and jobs. So, I linked up. Now, the count is three.

And again I thought that this was enough. Then Twitter twittered into my life. The 140 word social networking, sms, microblogging tool has become very addictive. It’s four now.



A link shared on Twitter showed that while MySpace, Facebook and Orkut are the leading social networking sites in the world. There were many unheard local networking sites leading in different countries. Sonia’s research revealed that there are around 300. That is quite a bit considering the number of netizens in most countries, except for probably developed nations, is definitely low.

But I guess the need for people to network is far from being satiated. Once the number of internet users increase, the importance of such sites is likely to grow substantially. The survival of such sites itself will be interesting to watch out. While, Twitter doesn't have a revenue model, I guess Facebook, Orkut and the likes have or are developing revenue generation models.

On the differentiation front, I haven't used many sites to give my opinion but I think LinkedIn is the most differentiated for segmenting and going after the professionals. It has a well-differentiated offering. The other most differentiated social networking site is Twitter. Limited by 140 words, Twitter probably has a high adoption graph line compared to other social networking sites. It has real celebrities who Tweet real time. By the way, the part on why Internet, despite being a two-way media, still cannot solve the problem for celebrities in responding to fans is a good read, in Clay Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody. While, one can do so many things in Facebook, Orkut…Twitter primarily acts as a message board.



Now, I have reconciled to the fact that I may for sure sign up for another social networking site if there is a different and attractive value proposition. I am not sure if I would need it, though. I have already started signing off TweetDeck for longer period.

TwitterFeed

I subscribed to Twitter Feed. Is it working, I don't know yet.

Demystifying Twitter

It is almost about three months since I first opened my account with Twitter. I was told by Mr. Dorai Thodla that it is great marketing tool.

So while I opened the account, I watched the video describing how Twitter can be used to keep in touch with your loved ones. Apprise others of what you are doing in mere 140 words, people following could respond to you. It sounded interesting but I was wondering how this tool to be used for marketing purposes is. Anyway, I was reminded of what Naru, whom I consider as my Guru, used to say. He said if you do not understand something, just do the motions and after a while you will comprehend. So, I went along. Used Twitter trying to figure out how it can be used effectively.

While trying to figure out how Twitter is to be used I went through couple of URLs, which I have posted earlier.

In my opinion Twitter is an online message board, micro blog and a social networking site.

Basics of Twitter

The fundamental is Following and Followers. It is simple. Following is a list of people whom you follow and followers are those who follow you. That isn't rocket science, is it? What we need to understand is that when one posts a message, those who follow, will receive the message. Similarly, one will receive the messages in one’s home page from people whom they follow.

So your screen is your message board. Choose the people based on the information you would like to receive and start getting updates.

Please follow the maxim: I scratch your back, you scratch mine. This is the best way to increase your following.

The change

While Twitter, I believe, was meant for personal use (like Orkut, Facebook…), it has fast transformed into a business application. It is being used by individuals and organizations to promote themselves.

This is not to say that Orkut and Facebook are not used for business purposes. Last week, I attended a webinar organized by 20:20 MEDIA, the leading IT PR firm in India and my ex-employer, on Using Facebook for Business. Mr. Dave Evans (evansdave), the author of “Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day" spoke on how to use Facebook for business purposes and provided some examples. But of course, he mentioned that Facebook was more effective in B2C scenario.

I must point out that LinkedIn is the best networking site for B2B.

The challenge

Here is one more tool.



According to a post in Tech Crunch, Twitter has about 1+ million users, with about 3 million messages posted per day.

Of course, I am very confident that the number of users in India at this point of time would be miniscule.

So who is using Twitter in India? Yes, I do. The Hindu Business Line Life had an interesting article last week. It states that Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Lalu Prasad Yadav also use Twitter.

I sure think we have a problem of plenty. We have mails, chats, social networking sites. On the other hand, we also have traditional media – TV, Radio, Newspaper... Interestingly, whether personal and professional networking site, there is a Twitter-like facility.



But like a true Web 2.0 tool, Twitter does seem to provide some real time interaction and that too with a live person.

Twitter, in the course of time, may also become a spammer’s delight. Because there are restrictions on how much you can feed into the message box, it is now primarily used to direct traffic to another site – the tiny URL.

Why would I follow or get followed?

The million-dollar question!

Simple, if you want to use Twitter for personal use, just use your address book and invite everyone. Block anyone else. Voila, you have your own Twitter space.

But if you want to use Twitter for professional or business purposes, you have to do bit of introspection. Once, you have decided what you want from Twitter, do a keyword search. Click and verify if you have searched the right person. If yes, click ‘follow’ and soon, your home page becomes their message board.

Please remember, there is no obligation to follow anyone who follows you. Similarly do not assume that because you are following someone, that person would follow you. It is better to be choosy. But if you are in there to win popularity contest, just keep clicking follow and hope others would do too.

I do not know if Twitter is just a fad? Whether it is here to stay? Will it replace other tools we have – website, email, chat or mobile sms?

At this point, it is attracting many. Flow with it, keep experimenting.

And, finally, one more link on 17 ways to use Twitter!