Social Media Outreach is More Than Saying “I’m Sorry”

Much ado has been made about the social media and customer relationship efforts of Comcast Cares. I am a bit of a jaded ex-Comcast customer. I don’t understand their pricing. Their introductory rates seem reasonable, but they seem to overcharge otherwise, and they’re always trying to upsell their bundles.

How about another telecom co?

So I hereby recuse myself from writing about Comcast and their caring for the time being. Instead, I want to focus on customer outreach in the same vertical in the Northwest by Qwest. They’ve instituted a social media listening tool they call TalkToQwest.

I can sum up their strategy up in 23 characters.

• Twitter
• Email
• “I’m Sorry”

Listening is cheap

Qwest has a dedicated team at SocialMedia.Qwest.com — not the more obvious and helpful choice TalkToQwest.com, which is nothing. And this team’s mission, according to the CEO, is “Listening to and understanding our customers so completely that we deliver a total customer experience that exceeds expectations.”

What does this crack team of social media experts do? They listen and understand. Watch a few seconds of this video to see what I mean.

Not really helping? I think Qwest is making an effort for their employees to “appear human,” which is a touch redundant. Their efforts at Average Joe-ness are similar to what we saw with the Hyundai Think Tank. The quality of the video talks down to customers and doesn’t provide any value.

The problem of merely being responsive

So is there value to what Qwest is doing on Twitter? The TalkToQwest team is very set on responding to everyone who tweets about Qwest. Unfortunately, most people don’t Tweet about internet service unless there is a problem with it. It’s the kind of service, like heat or hot water, that people take for granted until something goes wrong.

The team doesn’t seem to be equipped to actually fix any service or billing problems. But if you email or DM them, they will help you along. This gives the impression that the Twitter middlemen are the only way to get service. If I lived in Idaho, I feel like I would rather just have the customer service channels themselves be more accessible.

The overall effect of their Twitter feed is a lot of “I’m Sorry.” TalkToQwest is constantly apologizing for things. When you pay that kind of close attention to negativity, in some ways you actually spread the negativity. From their Twitter feed, I get the impression that Qwest has terrible service. But I am willing to bet there are a ton of satisfied customers out there.

Be proactive with content

The solution? You’re a communications company — so communicate. Don’t just use social media to say, “We’ve got normal people who you can relate to, kinda.” Create some great content that serves the needs of your customers.

A lot of outages? Show us a video of how you fix those. Let us trust your process. Delays in setting up service? Show us how you’re already on that problem and fixing it. Maybe it’s not perfect, but a little behind-the-scenes goes a long way.

As for Twitter, use the 4-1-1 rule. Show that you have more to say than “I’m Sorry.” Talk about great programming. Tweet links to blogs posts that you find valuable. If you’re going to have “regular people,” let their business-oriented interests shine through. They should be leading the discussion, not racing to catch up.

Dynamic not dependent

Consumer feedback channels need to be two-way and not dependent upon the conversation that is out there. Simply listening for your name to come up in conversation and then performing support triage is inefficient and undervalues participation on the channel. It’s not enough to appear approachable — this is simply reputation management, or sentiment monitoring.

Qwest and other brands need to be proactive in their consumer feedback channels and give the crowds something to respond to rather than just sitting back and waiting.

About the author

Josh Cole - Josh Cole was born to create content -- from his pioneering works in anarchoustic and hobophonic sounds & web content to writing across a wide variety of media. Joining the team in Spring 2009, he has been instrumental in crafting and producing oodles of content for Breville, Putnam Investments, and Tippingpoint Labs. He rides a near mint 1964 Raleigh Colt to work. He still remembers which accessories go with each G.I. Joe action figure. He writes with the kung-fu action grip. Josh is in charge of content for a variety of clients. His favorite Tippingpoint Labs value is: "There is a content solution to every business challenge."