The Power of Social Media and Customer Service

This past week I had a pretty crazy travel schedule.  Stuck in Chicago O’Hare airport I decided to get some work done while waiting for my flight.  Searching for the local wireless network I tried to log into www.boingo.com for the local hotspot.  For whatever reason, I couldn’t connect to get their daily service.

So, doing what any Twitter addict would do, I pulled out my BlackBerry phone and using TwitterBerry I tweeted out my sad tale: “Boingo wireless works everywhere in the Chicago airport, except where I am!”  They made me feel much better.  But the real feel good came a few minutes later.

About ten minutes after my sad tweet, I got a DM (direct message) from Boingo on Twitter asking me to call their number and they would hook me up!  Now that is cool!  I happily Tweeted this sudden change of events out to my followers, praising Boingo for excellent service and for paying attention.

What a great lesson for all of us.  Keyword search your business name on Twitter to see what others are saying, and then empower your team to respond and make a difference.  Next time I need wireless in the Chicago airport, you bet I will give Boingo first crack at it.

The power of social media lives on.  Now this happy tale is a blog post and will be Tweeted out again and again.  It is even likely that others will link to the post and spread the news as a great example of how social media can work for you.  All because Boingo decided to pay attention and empower their people.

Great article from Tom Ziglar. It shows the importance of keeping tabs on what people are saying about your brand online.