Comcast and Twitter (Sorry. No chickens this time).

Not long ago, Michael Arrington wrote about his experience getting support from Comcast after mentioning their service – negatively – on Twitter. Well, it seems I’ve joined rare company. Er, on the Comcast front. Chickens, not so much.

I, too, recently maligned Comcast on Twitter, due to a series of partial and complete service interruptions (mostly of my television service. Internet was sluggish, but more or less functional). And within a couple of minutes, I got a response from a Comcast representative, giving me an email address (we_can_help@cable.comcast.com) for me to get help with my issue. Since then, I’ve had continuing contact with Comcast field supervisors, office personnel and service technicians hell-bent on resolving the problem. And they did. Not only is my cable service now whole again, but my Internet service is faster, too.

Maybe the Comcast folks hoped I would say something positive. Maybe not. They never asked me. But, two things impressed me throughout the whole situation:

1. The dedication of the people I talked to at Comcast. I don’t know if these are the regular customer service reps. I don’t know if they’re specially trained. I do know that each one focused on addressing my concerns and did so with grace and consideration.
2. Comcast clearly has their finger on the pulse of where customer complaints take root. That’s not surprising given their history. But, they’re clearly trying to improve that perception. The reality behind that perception, too, I gather. I only hope they provide equivalent service to customers who call their support lines, not just those of us with bully pulpits.

The lessons here:

1. Tools like blogs, and Twitter – when it’s working – provide your business with an “early warning system”, a place to hear what’s on your customers’ minds. And a way to engage with those customers to resolve their issues. Both big points in Arrington’s original post. Using tools like Tweetscan, Comcast has put their emphasis on dousing these issues before they turn into raging fires. Maybe Comcast hopes those customers will say something nice. Maybe not. But the negative comment a customer doesn’t make carries its own rewards. Not least of which is the likelihood you’ll retain that customer.
2. Want your employees to do their jobs well? Give them a clear mission and get out of their way. The Comcast employees I dealt with seemed to place my satisfaction above all else. And satisfied, I now am. Whether that would have happened if Comcast put its focus on traditional “customer service” center metrics like talk time is doubtful. These people knew they were supposed to make me happy. And they did.

My “Twitter friend” Brian Solis has an ebook about using social media to improve customer service and, ultimately, marketing. It’s worth the read.

What’s your customer service story? And does your team know how much value you place on customer service? Let us know in the comments.

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