Here’s a tale of two twitter conversations: one a success; one a failure. As a business, you do want your clients to tweet about you. Sometimes it will be good, but not always. Publicly addressing the negative comments can be a big public relations win. Blowing it can make you look like a moron.

Just so we’re on the same page, for the newbies: “@” means you are talking to someone directly on twitter, kind of like you texted them, except that it’s public. A hashtag (#) indicates a trending conversation. #FAIL is the hashtag used for “dude, you blew it big time and I’m ticked off”.

Dissection of a #FAIL

Let’s take a look at my friend Sharon’s conversation with her friend on Twitter:

Takeaways:

1. Don’t butt in on someone else’s conversation. Sharon didn’t type @VirginMobile. She wasn’t asking for help. She was simply venting.
2. If you are going to ignore rule #1, be helpful. What good was the social media team going to be in a signal strength issue? They should have connected her with tech support.

Dissection of a #WIN

A little background. I spent four hours creating custom designed bookmarks for a party we sponsored in New York City on August 4th. The party was for Boombox Network at BlogHer12. Gotta give them a shoutout! The design was completed and uploaded to Overnight Prints on July 31st. I needed them shipped overnight to NYC.

I placed the order by phone, to ensure I could get my marketing collateral in New York by lunch on Friday. Although Overnight Prints shipped Thursday night, the UPS driver deemed Astoria, Queens too unsafe to leave the $15 package. So it was delivered 2 days after the party. If you’ve ever been to Astoria, you’ll know that is absolutely ridiculous.

So, here is the dilemma. They did print and ship on time. But I, the client, did not receive my merchandise on time for my event; rendering the bookmarks useless. The salesperson at Overnight Prints failed to mention that overnight delivery is only guaranteed if someone is there to receive the package.

First, I emailed customer service. They refused to do anything. Then I called. The first representative refused to help. The supervisor also refused to help. Only then did I tweet the situation.

Takeaways from a business standpoint:

1. Acknowledge that there is an issue. Overnight Prints immediately researched the case. They didn’t offer any platitudes about “feeling my pain”. They looked into it.
2. Try to take the conversation offline. The actual resolution was handled through email. This is preferable when there are private details involved.

Takeaways from a consumer standpoint:

1. Twitter is the fastest way to give and receive customer service. I tweeted at 12:59 pm, they addressed the issue at 1:19. I didn’t have to wait on hold on the phone.
2. Follow expected customer service channels first. It would have been unfair for me to publicly flog them without giving them a chance to rectify the situation privately.
3. Be courteous. Just because twitter is anonymous, that does not give you the right to be abusive. Ever.
4. Be realistic. They did print the merchandise. They did ship it on time. I never expected a full refund. I didn’t receive one, and yet I’m still totally satisfied.
5. Look at 3 and 4 again. Even if you don’t get the outcome you hoped for. Let it go. Go have a beer. But do not be abusive to customer service people.

And here is our conversation later that day:

Some day your business is going to encounter an unhappy customer. I guarantee it. How you handle that situation publicly can make you look like wonderful. Just try not to look like a twidiot.