The MediaPost posted an article on Friday about a Harris Poll that found a significant proportion of U.S. adults use social media to complain about or pay compliments to brands.
And I am guilty.
Just this last Friday, I went in to a local Salon & Spa to get my hair jazzed up for summer. I love my hair dresser. She doesn’t talk and I love that. It gives me almost 2 hours of complete silence to reflect, make to do lists, and catch up on email. It’s complete bliss.
It also helps that she’s good at what she does too. My complete bliss ended as I went to check out. I had received a timely coupon in the mail from the salon, and my husband knowing that I like to go here, gave me a gift card for Mother’s Day to use on pampering. And what could be more pampering than 2 hours of silence, and a little head massage?
I was told when I went to check out, I couldn’t use both a coupon and a gift card as a customer couldn’t receive two discounts at the same time. I asked how a gift card is a discount seeing that someone paid cash for it. They understood my point, but couldn’t do anything about it. As I got in my car, the first thing I thought to do was tweet. Tell my friends how crappy this was.
And then people started responding.
And then I felt a little bad. I try to be a responsible Twitter user, and use my stream for things that contribute to the world, not take away. But then the responses kept coming.
And then I realized that this is why I’m in the business I’m in. {Smart} Companies can now track what other people are saying about them. Never before could they track what I said on the phone to my best girlfriends. The question is, are you tracking what others are saying about you, or your company? Do you step in before things spiral?
I’m sending the salon an email today in hopes that this was just a training issue and that they same experience will never happen to anyone else. I will, of course, keep you updated.
