This is a guest post from Justin Goldsborough who is a communications manager for social media at Sprint.
Justin case you were wondering: I had lunch the other day with a 20-year-old college student — let’s call him Adi because, well, that’s his name. It was supposed to be an informational interview for him, yet I think I may have gotten as much, if not more, out of it. We talked about a lot of different things, but it was what he said when we were talking about how word of mouth affects brand reputation that really made an impression on me.
“I don’t ever buy a product because of an ad,” he said. “The only reason I buy a product is because one of my friends or someone I know tells me about it and says it’s worth buying.”
Corporate America, are you listening? Hope so, because Adi and his friends are a part of the generation that’s going determine the majority of purchase decisions for the next 50 years or more. And those ads you’re spending millions on to run during “Must See TV”: they’re fast forwarding right through them. Those full-page newspaper ads you’re taking out in the newspaper: they’re throwing them in the recycle bin (yeah, they’re a very green group). That is, if you can even peel them away from the computer or their cell phones long enough to look at a newspaper.
If you want to sell to this generation, you better have a good story, one that Adi and his friends feel inclined to post on their Facebook status, mention in their tweets, and talk about with their friends on Friday nights. And the only way you’re going to write the type of story this generation wants to tell is by talking to them on their turf.
At Sprint, we haven’t exactly set the world on fire when it comes to customer service in the past. We’ve just gotten people fired up… and not in a good way. Since Dan Hesse’s come on board, we’ve been working very hard to fix the customer service mistakes we’ve made in the past. But recognizing the error of our ways and trying harder isn’t enough to change perception, aka the current Sprint story. We’ve got to get out there and tell people there’s a new chapter.
So where’s there? Well, there is anywhere people are talking about Sprint. Twitter is there, because there are hundreds of people tweeting about our brand on a daily basis. Each of these people is starting a conversation about Sprint, and we can choose to join it or ignore it. But would we ever ignore a customer who came into our store and asked one of our reps a question? Of course not. So what’s the difference when we’re talking about online social networks? In my opinion, there really isn’t one.
Joining these conversations is a piece of cake thanks to Twitter search, an eager PR team, and leadership that has given us a “license to try” new things. We’ve got several PR reps who maintain Twitter accounts and take the time to engage with customers. We don’t have to ask permission to respond, which is important because you get points for a quick reply. And we have a great VIP Customer Care team who works with us to resolve account-specific issues.
Thus we’re able to turn stories like this:
…into stories like this:
Every time we reach out and help a customer who’s complained about his/her service, we write a new chapter in our Sprint story. But it’s not only getting someone a new phone or fixing their bill that can have an impact. Just being accessible goes a long way toward changing the story people tell. And you don’t have to have all the answers to satisfy a customer. That’s not what transparency means. You just have to be honest and use common sense.
For example, when someone tweets asking when the new Palm Pre is coming out, it’s okay to say “I don’t know.” At least we joined that conversation and were candid. That’s the kind of relationship customers expect these days.
It’s tough to measure the impact of word of mouth (WOM), but the anecdotes we get from people like SkydiverKate and Adi show us it’s there. How many people does Kate know? How often will Adi talk to his friends? Those numbers are nearly impossible to project and really, they’re not that important. If we try to outsmart WOM we’ll only get ourselves in trouble. Better to just keep it simple – treat every customer equally and try to add our side of the story to as many conversations as possible because no matter what, your brand’s story is going to get around. After all, as Doyle Albee (@doylealbee) or Metzger Associates told me the other day: “There are at least two people reading every blog on the Internet…the author and Google.”
As Sprint employees and subject matter experts, my colleagues and I have a unique opportunity to influence the “Sprint story” Kate and Adi will tell. And we know they, along with every employee, customer and person that touches the Sprint brand will tell a story. What kind of story they tell is up to us. And the kind of story people tell about your brand is up to you.
Justin Goldsborough runs employee social networking community – Sprint Space – at Sprint and tries to join the conversation wherever people are talking about Sprint, especially on Twitter. He’s a fan of K.C. Royals (yes, there are still a few of us), Bon Jovi (saw him in concert at Meadowlands in Jersey a few years back. Never seen so much denim), soccer (favorite sport to play), learning to golf (lots more learning to do), and shooting video (just got a Flip Mobi video cam for the holidays). If you ever have any problems with or questions about Sprint, don’t hesitate to contact him at justin.goldsborough AT sprint DOT com.
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I absolutely agree with you. I really hope that your message reaches out to the hearts of corporate organization who are fixated with pushing their brand down the consumer’s throat through TV ads and billboards … There’s nothing more viral than Storytelling! In one of my blog posts, I talked about “Clutter” – the advertising clutter – and how during the holiday season I received a million and one text messages on my mobile and emails with someone trying to sell me something – and logically, I got to a point where I didn’t even bother myself and instantly deleted them. So how effective was their marketing campaign? On the other hand, when my friend told me about how happy he is with his Windows 7 experience, I trusted him and I purchased an new laptop with that OS.
In my opinion, Word of Mouth is more viral and more believable than any other communication medium – and social media has allowed us to digitize WOM.
Thank you for a great post.