I recently saw a story that illustrates the power of social media. Instead of doing some Monday morning quarterbacking–which to me is never a fair type of interaction let’s discuss this objectively.
The first is from At&T wireless and Giorgio G. He had a few complaints about his iPhone wireless service. Most of us would complain to our friends, maybe on Facebook or Twitter but he went to the top. He sent an email to CEO Randall Stephenson, not once but twice. After the second email he received a phone call from AT&T thanking him but also offering if he contacts the CEO again that they would issue a cease and desist letter.
Given that information what do you think someone in this modern connected world would do? Giorgio posted it on his website and it quickly went viral.
Take Away
You’ll hear many people say that when you enter social media that you lose control. That’s true to a point – you do lose control of what people say about you and your messaging. There is one thing you don’t lose control of and that is your response.
You control if you respond or if you don’t. You control the tone, the frequency, and medium. Instead of me giving advice I’d just say before you send out any customer relation communication just make sure it adds value, is authentic, and can be clearly justified.
You Might Get Slapp[ed]
strategic lawsuit against public participation, or Slapp, are meritless defamation suits – meritless because unless someone is outright lying about a specific incident the First Amendment gives people the right to voice opinions. (check out this from New York Times)
The bill, in the House Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, would allow someone who believes he is being sued for speaking out or petitioning on a public matter to seek to have the suit dismissed, the Time reported. If a case is dismissed for being a Slapp, the plaintiff would have to pay the defendant’s legal fees.
While it’s unclear on the direction of this bill it is still something we have to watch out for.