More than half of the Fortune 100 companies are using Twitter for customer service, recruiting employees, blasting news and announcing promotions, according to the study by public relations firm Burson-Marsteller and its digital-media unit, Proof.
| Company | Twitter handle | Off-hour service |
| Allstate | Allstate | Y |
| AT&T | ATTNews | Y |
| Best Buy | BestBuyCMO | |
| Best Buy | Twelpforce | |
| British Airways | BritishAirways | |
| Comcast | ComcastCares | Y |
| Dell | multiple accounts | Y |
| Delta Air Lines | DeltaAirLines | |
| DirecTV | DirecTV | |
| Ford | ScottMonty | Y |
| GE | GE_Reports | |
| General Motors | GMblogs | Y |
| H&R Block | HRBlock | |
| Hardees | Hardees | |
| Harley-Davidson | harleydavidson | |
| Honda | Alicia_at_Honda | Y |
| Jet Blue | JetBlue | Y |
| Marriott Int'l | MarriottIntl | |
| New York Times Co. | NYTimesComm | Y |
| Nordstrom | Nordstrom | Y |
| Nortel | Nortel | |
| Oracle | multiple accounts | |
| Pizza Hut | PizzaHut | Y |
| Popeyes Chicken | PopeyesChicken | |
| Quicken Loans | quickenloans | |
| Renault | Renault_Live | Y |
| Samsung | SamsungMobileUS | Y |
| Southwest | SouthwestAir | Y |
| Starbucks | Starbucks | Y |
| State Farm | StateFarm | |
| Texas Instrum. | TXInstruments | Y |
| The Home Depot | homedepot | Y |
| Toyota | Toyota | Y |
| Tyson Fds. | TysonFoods | |
| UPS | ThomasAtUPS | |
| Wells Fargo | Ask_WellsFargo | Y |
| Whole Foods | WholeFoods | Y |
One of the most important advantages of twitter is that it enables the companies to listen and respond to customers in a genuine and timely manner. From a more historical perspective, twitter set a high bar for the customer service industry—to promote company’s reputation by promising and honoring the promising of instant gratification.
Instant gratification is not the creation of the companies, but, rather, the demand of the customers. They certainly are looking for help on Twitter. In one recent survey, 58% of respondents said if they had tweeted about a bad experience, they would like the company to respond to their comment.
On the other hand, twitter also has its limitations. It is hard to solve the complex issue within 140 characters. That’s why, ideally, Twitter should be one of several customer service solutions (e.g., phone, e-mail and online chat support etc.).
4 comments:
Great post. Thanks for including Quicken Loans. Just to clarify, we are absolutely available during off hours to help with any questions about Quicken Loans. Thanks again for mentioning us!
Thanks for letting me know. The social media as a new tool for customer services is moving so fast. The data is easily getting out-of-date.
Quicken Loans's comments on your blog is also some sort of interaction with the stakeholders. Again, we see the power of social media!
Good point, thanks Mindy!
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