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RSS"I think we will need to have a technician check this out. Do you have a splitter on the line with the modem?"
"We are currently delivering 50Mbps in St Paul, MN."
"I have heard that from someone else. I do know there have been problems with the compression software for 720 and 1080p signal."
"I just want to clarify that I am not a PR person. Customer Service is where all my training is."
Welcome to what might be called the Twitterverse of Frank Eliason, who, under the name comcastcares, has "tweeted" everything above, jumping onto Twitter like a virtual knight in shining armor.
Maybe you've read about him over the last few weeks. He's the guy now appointed by Comcast to communicate with those who complain about their Comcast service on Twitter, and a day in his life is one filled with tweets issued by BlackBerries, RSS feeds that alert him to the latest Internet outage in Palo Alto, and sometimes being the canary in the Comcast coal mine. A recent problem in the Chicago area became immediately apparent to Eliason by monitoring Twitter, and he believes he knew about it before Comcast staff closer to the situation did. "I can take care of pretty much anything -- and if I can't, I'll call someone who can," he says. (If that sounds like a boast, in conversation Eliason is an extremely sincere guy.)
The fact that Eliason's job even exists illustrates the serendipity required for most companies to get with the social networking program today. His emergence on Twitter is the result of his own long-held interest in tracking customer sentiment -- along with a nudge from a Comcast executive a few months ago to check out what people were saying about the company on the micro-blogging service. Eliason just observed Twitter at first before tentatively wading in. But earlier this month, his dalliance with Twitter burst into the blogosphere, when he noticed a tweet from Michael Arrington, who runs the highly influential blog TechCrunch. Arrington was complaining that his Comcast Internet service was inexplicably down. Eliason reached out to help, and Comcast soon dispatched a team to Arrington's house to fix his Internet connection. It was, Eliason says, a turning point, but not in quite the way you'd think. Sure, Arrington's experience with Eliason turned into a lengthy post on TechCrunch, but what seems to have interested Eliason more is how his Twitter followers rallied around him when some said that Comcast had only helped Arrington because he was Arrington. No, his supporters said, he'd helped out many other people too. Comcastcares was forming relationships.
As you can see, it's not as though Comcast's CEO has waded through Powerpoints recommending the company appoint a CTO (chief twitter officer). Instead, it was a combination of a couple of interested parties within Comcast, and some fortunate timing, that led the company down this path.
I'm hoping that going forward, the Frank Eliasons of the world -- whether they communicate via Twitter or elsewhere -- will not only be commonplace but corporate priorities, not picked because they happen to be the right people at the right place at the right time, but because, just as corporations can't operate without PR and marketing executives, it's important to have people on staff in charge of online customer outreach.
As for Comcast, the company is becoming increasingly serious about the role it needs to play in the ongoing, and often negative, dialogue about its services. Just check out Bob Garfield's comcastmustdie.com, if you want to get a feel for how outraged some Comcast customers can be. Eliason is hiring -- and says the company needs, for instance, to become more involved in peer-to-peer forums and measuring customer sentiments expressed online.
As for what his fledgling department is going to be called, he's already discarded "customer advocacy." "We need something a little more exciting," he says. Suggestions? I guess you could send a tweet to comcastcares at Twitter.
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RSS FEEDS
http://direwolff.wordpress.com/2008/05/01/frank-eliason-from-comcastcan-you-hear-mehear-mehear-me/
Lo and behold, Frank was on it and cleared up my problem. Here's my follow-up post:
http://direwolff.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/comcast-fucken-rocks/
Another blogger who linked to me also had a positive experience:
http://fakeplasticnoodles.com/2008/05/20/frank-eliason-helping-comcast-suck-a-little-bit-less/
Easy conclusion from all of this is that Frank and Comcast are for real.
I do wonder if twitter is the right place for a national company to be doing its listening? Is there a strong correlation between twitter users and their customer base?
Finally, I wonder if this is the future for consumers -- find a platform where plenty of people are listening to air your grievances so that you can goad corporate Amerca into action?
I also blogged about this: "Corporation take note: Twitter is here" at www.techaffect.com.
I think its not so much an attack against "Comcast" itself, but more a wake up call for these huge companies to get with the times, and get involved in the social media realm, where you can easily tap into your valuable customer base, see what they are saying about your company (good and bad), and take informed steps forward to improve services or continue with the same service, if people are happy.
This kind of info has to be invaluable to a company.
I hope this is the beginning of things to come. Yasmin
I blogged about this too in my blog Corporation take note: Twitter is here http://www.techaffect.com
I really do think corporations have a lot to gain by taking note of this story and entering the social media realm.
Yasmin
And now that the man himself has joined in, let me ask the obvious: why was the term "Customer Advocacy" discarded? Seems apt to me.
To Suzanne, consider that it's possible that the Twits are actually helping non-Twits as follows. (Frank, correct me if I err.) Rarely is one person's service affected. Generally, it's portions of the network that experience discontinuity. Twitter acts as a sensing network that generates near-instant feedback when a discontinuity occurs. Twitter helps the company assess its overall and location-specific service for all customers.
I also would like to thank all the great people I have met in the blogosphere. They make this so much fun. I also work with some great people who are working to create the right experience for our Customers.
Thanks again! Frank Eliason
I can see treating customers differently depending on how much they pay a month, or how long they have been subscribers. But to respond most quickly to those who can blast their complaints in the most public ways (while certainly understandable from a corporate point of view) does not, in itself, demonstrate quality service response.
Comcast Cares reached out to me via a comment on my personal blog where I posted about some bandwidth problems I'd been having. Once on their radar, my problems were rapidly resolved and the fix included an upgrade that likely improved service in my entire neighborhood.
I'm impressed that Comcast leadership seems to have given him the power to do whatever it takes to get things fixed fast and right the first time. I think that bodes well for his ability to identify problems and eventually implement longterm solutions to ultimately prevent them from happening in the first place.
No one would deny Comcast is desperately in need of redemption. But they've appointed someone to help it toward that goal, so let's give it -- and Frank -- a chance.
Of course, how many Comcast customers are even on Twitter at this point? I'lll venture a pretty educated guess: less than 1%.
So, while what this guy is doing may give warm fuzzies to us early-adopting Twitterphreaks, let's remember that it's it's just a freckle on a gnat on an elephant right now....
cheers, www.twitter.com/graemethickins
"But earlier this month, his dalliance with Twitter burst into the blogosphere, when he noticed a tweet from Michael Arrington, who runs the highly influential blog TechCrunch. Arrington was complaining that his Comcast Internet service was inexplicably down. Eliason reached out to help, and Comcast soon dispatched a team to Arrington’s house to fix his Internet connection."
If anything, preferential treatment of some customers over less influential customers is going to tick off the masses.
Bravo to Comcast and Eliason. A great use of social media to improve customer satisfaction and to use the great sensing structure that is their customer-base to inform the company on its performance.
However, I feel this discussion would not be complete were I not to point out that Comcast is enemy #1 on Net Neutrality. Their proactive choice to limit service of a specific peer-to-peer network launched the process that resulted in the FCC declaring that Net Neutrality is and always has been official policy. Comcast, to their great discredit, packed the FCC hearings at Harvard with hired goons (best possible description) to keep out interested parties who would oppose Comcast's actions. Twitter, BTW, played a crucial role with tweets and photos hitting the Internet before the session was complete.
Sad, but true. I think the kids would say, "Epic fail."
And this is the reality of branding in the age of social media. Some commie like me is going to make sure that companies get the press they deserve when they put their worst foot forward.
I can't go out on a bummer, so I'll share this link to a Twitter-enabled instant knowledge base created this afternoon by a Twittophile asking about wifi on Boston Common - she got responses and created a list of resources. The whole thing took minutes. I used the hashtag #twitterspeed
http://tinyurl.com/58t6jd