Why your business should be on Twitter

I recently experienced a great example of customer service on Twitter. It started when I complained about my web-hosting company (Earthlink) and mentioned that I was switching to Bluehost.

@basketsbybonnie responded to this post saying that she had been having problems with Earthlink as well and that she was considering moving her hosting to Network Solutions. Within a couple of hours both Bluehost and Network Solutions had responded to our discussion. Bluehost dropped in to say hi and Network Solutions also offered help if it was needed.

So why does this matter? To me it's an indication of customer service. Yes, this was a marketing effort from both companies but it was on my terms and it was pleasant and unobtrusive. It also worked! Although it may not have changed my purchasing decision on the day of the exchange, it did give me a very positive impression of both companies. As a result of our short dialogue, I'm already happier with Bluehost and will be keeping Network Solutions in mind for future websites.

Where was Earthlink in all of this? I have no idea but they certainly weren’t involved in the hosting discussion and in my short search I was unable to find an Earthlink Twitter account. If Earthlink had been paying attention it would have been a great opportunity to try to resolve my issues with their services. Instead they missed out on that opportunity.

A lot of people are still skeptical about the value of Twitter but if your business isn't participating it could be missing out on a vital opportunity for customer service (not to mention damage control).

Check out Adam Lee Design on Twitter.