Shows
Focus on Customer Service PodcastIntroducing: The Experience MakerHello again, loyal FOCS listeners! I wanted to share the news of my brand-new book, The Experience Maker: How To Create Remarkable Experiences That Your Customers Can't Wait To Share. If you loved this podcast, then this book is for you! Listen to this special 3-minute episode for more details and the opportunity to get 3 free bonuses with your book purchase.2021-09-2703 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastSay Goodbye to Focus on Customer Service and Hello to Experience This!After two years and more than 50 episodes, the first known podcast dedicated solely to customer service in social media is saying goodbye. The Focus on Customer Service Podcast officially ends its run today as a new podcast about customer experience is also launched.
Sponsored from its inception by Social Media Today after its late founder, Robin Carey, took a chance on two guys named Dan with no podcasting experience, FOCS featured interviews with top brands making waves in social media by engaging with customers – answering complaints, questions, and compliments. What made the podcast unique was that its hosts were also so...2017-10-0207 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 51 - Why the First 100 Days of a Customer Relationship Is Critical (Joey Coleman)Imagine you make a large purchase after working with a salesperson. Maybe it’s a new car or windows for the house. The salesperson makes lots of promises that the “account manager” or customer service representative can’t keep. Sound familiar?
It did to Joey Coleman, a customer experience expert and keynote speaker who learned that in virtually every industry, between 20% and 70% of new customers will leave a business in the first 100 days. That’s a lot of unkept promises.
“Basically, companies are hemorrhaging,” he says. “They’re spending all this time, effort, and money acquiring new customers, but not spending a fractio...2017-05-2940 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 50 - Dan Gingiss on his new book Winning at Social Customer CareThe Focus on Customer Service podcast celebrates its 50th episode with co-host Dan Moriarty returning to talk about his new role at the Chicago Bulls, and interviewing co-host Dan Gingiss about his new book, Winning at Social Customer Care: How Top Brands Create Engaging Experiences on Social Media (available on Amazon).2017-05-0146 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 49 - The Customer Was Front and Center at Social Media Marketing WorldAlthough “marketing” is its name, the annual Social Media Marketing World conference in San Diego had much to say about social customer care.
In addition to the official Customer Service track consisting of six sessions, many marketing speakers spoke about the importance of customer experience and customer service.
Episode 49 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast offers up a first-hand account of the customer taking center stage at #SMMW17, including highlights from a dozen speakers.2017-04-0633 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 48 - How Zappos Became Famous for Customer ServiceTake a moment and think about the two or three very best companies in the world at customer service – the ones that are cited over and over again by speakers and authors as being truly unique. These are the companies where customer service is so engrained in the culture, that when social media burst onto the scene they immediately seized the opportunity to show the world their competitive advantage rather than fearing what could happen if customer service were practiced in public.
Chances are that your list includes this week's guest!2017-02-1222 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 47 - How eBay Brings The Shopping Experience to Social MediaeBay, the online marketplace, is in a unique position: It sells billions of dollars of merchandise each year, but none of it is their own. So when customers reach out on social media, they are either buyers or sellers on the platform, and eBay stands in the middle.
“We can't be too biased on the buyer side and we can't be too heavy on the seller side,” says Dallen McKee, Global Social Media Customer Care Team Leader at eBay. “We have to create a good experience for both.”
Here are the key moments in the episode and where to find them:
1...2017-01-1831 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 46 - How Dell's Community Forum Aids in Social Media Customer ServiceAt Dell, social media has been around much longer than Facebook or Twitter. The popular Dell Community Forum was borne out of the original Dell.com website, so its community is well established. It’s a user-to-user forum where anyone – including Dell employees and other customers – can answer a user’s question.
“Facebook and Twitter are typically folks that are having issues at the moment that just want to be heard,” says Amy Bivin, manager of community outreach for Dell. In contrast, the Forum often features more complex or esoteric questions, sometimes from owners of older legacy systems.
Bivin took some time ou...2017-01-0418 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 45 - A Customer Service Expert on How Social Media Has Changed The Game (Shep Hyken)To understand how some people just have an innate sense for great customer service, you need only look back at Shep Hyken’s job during college. Before Shep became a world-renown customer service expert and best-selling author, he worked at a gas station...
Today, Hyken consults with many companies and teaches them how to employ this same mindset to what is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage...
Hyken graciously talked with me for Episode 45 of the Focus on Customer Service Podcast.
Here are some of the key moments of the interview and where to find them:
1:17 How Shep’s childhood shaped his...2016-12-1441 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 44 - How Fitbit Keeps Its Customers Moving in Social Media and Online CommunitiesFitbit, a global leader in wearable fitness technology, has made it easier and more fun for millions of people to live a healthier life. And they’ve done it by focusing on the experience.
“Customer experience is really paramount to everything we do here,” says Allison Leahy, the director of community at Fitbit, adding that in the online space, “Fitbit is trying to be everywhere you are and more”.
The company employs a bilateral approach to online customer care, focusing separately on social media and communities, though both groups report up through the same department.
Leahy joined me for Episode 44 of the Foc...2016-11-2926 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 43 - How Intuit's QuickBooks Meets Its Small Business Customers AnywhereIntuit, long known for its community help forums for TurboTax, noticed that its small business clients were seeking help in a new place.
“There was a lot of conversation happening on non-owned channels,” says Mark Obee, Group Manager of Social and Community Care for Intuit on the QuickBooks brand. “The accountants were out there having those conversations without us.”
Non-owned channels included private Facebook and LinkedIn groups, which caused a dilemma for a big company like Intuit. Obee knew that these sorts of groups were private for a reason – they didn’t want big brands infiltrating with unwanted marketing messages.
Here are som...2016-11-0825 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 42 - Solving Problems for Both Customers and CompaniesAs a young entrepreneur, Davy Kestens didn’t quite know what to do when Volkswagen called and was interested in becoming his first big customer.
“When you’re a one-man show, you try to do everything you can to not come across as a one-man show,” Kestens recalls. That “failed miserably of course,” he adds.
Kestens, the founder and CEO of customer service platform Sparkcentral, now leads a 100-person company based in Silicon Valley and his native Belgium. Sparkcentral seeks to “optimize the customer service experience and customer engagement workflows over social media and mobile messaging channels,” says Kestens.
Today, as social care h...2016-10-2538 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 41 - The TSA is Proving that Government Can Be Great at Customer ServiceCan a federal government agency be good at customer service? The Transportation Security Administration – better known by its acronym, TSA – is setting out to change perceptions and make traveling easier by answering all sorts of questions on social media.
The agency, which screens 2.2 million passengers and their luggage daily, while also protecting train stations and ports, launched the AskTSA Twitter handle last September with little fanfare.
“The audience was there,” says Jennifer Plozai, Director of External Communications. “We didn’t promote it…Right when we launched, we had passengers sending us good questions on Day 1, and it’s just grown from there.”
The...2016-10-0525 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 40 - How Topgolf Tees Up Its Live Experience Through Social MediaTopgolf, the golf and entertainment venue “for all ages, all skill levels, all year round,” has built its brand by integrating social media into the live experience.
“We’re very lucky that our brand has such a natively social element to it,” says Director of Communications Adrienne Chance. “We see a lot of social media activity without having to push for that.”
The rapidly expanding company – it currently lists 26 locations on its website but Chance says 10 more are being added per year – promises a fun and challenging game for amateurs and pros alike. “You don’t have to be a good golfer to be good...2016-09-1920 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 39 - Why Social Media Shouldn't Be Separate From Other Teams (Wells Fargo)Although it’s one of America’s oldest companies, Wells Fargo has become one of the industry’s most forward-looking thinkers when it comes to social media and customer service. That’s thanks in part to Kimarie Matthews, Senior Vice President of Social Care and Capabilities, who has been building out Wells Fargo’s social care program since its first Twitter handle launched in 2009.
“I really craved working on something that’s meaningful and important,” Matthews says.
Wells Fargo, a banking institution with more than 80 different lines of business, has been around since the days of the Pony Express – more than 160 years – a...2016-09-0640 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 38 - Asia's iflix Offers Low-cost Video Streaming with Top-notch ServiceUnlimited streaming of movies and TV shows to any device for a monthly fee – sound familiar? Up until recently, this service that Americans take for granted wasn’t available in many countries throughout Asia. Enter iflix, a Malaysian-based video-on-demand startup that aims to “bring the world’s best content to emerging markets at a price that everyone can afford,” according to Philippines Country Manager Sherwin Dela Cruz. That affordable price, by the way, is just $3 a month for content from 150 sources that ranges from the most popular television shows in the U.S. to local Asian favorites.
Dela Cruz, a self-procl...2016-08-2325 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 37 - How USAA Serves the Men and Women in UniformWhen you consult almost any list of top companies for customer service, USAA’s name will be front and center. The financial services company founded by and for military veterans and their families has a fiercely loyal customer base, in large part due to the exceptional service they are provided in every channel.
So when Richelle Caroll, the Director of Social Servicing for USAA – also an Air Force veteran and 23-year employee – was tasked with starting a social customer service practice, she knew she had big boots to fill.
“USAA takes a lot of pride in being leaders in the industry...2016-08-1027 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 36 - A Social Customer Care Veteran Shares The Secrets to SuccessAs social customer care is still in its nascent period, it’s not easy to find someone who’s been doing it for even five years. Well, after interviewing Joshua March on the technology side for the last Focus on Customer Service podcast episode, we’ve found a second person, Delfin Vassallo, on the brand side. Delfin (pronounced Del-feen), a 20-year marketing veteran, started in social media seven years ago and in social care five years ago. He helped build the successful social care programs in Europe at Barclays Bank, Nokia, and Microsoft.
Delfin recalls spending an incredible amount of time t...2016-07-2632 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 35 - Bridging the Gap Between Social Media and Customer ServiceWhen Joshua March built an app for the new Facebook Application Platform in 2007, “social customer service was not a phrase,” he says. But March, now CEO & Co-Founder of Conversocial, saw an early opportunity. “I thought this was a really exciting opportunity for brands to engage with customers in a way they never had before.”
Conversocial, a digital customer care platform, aims at “bridging the gap between the rapidly shifting worlds of social media and… the discipline of a large-scale customer service platform,” according to March.
As someone who lives and breathes social customer service every day, March prides himself on being an early...2016-07-1341 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 34 - Even Pets Need Great Customer Service (1-800-PetMeds)With the seemingly endless popularity of puppy and kitten pictures, videos, and memes on the internet, it would seem that the social media script for America’s largest pet pharmacy could basically write itself. But while the customers of 1-800-PET-MEDS do like to post lots of photos of their pets, the company itself is serious about its business and about providing exceptional customer service.
“We’re a really fortunate brand in that we get a lot of people who love the content that we share,” says Vanessa Penagos, content and inbound marketing director at 1-800-PET-MEDS. But “we definitely don’t go o...2016-06-2123 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 33 - How The Largest Utility in the U.S. Helps Customers Weather the Storm in Social MediaWhen Duke Energy, the largest utility in the U.S., decided to launch a Facebook page, it started as simply a marketing effort.
“What we didn’t expect was all the customers coming back at us,” says Madeleine Aman (pronounced “ah-min”), social media strategist for Duke Energy. So began the process of developing a social care strategy.
The utility, technically a “regulated monopoly,” operates in six states and supplies electricity to 25 million customers. Still in a pilot phase but already seeing incredible success, Duke’s social care program started with this question, says Aman: “How are we going to serve our customers in a...2016-06-0719 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 32 - How General Motors Drives Success in Social Customer CareThere is perhaps no physical possession about which customers are more passionate than their cars. At my first job at The Danbury Mint, I remember customers critiquing every last detail of the products – and those were 1:24 scale replicas of the real thing. General Motors understands this dynamic, which is why they have staffed a team of social care experts to represent their suite of car and truck brands in the world’s most public customer service channel.
“We are the team minding the best interests of the customer,” says Whitney Drake, manager of social strategy and care. She works closely with bot...2016-05-2520 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 31 - Spotify Is Hitting All The Right Notes in Social Customer ServiceIt’s rare that a company can so seamlessly integrate its product into social media, but Spotify's approach is music to its customers' ears.
The popular music streaming company prides itself on what it calls “Random Acts of Kindness” – surprising the customer by sharing a song or a playlist based on their individual music tastes.
The people behind the @SpotifyCares Twitter handle, where the bulk of customer service inquiries occur in social media, sometimes get so creative that the answer to the inquiry is actually spelled out in the playlist by reading the song titles in order.
“We try to look for w...2016-05-1132 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 30 - How One of America's Oldest Companies is New Again in Social MediaWestern Union may be an old company, but it’s definitely not standing still. One of the original components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the company started more than 160 years ago with the introduction of the telegraph, leading to the demise of the Pony Express.
“It has such a storied history, but it’s had a pretty successful history of reinventing itself as changes happen in technology,” says Tim Langley-Hawthorne, Senior Vice President of Technology Governance and Global Customer Care Operations. Indeed, the telegraph led to the telegram, which led to commercial satellites and now the transferring of money via soci...2016-04-2631 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 29 - How Nextiva Makes B2B Social Care CoolIt’s not only possible to provide B2B customer service in social media, it’s possible to do it creatively with a “wow” experience. That’s the goal of Nextiva, a cloud communications company that provides more than 100,000 small and large businesses with cloud-based telephone systems.
“We felt there was an opportunity to disrupt that market,” says Vice President of Marketing Yaniv Masjedi, citing the telecommunications market’s reputation for “bad customer experience”.
Masjedi attempts to respond to all customer inquiries with personalized videos featuring any one of the company’s 500 employees.
“If you tweet at Nextiva, or post a Facebook post on our F...2016-04-1324 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 28 - How T-Mobile Brings Its "Un-Carrier" Image to Social MediaWhen you’re in the telecom industry, are known as the “Un-carrier”, and your CEO has 2.2 million followers on Twitter, you need to be ready for just about anything in social media. It also helps to be just a little “feisty”, says Director of Social Media Services, Michelle Mattson. The T-Mobile social care team – known as “T-Force” – certainly is, with Mattson leading 145 agents in six different call centers, operating 24/7 and handling brand engagement, customer service inquiries, and many interactions with CEO John Legere.
T-Mobile is the third-largest wireless provider in the United States with more than 60 million subscribers, and recently ranked highest amo...2016-03-2835 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 27 - Twitter Researcher Quantifies the ROI of Customer ServiceIt’s easy to understand that customer service in social media, as in any other channel, is conceptually a good idea. Assigning a quantifiable ROI to it, however, is another story. That’s what Wayne Huang, a researcher at Twitter, decided to tackle with what began as a pet project to examine that “electrifying moment of happiness” when a brand responds to a customer on Twitter.
“The majority of people are not getting any responses from brands,” says Huang, which is something Twitter is trying to change. The goal of his research? “Prove out that customer service has actual value.” That value comes...2016-03-1536 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 26 - Cubs Win! The Most Engaging Team in Baseball“This is the greatest journey in sports history,” says Kevin Saghy, Manager of Communications for the Chicago Cubs, “and we want to see it through to completion.” He is referring, of course, to the Cubs being the odds-on favorites to win the World Series in 2016, something they haven’t done since Henry Ford produced the first Model T in 1908.
Describing his role as part public relations and part social media, Kevin is in charge of “protecting the Cubs’ reputation” and defining the team’s public “voice”. Under his leadership, the Cubs’ social media accounts – which include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest and Snapchat – h...2016-03-0231 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 25 - Author Jay Baer on why you should "Hug Your Haters"When Jay Baer set out to write another book following his New York Times bestseller, Youtility, he thought he was going to write about the need for speed in both marketing and customer service. But a proprietary study he commissioned with Edison Research pushed him a different direction.
“While speed is important and is getting more important, it is not the most important,” Baer says. “What is more important is actually showing up.” With that, Baer changed his thesis. “Complainers aren’t your problem,” he proposes. “Ignoring them is.” Hug Your Haters was born.
At least 1/3 of all customer complaints go unanswered, acc...2016-02-181h 02
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 24 - iOgrapher, the startup using Snapchat as a customer service toolMost startups depend on word-of-mouth marketing to create awareness of their new product, and iOgrapher is no different.
But what makes iOgrapher unique is its focus on customer service as a driver of that word of mouth.
“The convergence of marketing and customer service is key for us,” says Founder and CEO David Basulto, who describes iOgrapher as “literally a garage startup” (and we can confirm: his interview on Blab was done from his garage!).
iOgrapher sells a proprietary line of cases, lenses, microphones, tripods, and LED lighting to turn almost any iPhone or iPad owner into a traveling video producer...2016-02-0230 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 23 - Berrybenka (Indonesia)Quick quiz: What country has the 3rd largest Twitter population in the world, and the 4th largest Facebook population? If you guessed Indonesia, then you’ve been paying close attention to the exploding popularity of social media there. Its capital, Jakarta has more people tweeting daily than Tokyo, London, or New York. In fact, Indonesia has even been called the “social media capital of the world”.
The leading online fashion website in Indonesia is called Berrybenka, and it sells a variety of clothing shoes, bags, and beauty products to a mostly-female audience. With only single-digit percentage credit card penetration in the co...2016-01-1923 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 22 - Southwest AirlinesThe mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit.2016-01-0623 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 21 - Jack ThreadsA “unique men’s fashion destination” that was “born social,” Jack Threads is a brand that understands the difference between customer service and true customer engagement. While the team does a great job of responding to direct customer inquiries, it purposely takes the time to engage proactively in fashion or lifestyle conversations with guys who are in their target audience. “There’s very few places
where guys today can go that are just focused on them,” says David Tull, Customer Engagement Manager, and joining “seemingly irrelevant conversations” can lead to “traditional ROI,” while keeping the customer service team “super-engaged” with consumers.
Managing a tradit...2015-12-2337 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 20 - HP Inc.The sheer size of Hewlett-Packard’s operation – the company recently separated into two different Fortune 50 companies – requires a level of sophistication and scale that most organizations will never experience. But the rest of us can still learn a great deal from a huge, well-oiled machine that’s already solved many of the issues smaller companies are still experiencing.
Hewlett-Packard recently became two separate companies: HP Inc., which includes the consumer-facing printing and PC business, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which includes the servers, storage, and networking technology business.
Kriti Kapoor is the Director of Social Care for HP Inc., which ships 1 printer...2015-12-0936 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 19 - XboxVideo gamers are serious about their craft, and when something isn’t working like it’s supposed to, they want answers – quickly. Thankfully, Xbox (part of Microsoft) offers a host of support options, including live chat, an instant callback from a live agent, a robust community forum, and the most responsive Twitter account in the world.
Yes, you read that right. Xbox’s video game-like stats on Twitter – more than 7 million followers on its main handle, more than 5 million tweets from its 13 separate support handles, more than 5,000 responses every day – have earned it the Most Responsive Brand on Twitter designation from the Gui...2015-11-2532 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 18 - ShutterstockA supplier of more than 60 Million stock photos, vectors, videos, and music tracks, Shutterstock provides individuals and businesses with “subscriptions and images on demand for every budget”. As social media continues to become more and more visual, it’s no wonder that Shutterstock fits right in from both a marketing and customer service perspective.
The company is currently in the midst of integrating its social care team into the larger customer service organization, in order to realize efficiencies and support the effort to offer 24/7 service in multiple languages.
Sarah Maloy, Senior Manager of Content Marketing for Shutterstock, talked with me and Da...2015-11-1115 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 17 - Scotty's BrewhouseScotty’s Brewhouse, an “upscale sports bar” with 13 locations in Indiana and coming soon to Illinois and Florida, was created by its namesake owner with the goal of providing a different kind of restaurant experience.
“I wanted to make a restaurant that was some place that I could go into at any age and feel comfortable,” says Scott Wise, the Founder, President & CEO.
Though Scotty’s Brewhouse boasts an array of interesting and tasty dishes – they sell over a million orders of fried dill pickle chips a year, and a recent pizza special included bacon, cheddar cheese, and crushed Flaming Hot Cheetos –...2015-10-2742 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 16 - HertzWith more than 10,000 locations in 150 countries, Hertz is a world-renown rental car brand. In fact, Hertz is the largest worldwide airport general use car rental company with more than 1,600 airport locations in the U.S. and more than 1,300 airport locations internationally. Not surprisingly, that creates the need for outstanding customer service – before, during and after the actual car rental experience.
Laura Smith, Senior Director of Customer Care, North America at Hertz brings more than 15 years of experience in customer contact centers to the role. With an eye toward growing social customer care beyond what is already 10% of service inquiries at He...2015-10-2025 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 15 - Digital OceanDigitalOcean bills itself as “Simple Cloud Hosting, Built for Developers” and promises that even a rookie developer or engineer can deploy a cloud server with just a few clicks.
“We’re simplifying the cloud for developers and providing an experience they will fall in love with,” says Daniel Zaltsman, DigitalOcean’s Social Media Manager.
He said that when he arrived at the company, the co-founders were “tweeting in the middle of the night” but that he was able to leverage “a support team that was already technical” and teach them “how to use social”. DigitalOcean’s social care is unique in that it handles mostly...2015-10-1430 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 14 - How Twitter Decided to Focus on Customer ServiceFor almost as long as Twitter has existed, people have tweeted comments, complaints, and even compliments at brands. Many brands have realized the importance of Twitter’s emergence as a key customer service channel, though 40% of tweets to service accounts still get no response.
Now Twitter is formalizing its customer service recommendations to brands. In August, the social media giant released a free 126-page playbook entitled, simply, Customer Service on Twitter. (Available here: https://twitter.app.box.com/customer-service-on-twitter) The playbook is chock full of ideas and guidelines for brands, touching on trends, opportunities and challenges, case studies, and a su...2015-09-3038 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 13 - Wink Frozen DessertsWink Frozen Desserts may not yet be a household name, but this ice cream company is changing lives – at least East of the Mississippi – one scoop at a time. Created especially for people with lactose intolerance, celiac disease, and certain food allergies, Wink’s line of frozen treats allows those who thought they couldn’t enjoy ice cream get a taste of the frozen favorite again.
Jordan Pierson is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wink, and he took some time to talk with Dan Moriarty and me about Wink’s dedication to its niche customer. While the company’s slogan, which refers...2015-09-1614 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 12 - Square Cow MooversThe folks at Square Cow Moovers clearly have a sense of humor (note the two o’s in their name), but they know that providing outstanding customer service is no laughing matter. A residential and commercial moving company based in Austin, Texas, Square Cow Moovers boasts a coveted 5-star rating on Yelp, and asks its customers to rate every move on a scale of 1 (“cow patty”) to 5 (“cow bell”).
Wade Lombard is a founder and co-owner of Square Cow Moovers, and he spoke with Dan Moriarty and me about how a local business can provide amazing customer service as well as (or eve...2015-09-0925 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 11 - BlabFilling yet another social engagement void that no one knew they needed, Blab is a multi-person live-streaming platform that is once again changing how we communicate with each other. Up to four speakers appear on video simultaneously in Brady Bunch-style boxes, while onlookers can participate via chat. Now anyone can be a broadcaster of content with just a computer or an iPhone (Android coming soon).
One immediate differentiator of the platform, besides the ability to have multiple streams simultaneously, is the availability of real-time customer service. By simply typing “@help” into the chat, Blab’s Brittany Metz appears like magic in the...2015-09-0345 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 10 - What We've Learned So FarTo celebrate our 10th podcast episode – a milestone we weren’t sure we’d ever reach – we thought we’d take a walk down memory lane and look at what we’ve learned so far. So Dan and I recorded a special “recap” episode with just the two of us to summarize what you may have missed in episodes 1-9.
We started the podcast because lots of people are talking about content and marketing on social media, but far fewer are focusing on the other side of social – customer service. Enlightened brands have already discovered that “customer service is the new marketing” becau...2015-08-2621 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 9 - OtterBoxIt’s no surprise that people are emotional about their smart phones, so a proper protective case can make or break – pun intended – the entire experience. In either case (yikes, another pun!), OtterBox and its sister company, LifeProof, are there to respond to customers on social media.
Jessica Mack is the Senior Social Media Manager at both OtterBox and LifeProof, and she leads a team that is responsible both for marketing initiatives and for handling customer service issues. She spent some time with Dan Moriarty and me on Episode 9 of the Focus on Customer Service podcast.
Some of the most quotab...2015-08-1819 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 8 - UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship)Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, chances are that someone in your social media feeds has been talking about Ultimate Fighting Championship – better known as UFC. With more than 17 million Facebook fans and 2.6 million followers on both Twitter and Instagram, the mixed martial arts event company has become a global social media powerhouse. On fight nights, social media explodes with commentary from celebrities and regular fans alike, especially when UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey fights.
Shanda Maloney was also a fan of UFC before she joined the organization. She is responsible for global marketing strategy; social...2015-08-0518 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 7 - TelstraStriving to provide a “personalized service experience” with every interaction, Telstra – Australia’s leading telecommunications company – offers its customers the ability to connect with the same agent each time they contact the company.
“A lot of frustration stems from customers having to re-tell their story,” says Monty Hamilton, Head of Digital Operations at Telstra. “It’s a real game-changer for us and our customers are loving it.”
With more than 16 million mobile, internet and TV customers across the world, Telstra needs to be available 24/7 across multiple service channels, including social media. Monty talked with me for Episode 7 of the Focus on Customer Service...2015-07-2923 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 6 - VegaConceived by an Iron Man athlete looking for a plant-based, whole food alternative to nutritional supplements, Vega describes its products as “the future of optimal health”. Enjoyed by vegans and non-vegans alike, Vega’s products attract athletes of almost every sport looking for a more natural diet to help with training and ongoing health.
Vega’s approach to customer service on social media is to listen first, both to those who @mention the brand and those talking about it without a direct @mention. The team responds with humor (food puns are a favorite), imagery, and a friendly tone that leaves a smile...2015-07-2226 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 5 - ModclothModCloth is “not just another retailer,” according to its founder, “but a social-shopping community with our customer at the center of everything we do.” Nowhere is that more apparent than in its approach to customer service, both on and off social media. Its agents, called “advocates,” often refer to themselves as “day makers” because their goal is to make every customer’s day. Their focus is on empathy and solving the customer’s problem at (almost) any cost.
Ashley Boone is the Care Social Lead at ModCloth, managing and training the advocates on the team that the company uniquely calls “Care Social” instead o...2015-07-1326 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 4 - BufferBuffer, the app that helps individuals and companies schedule social media posts and curate content, has had customer service at the heart of its offering since its inception. In fact, The Buffer Vision, as described on the website (https://buffer.com/about), begins with this statement: “Our vision at Buffer is to build the simplest and most powerful social media tool, and to set the bar for great customer support.”
The company has a loyal following of more than two million daily users, and one of those customers – a former rodeo queen, hobby novelist and animal lover – is now bestowed the titl...2015-07-0720 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 3 - ChipotleWhen Chipotle Mexican Grill tapped Joe Stupp to be Head of Social Media, the company chose the person with the most relevant experience possible. In fact, Joe was the restaurant manager of the very first Chipotle. Now nearly 1,800 restaurants strong, Chipotle still approaches social media in an unconventional style that is perhaps befitting a much smaller brand – with just a handful of people who know every facet of the business intimately, and who love talking with customers. They answer all sorts of questions, from the basic – “Where does your chicken come from?” – to the absurd – “What kind of toilet paper do you use in...2015-06-2322 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 2 - JetBlueLaurie Meacham, Manager of Customer Commitment and Social Media at JetBlue Airways, has to live up to a tough standard which is immortalized in JetBlue’s mission statement: To Inspire Humanity. But she and her social care team – called crewmembers – are doing just that, working 24/7 to respond to passengers with a goal of just a 10-minute response time. Their work goes beyond customer service, answering all sorts of questions about planes, airports, and other aeronautical trivia. “It’s all part of delivering an amazing customer experience,” she says.
Laurie took time out of her busy schedule to speak with me and Dan Mori...2015-06-1623 min
Focus on Customer Service PodcastEpisode 1 - Whole FoodsHere’s something that no one can ever take away from Natanya Anderson, the Global Director of Social Media, CRM and Customer Service for Whole Foods Market: She is the first-ever guest on the Focus on Customer Service podcast! And she definitely didn’t disappoint.
Some of the most quotable moments of the inaugural episode include:
• “We really want to put the customer at the center of everything.”
• “I only want to make something better, faster, stronger if it benefits the customer.”
• “I see [customer service] as another place for us to really stand out, for our customers to think, ‘I’m going to get the b...2015-06-0927 min