Social media changes the rules of engagement
United Airlines learnt their lesson when a disgruntled customer took to YouTube to complain - and got 14 million views. Photo: Rob Homer
United Airlines clearly didn't set out to break guitars. But the airline quickly earned that reputation in 2009 when a disgruntled customer Dave Caroll broadcast on YouTube a song about his failed bid for compensation from the airline, after it broke his $US3500 guitar.
The airline's "indifference" to the musician's predicament, and a fruitless eight-month-long negotiationsbecame known to more than half a million people within a week of the song's release.
The clip United Breaks Guitars has 14 million views to date, and is used as a staff educational tool by the airline.
The case was a reminder to companies the world over of the unmistakable shift under way the rise of the customer, who is now armed with the new weapon of social media to hold companies accountable for bad service.
The landscape is well known: customer price comparisons and reviews form interminable threads on online forums, which can have adirect impact ona company's bottom line.
Customers want influence over the contents of what they're buying; they customise the muesli they order online; stream entertainment that is tailored to their interests, and pitch ideas to software companies as they develop new products.
Customers want to choose between the style of service they receive. Companies are expected to offer human to human interaction, self service and instant messaging.
In findings that still resonate, a seminal study in 2006 by professor of marketing at Melbourne Business School, Mark Ritson, demonstrated most Australian companies were not performing well on an international measure of customer satisfaction called the "net promoter score".
Similarly, a 2013 report by management consultant Bain & Company showed the average Australian net promoter score was negative.
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Social media changes the rules of engagement