FredMcKinnon.Com

I’ve got a personal rule:
If you’re going to blast a company in public, you’d better be prepared to praise them.

A few weeks ago my internet speed at home took a drastic nosedive.  My upload speed was non-existent and it was taking forever for sites to load.  Dreading the automated phone tree and “Tier 1″ techs who, with all due respect, make me do everything I’ve already done … I made the call.  As expected, I pushed all the buttons on the phone tree only to hold for 20 minutes and finally get redirected back to the “main menu” for no reason.

Long story short … the Tech says that my modem is so old, it’s not supported anymore … it’s “end of life”.  His suggestion?  Go down to the local Comcast office and swap it out for a new modem.

So I get up bright and early so I can be in Brunswick (about a 30-minute drive, one way) when the local Comcast office opens.  And what do I discover?

“Oh, I’m sorry … we don’t have any modems here, they are all gone”.
“We will call you if we get any in”.  (still haven’t received that phone call)
“And we don’t have a number you can call locally to make sure we have them in stock before driving over here”.

As you can imagine, I’m pretty ticked off.  So I vent … publicly … via Twitter.

My tweet went something like this:
“Comcast, thanks for wasting the first hour of my day” #comcastfail

Let’s face it, folks.  Sometimes, things just go wrong.  I own a company, and I get the blunt of both positive and negative feedback EVERY SINGLE DAY on our Ebay, Amazon, and Buy.Com accounts.  Negative feedback hurts … really.  But … even if we screw up … even if we fall short … what really counts is this:

HOW DO WE RESPOND?  HOW TO WE RESOLVE?

It’s no secret that companies have folks whose job it is to search Twitter and Facebook for references to their names and trademarks. So what happened next is pretty fascinating.

About an hour after my tweet I get this @reply on Comcast:
from @comcastMelissa:  that’s terrible, how can we help?

In a bit of a sarcastic jab, I reply:
“I seriously doubt you can help, unless you want to OVERNIGHT a BRAND NEW MODEM to me since our local office has none”.

About 3o minutes later, I get this:
from @ComcastBill:  hey, please follow me so I can get your account info and dm you.

I followed Bill’s instructions, and within an hour, I have a UPS tracking number for a BRAND NEW MODEM, being sent NEXT DAY AIR to my home.

Comcast may have been lacking in the local office and their phone support was a bit frustrating … but as for the team of Comcast folks who are utilizing social networking platforms to monitor their brand and provide customer service, all I can say is …. HOME RUN.

That’s how you keep a customer for life, Comcast.  Great job.  Thanks a million.
By the way – my internet is FLYING fast!

Social Networking Online for Churches

I’ve recently agreed to take on the role of online social networking/media for our church.  We already have a website (which is about to be overhauled and redesigned from top to bottom).  We recently started using Twitter (@sscc) and frequently upload videos from our worship services to places like YouTube or Vimeo.

Several of our staff blog.  The lead pastor has a blog, but doesn’t update it.  (that will change)

I was reading an article today called “Facebook’s Popularity and Your Church’s Social Media Strategy“ (thanks for the link, Travis) and realized our need to utilize FaceBook as well.

We’ve played around with online networking but it’s not been organized or serious.  It will become my job to oversee that.  (I won the award for having more free time than the other staffers, and for leveraging online networking and community the most with my own endeavors.)

I need to create a written vision and strategy.

Does your church have an online communications strategy?  How is your church or ministry utilizing it?  I’d love for you to comment, tweet, retweet, and spread the word – I’d like to get as much feedback from you all as possible.

For the Kingdom,
Fred

Hey Everyone!

I don’t always post on Saturdays … but I missed saying so much this past week on vacation, I’ve just gotta blog!

First, thanks to those who are voting daily for my song, “Restore My Heart” on IndieHeaven.Com’s “FanFaves” charts. I need you to vote every day. And if you’ve got multiple computers, vote from each one! (yes, that’s fair!). Today, “Restore My Heart” finally hit the Top 20. But time is running out to get it into the Top 10. Just go to www.indieheaven.com/fanfaves.php.

This morning, while waiting on the sun to dry out our soaked yard so I can mow, I’ve spent some time setting up (and cleaning up) my account on a few social networking sites.

Thanks to Russ Hutto’s recommendation, I’ve signed up for an account with HelloTxt.Com. Because my “Twitter” account automatically updates my FaceBook status, I’ve tried to limit myself on how many times I use Twitter to send @replies to friends. I can now use HelloTxt when I want to update all my social networking sites at once, and turn off the Twitter App on FaceBook.

Twitter is quite the rage these days. I use it often. There’s a great dialog happening right now on Billy Chia’s blog about it. It’s both friend and foe. I have a lot of friends that use it. Last night I posted about the Olympics and since my tweet updated my FaceBook status, I heard from lots of friends about how they were reacting to the opening ceremonies. It was like having everyone in my living room together. That’s cool.

Speaking of Twitter, there is a similar site called Plurk. I’m reserving Twitter for my microblogging, but think it’s always cool to stay informed, so I’ve opened a new Plurk account. It will mostly be updated from my HelloTxt account. If you have a “Plurk” account, come follow me.

Though I don’t often use it, I do have a LinkedIn profile as well. Feel free to add me if you are using that as a means of communication.

As for my other sites for “social networking”, join me on FaceBook and MySpace. FaceBook is preferred. I only login to MySpace if I must. Try FaceBook, it’s much better, in my opinion.

Of course, my favorite way to communicate with you is via email. You can contact me right here through the blog.

Well, time to mow the lawn.  Speak up, though – what are YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL NETWORKING TOOLS?

Fred