Well, I have already Tweet’ed about this today and put it on Facebook but it just begs for a blog post — it’s such a great story about the power of social media.
This past Friday, I had a spontaneous idea to spend a couple of days in Michigan — just wanted to get away from the distractions of Market Days in Chicago so that I could finalize my article on bystander behavior for the AFA Perspectives magazine. So, I got online and searched for a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) and found the perfect one (one of the only ones with a room — which was one reason it was perfect), put in all my credit card information and reserved the room. Long story short, the B&B did not honor my reservation and I was already on my way to Michigan with no place to stay. The Saugatuck/Douglas Visitors Bureau came to my rescue and I got a room.
However, the whole experience with the first B&B was not complete for me — I needed to intervene on this unprofessional lack of customer service. In a series of phone conversations and emails back and forth, they continued to not address my frustrations or dissatisfaction — they just didn’t get it.
I am not typically the kind to complain — it really takes something for me to do so. And, out of the work I have done with bystander behavior, I can see that I think someone else will do so and that it’s not my job. I also have a fear of embarrassment — I make up that they are going to say or do something that will embarrass me. However, I went beyond these barriers and took action. I called the Visitors Bureau on Monday to share my feedback and they requested that I send an email to Felicia Fairchild, Executive Director, so that they would have it all in writing. I did so and then posted a Tweet on Twitter to let all my followers know that I had intervened — I was not a bystander to bad customer service!
So, today I get a call from CAMPUSPEAK — the speakers’ agency I am represented by — and they tell me that Felicia Fairchild had called looking for me. I give her a call and she proceeds to share with me that she had seen my Tweet on Twitter yesterday. She proceeded to Google me to find out who I am and she came across me on the CAMPUSPEAK website (the reason she called them first). She then found this blog and proceeded to read all about me, specifically my post about being a maniac about bystander behavior. She even said how ironic it was that this incident happened to me — what an opportunity it presented me with.
After reading all about me, my stand for bystander behavior and RESPONSE ABILITY, she sends an email to all the B&B and lodge owners in the Saugatuck/Douglas area of Michigan and shares the link to my blog post with them. And she hasn’t even received my actual complaint yet — this is all out of seeing my Tweet! When I talked with her, she had already received comments back to her email — this was all causing a conversation in the western part of Michigan!
I want to acknowledge and thank Felicia for being someone to take action — she intervened in her own way inside of her commitment that her community provide extraordinary customer service. She was not a bystander!
This is the power of social media. I had no idea that she would see my Tweet, much less find me on the web, read my blog and share my post with others in her community. You don’t know — you never do! This is the opportunity we all have to make a difference, especially with the social media opportunities available today to get our message out. I thought I was just sharing it with my followers and Facebook friends — had no idea that someone like Felicia with her voice and level of influence would see it and take her own kind of action.
You never know.
