Apparently, more big companies are taking this Twitter thing seriously. And I’m in “Social Media Specialist” heaven. I’ll let the big guns figure out how to monetize the whole thing. For me, as both a consumer and someone who is actually hired to help companies with the ins and outs of social media, I’m finally piecing the puzzle of Twitter’s true purpose together.
To my high school buddy Richard Jalichandra, CEO of blog aggregator Technorati (who just launched Twittorati.com): I’m sorry I doubted you. Not that either of us knew back then which road Twitter would take, but you were confident it would stay on course. Alas, eating humble pie doesn’t taste so bad when losing a debate actually helps me help my clients realize how Twitter fits into their business.
The solution came to me last week as I received a cell phone call from an unknown number. “Hi, Lisa, this is Steve, and I am the Customer Service Manager for Sport Chalet.” Thinking he was calling about the “Nike Super Speed D 3/4’s” we ordered weeks ago, I replied, “Are the shoes in?” Nope. “I’m the customer service manager for Sport Chalet Corporate (!) and I am calling about the problem in our store you mentioned on Twitter last week.”
Panic hit, because some of the Sport Chalet kids know my kids. Feeling like a school-girl caught in a gossip scandal, I blurted out how sorry I was for badmouthing them on Twitter but I had been so frustrated and we really needed the shoes right away and they hadn’t come in yet and no one had followed up and why do they never have our size annd blah blah blah blah blah. Don’t remember precisely what I said. It’s like getting caught with the smoking gun and your dad is at the other end of the barrel.
Somebody actually read Tweets???? “Hooray” and “OMG” went through my head simultaneously.
In this big wide online world, who would have thought that I could Tweet my frustrations, have them actually get back to Sport Chalet, have them look up my Twitter account, click through to my website, find out my name, get my cell phone number and call to solve my problem?
But that’s PRECISELY my point. Sport Chalet took the time to read my Tweet, look up my Twitter account, click through to my website, find out my name, get my cell phone number and call me. And to apologize and offer to solve the problem. This was no impersonal Twitter DM. This was a personal phone call from a corporate officer of Sport Chalet!
It hit me that THIS is the real future of Twitter–a direct, personal, one-on-one experience with companies who actually care about customers as individuals. No more talking to “John” in Mumbai who might pass your ire on to “Sally” in the cubicle next door. I got Steve at Sport Chalet corporate headquarters, prompted personally by a CEO who has better things to do than worry about a pair of cleats—like run 55 stores.
Sport Chalet cared about ME. And it felt good, not just personally, but for my clients. Because now I know exactly how to help them make their Twitter account successful.
It’s not about making money-it’s about creating relationships. White papers and links to websites are great. But my experience with Sport Chalet helped me to see that the true value of Twitter for business is to connect with customers and make them feel important. It sure worked on me!
A few weeks back, while patronizing a popular mall shoe store, I grew impatient watching three teenage clerks texting away while several customers waited for assistance. After 10 minutes, a group of us walked out, and I tweeted my exasperation to no one in particular. 
