When Social Media Doesn’t Save Christmas

by | Jan 3, 2014 | Marketers IRL

A couple years ago I wrote an entry for the blog, detailing “How Twitter Saved Christmas.” In the entry, I recounted my story about UPS and Amazon were able to get my packages to me on-time for Christmas when they encountered delays.

This year, however, the system failed. UPS did not get my packages to me at my sister’s house in Mississippi on time, or on time for thousands of customers. My tweets weren’t responded to by anyone and I was given the run-around anytime I called. The packages arrived the day after I headed back to Texas.

Business owners should be very careful about who they trust fulfillment of their customer service to. The President of our firm has a phrase we like very much: “*Anything* we do is *everything* we do” and it couldn’t be more true.

Take, for instance, the delivery carrier you choose to use and guarantee a delivery day. “Guarantee” isn’t a very flexible word – you’ve staked your reputation on it. As much as a business like Amazon, or even smaller online retailers, struggle for share against a showcase space, it all becomes nil with blown delivery windows and poor answers.

Brands like that Mattress Mack built on fulfilling on his brand promise *no matter what* gain against those who won’t or can’t. Hire right, from your people to your vendors. It matters.

Amazon made it right for me with a credit to my account and followed up well. It was money out of their pocket for choosing the wrong vendor. But as you know a business can shine just as much for their recovery as for a flawless track record. Since this happened, I’ve heard, but can’t confirm, they’ve now switched to FedEx.

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