It's easy to get buried in the numbers, even when measuring engagement. But don't forget about the qualitative. (Image credit: business2community.com)
My favorite social media story of all time is the first one I ever heard. Shel Holtz told it. The Park ‘N Fly story. I heard it for the first time in 2007, but I still remember it clearly.
You see, Shel was coming back from a long business trip and got to the San Francisco airport after midnight. Luckily he had parked his car with Park ‘N Fly, an airport parking service. So all he had to do was wait for the shuttle to pick him up and take him to his car. Except the shuttle never came. Well, eventually it came. But it took about 30 minutes and the competitor shuttles made several stops before the Park ‘N Fly bus arrived. And when it did arrive, the driver made an excuse about why it took so long.
Uh oh, Park ‘N Fly. Right? Not so fast. Shel was so annoyed by the experience that when he got home, even though it was late, he took the time to write a biting post on his travel blog and why people should think twice about using Park ‘N Fly. Feeling better having got that off his chest, he finally went to bed. And when he got up, he was greeted with the following surprise:
“I can see that your experience was less than satisfactory and less than our desired level of service. While I can’t change what has already happened, I would like to ask if you might let me make it up to you. Park ‘N Fly is a good company, and we are really trying to get our Customer Service levels to the highest standards. Info like this helps us. I do apologize for the service you received, and would LOVE to have that drivers name, or any other drivers name that has treated you less than satisfactorily. I would like to send you some free parking too, can I do that? There is absolutely no reason for this kind of thing to be allowed. And we thank you for sticking with us this long.” — Caryn Healey, Sales & Marketing Administrator, Park ‘N Fly Corporate Office.
Carolyn was an admin, not a PR or marketing employee. She was listening because her company empowered her to do so. That was their culture, or so it seems.
So what are the key takeaways from this story?
- It’s hard to show a direct line between Caryn’s listening and engagement and Park ‘N Fly’s bottom line. But I have seen Shel present three different times where he told Caryn’s story, each time to a crowd of at least 50 people. And he presents all over the country every year.
- There are pages of Google search results about Shel, Caryn and the Park ‘N Fly. So one blog comment that probably took half an hour to write or less and happened more than three years ago is still creating SEO for Park ‘N Fly.
- Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing and founder of WOMMA, says: “Finding a way to make unhappy people happy is worth 10 times more free word of mouth marketing than making them happy in the first place.”
- To quote Shel on the Park ‘N Fly experience: “When I talk about Park ‘N Fly these days, I talk about Caryn, not my hour in the cold. And if Caryn happened to reach out to me now with information about new customer service initiatives, I’d be very receptive to them—far more so than if she cold-friended me on Facebook, then hit me with a press release.”
Stories like this one sell to new customers and retain current ones. Most importantly, they get told over and over again because they are memorable. So don’t forget the qualitative. What is your favorite company story?
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