Last week I spoke with you about how vitally important each of us is to helping the economy improve.  And I didn't just talk about going out for some "retail therapy," although in my mind that's always a good answer to a multitude of ills.  During the week I was reminded about Dave Carroll.  Have you heard about him?  He's a songwriter who has become a folk hero of sorts.  I know I personally think of him each time I'm in an airport.  Dave's the guy who was abused by United Airlines customer service.  Now of course he wasn't the first person abused by an airline's customer service, they clearly are the industry to beat when it comes to that. But he was the first to show how one person, using creativity and the Internet, managed to become a folk hero and actually make a difference in an entire industry.

In short, United Airlines broke Dave's guitar in checked luggage. After eight months of pestering the company for compensation, he turned to his best tool - songwriting and created a YouTube video about the incident.  Supposedly, he had the "lofty" goal of garnering a million views in one year.   Love that!  The video hit that goal just four days after launching.  The United Breaks Guitars hit a big chord...pun intended...and United's stock went down 10 percent; $180 million in value.  Now I'm not saying anyone should be happy about creating a loss for any company, but rather I'm thrilled to point out an example of what one person can do to create a difference AND to illustrate why just good, not even exceptional customer service is something we're all desperate for. 

Dave got additional exposure in the media and eventually United relented and gave Dave $3,000 for his $3,500 guitar.  Dave's actions brought to light that inhuman customer-service policies have a huge and sometimes overlooked cost...lost business due to frustrated, creative, and socially connected customers. Dave's actions have become a textbook example of the power of one voice in the age of social media.   Now I'm not suggesting most of you could have this type of damage done by lack of attention to what "the power of one" is saying about you on social media channels, but listening and participating is important.  It's also important that we use the "power of one" ourselves.  This story glaringly reminds us that we are all connected, that each of us matters, that we all have a voice we can use and there are lots of voices that share how they were treated when interacting with us and our companies. 

Like most of you we take great pride in customer service and believe that it is our biggest differentiator.  We believe that never before has individualized customer service been as achievable, expected and important as it is today.  While we all like self-service when it's appropriate. There is nothing like prompt, good service when needed.   I think the final line of the song says it all: "They say that you're changing and I hope you do, cause if you don't then who would fly (do business) with you?". So singer songwriters maybe we aren't, but social media gives EVERYONE a voice.

If you would like to join our blog discussion click here  or I welcome your feedback through email.