Gulliver, writing for The Economist, touching on the Alaska Airlines bungle last week (and summarising it well in his post).
And he concludes:
“Companies in industries like air travel that involve high levels of direct interaction with customers have to take negative social-media attention extremely seriously. In this case, Alaska/Horizon’s official response was too slow (a day is an eternity in social media) and took a tone that backfired on the company. Getting the right response up quickly is hard, but in cases like these, it’s also necessary.”
I pretty much agree with the above statement — but with the exception of how the “official response was too slow”.
Yes, a day in social media, or even the Internet, can seem like a very long time. Yet, in cases where a sufficient level of information is required to make a sustainable determination is still a must, and can only be done at a real-world pace.
The opportunity cost of possibly jumping the gun, for the sake of providing the awaiting social media audience with a timely response, can have a far-worser effect than the offending party seemingly dragging their feet (relative to Internet time) and providing the best-possible response.
I believe Alaska Airlines has done what was needed to alleviate the given situation — enough said.
UPDATE: Apparently, the company is now looking for a solution to the problem:
“@ghimlay: .@AlaskaAir is hiring a director of corp comms, based in SEA if anyone is keen! http://www.journalismjobs.com/Job_Listing.cfm?Media=Other&JobID=1406203”
I do not know the issue that you are referring here, or what the airline did in response. But you raise a very interesting and important question, here, that is relevant in other contexts, too. So, what is preferable: to do something now, or to do the right thing later? And, if later, how long is it reasonable?
My first instinct would be to say later but the right thing (essentially, what you are saying here). However, I also think that in today’s environment, companies must show that they are doing something. My own research into consumer attitudes towards customer service on social media is that satisfaction with the process is as important as the satisfaction with the outcome. Specifically, they want to know that something is happening. What does this means? That companies should immediately acknowledge the issue / complaint / message and say that they are looking into it. Then, keep customers informed of what is happening (e.g., looking into issue x, talking with department y, ….) and when they expect to have an outcome. Then, when they are ready, product that outcome… even if it is one day (or more!) after the event.
Indeed, the knowledge of the process is important. In this case, Alaska Airlines may have neglected to share this bit of information between the initial occurrence and its official, and ultimate, response.
Curiosity kills the cat — just another factoid of the human condition that can make these processes and decisions rather sticky to handle. However, applying typical consumer behavioural science into the equation should do away with the many misconceptions.
At the end of the day, it’s all about good manners and etiquette. Can’t be that hard, right?