Blogs

For anyone who has had an infuriating customer service experience, the YouTube music video "United Breaks Guitars" has proven to be a satisfying response to the futility of corporate claims that "your call is important to us."

The "United Breaks Guitars" back-story: last year, musician Dave Carroll flew United Airlines and his beloved guitar was broken by airline employees. After months of frustrating transnational phone calls and inadequate responses from United, Carroll released "United Breaks Guitars" and became a symbol for consumer resilience and advocacy.

"United Breaks Guitars" has generated over three million hits and sparked both physical and virtual conversation, as millions of consumers share frustrating experiences, product boycotts, and even (according to Mashable.com) stories of broken guitars. Carroll has demonstrated that the customer really can win the battle, and force a company to reevaluate its CRM (customer relationship management) priorities: after the video became a viral success, United asked Carroll if they could use it to train their employees! United also tweeted about their willingness to replace the guitar, and in a truly viral response, Carroll released a video to confirm United's apology -- but also to tell fans to stay tuned for two more songs.

Social media platforms have amplified the need for companies to place a priority on customer service – or suffer the viral repercussions. For many years, if a company maintained mediocre customer service standards, the public was generally unaware. But today, the power of social media as an enduring and assertive consumer voice warrants that companies listen and respond to customer feedback in a timely and satisfactorily manner. And in this age of unlimited dialogue, global accessibility, and gold star customer relationship management, we're excited to collaborate with you.