This is an interesting one: consumer electronics retailer Best Buy is encouraging hundreds of employees to handle online customer service and company promotions via Twitter, even airing commercials not mentioning their own website but merely the URL of the profile they created on the micro-sharing service (two spots embedded below). The new service, dubbed Twelpforce, was debuted over the weekend but so far hasn’t garnered a lot of online buzz, let alone followers on Twitter (currently at around 1350). I’m sure that will change soon enough.
Tweet the Twelpforce, they’re here to twelp
Leaving aside the brutal misuse of the ‘tw’ in Twitter for their own use of names and verbs, the concept is pretty well thought-out. Best Buy employees can use their company and Twitter ID to register for the service here, after which tweets from the lot of them will be displayed in a single stream on the same page.
Once registered, tweeting Best Buy employees from across all operations can send messages from the @Twelpforce account, and if they add the hash-tag #twelpforce, their messages will automatically show up under the twelpforce handle with a credit to their proper Twitter account. This is similar to how we handle the auto-posting of TechCrunch posts on our Twitter account.
R-e-s-p-e-c-t
I like that the ‘Tips & Expectations’ part targeted at interested Best Buy employees is made public (right here). An excerpt:
The promise we’re making starting in July is that you’ll know all that we know as fast as we know it. That’s an enormous promise. That means that customers will be able to ask us about the decisions they’re trying to make, the products they’re using, and look for the customer support that only we can give. And with Twitter, we can do that fast, with lots of opinions so they can make a decision after weighing all the input. It also lets others learn from it as they see our conversations unfold.
When you start, remember that the tone is important Above all, the tone of the conversation has to be authentic and honest. Be conversational. Be yourself. Show respect. Expect respect. The goal is to help. If you don’t know the answer tell them you’ll find out. Then find out and let them know.
Practical tips include identifying oneself as a Best Buy employee, not asking for personal customer information (even in direct messages), don’t be pushy in trying to convince someone to buy consumer electronics from Best Buy, apologize for any delays and misunderstandings, etc.
Having launched last Sunday, Twelpforce has reportedly been in test with more than 700 registered employees, with more of them signing up daily.
Fantastic or spamtastic?
Personally, I think this is a phenomenal way to engage with Twitter users and social media in general. I’m sure that a lot of people will find it intrusive if a Best Buy employee suddenly starts talking to them after they tweeted out something random like “I could use a new flat-screen TV for my condo”, but looking at the advice provided by the company I think they actually ‘get it’ and are not looking to be overly pushy in selling you stuff.
If the response is friendly, personal and not clearly coming from someone interested only in trying to make a sale rather than being proactive about giving knowledgeable advice, I wouldn’t mind to be contacted by Best Buy employees on Twitter at all. Judging by the public stream of tweets, I’d say that this is exactly what they are doing, so kudos to them and Best Buy for thinking differently about online customer service.
More of this, please.
I saw Barry Judge had writing not to long ago, about being disappointed that BBY hadn’t been rank highly in customer satisfaction. This could be a strategy to help change that rating.
I don’t think there’s anything that can help Best Buy change the way people view them. It’s been nothing but a horrible experience, after horrible experience, after horrible experience. And it hasn’t been much different for other people I talked to.
Uh, how is using Twitter for support any different from email? In fact it will be harder to track user issues, avoid duplicate and incorrect answers.
Do I want to have every mind blurt from a vendor com into my Twitter feed? No.
Well, how is Twitter different to e-mail? Think about the tons of other people that don’t have to ask the same question again. Think about the people that voluntarily follow your news and updates. Both accuracy and the ‘brand fan base’ will benefit.
How will this help the same question not being asked? BB needs to get the support channel off their web site up to snuff.
It is nice to see mega corps like best buy jumping on the twitter bandwagon. The more people who use the service, the more ubiquitous it becomes. I suspect twitter will reach a stage where it will make email largely redundant.
What the heck is TwelpForce? LOL
This is just awesome, just check the videos and you will understand. Thousands of employees trying to help everyone on Twitter with a single Twitter Account!
Absolutely agree that this is a great way to support customers. Hopefully, they will experience few mishaps.
Twstupid.
It’s a nice idea. Hopefully it goes well for them.
It’s way too early, and I can’t type…sorry all.
I didn’t click your link.
It’s a nice idea. Hopefully it goes well for them.
Doesnt sound a too good idea too me.. let see for how long it works
So, they are suggesting that their employees, who don’t make a commission and probably not even for much recognition work off the clock servicing customers because normal Best Buy service is inadequate? How many other companies soon will be asking employees for a little extra off the clock help. If a company wants better customer service they need to hire people to do not try to trick employees into extra work.
The instructions for employees using TwelpForce is to only provide this service while on the clock. This does not mean tweeting on their phones while customers in store are being neglected. We have tools and resources to allow us to momentarily check up on twelpforce questions coming in.
This is one of the few brilliant corporate uses of twitter I have seen to date. Use twitter as a direct IM between the public and your employees. Forget product spamming and newsfeeds… this is retail customer support. very cool. hope it works for them.
Many companies already incorporate “Live Help” on their websites… but if you’ve ever tried any of them… you know that you type your questions, wait five minutes for an uber-generic reposnse…. and get fed-up by the 6th minute. (there are exceptions)
Alright! This rocks!!! Yet another way for Best Buy to provide completely inept customer service and support. All aboard! The fail whale is about to embark!
It’s a good idea to get employees on board with social strategy. Key will be to get them to regularly engage with this. Interesting to see how it tracks over time.
Something about this annoys me..Im not sure why. hope it goes well for them though..
Love the commercials. And gotta hand it to Best Buy for out of box and innovative thinking (twinking?) here.
follow their lead and stop using any and all derivatives of the phrase “thinking outside the box.” just trying to help
Since it is, “All Twtitter All The Time” from Christian Science Monitor to NPR to Conan O’brien (Twitter Tracker!) to here on TC. I would call it, “in the box thinking.”
I do like the move toward transparent, ad hoc communication on the part of a publicly traded company.
This is dumbest idea , why not just use a forum like every other online support area for a company. You aren’t going to beat archived and searchable topics for problems. You know, so everyone else can benefit from past solutions?
Because if they used a forum, it would be 99% “You people suck!” and 1% “Where is all the porn?”
At first I didn’t like this. But the longer I thought about it, the better the idea seems.
If many of their employees already use twitter, this allows them both an excuse to play with twitter during the work hours and to offer their expertise to each of their own followings.
I’m actually interested in how many people see the commercials then follow @twlpforce. Maybe buying air time is an effective way to gain followers?
Then again it seems counterintuitive to use old media tricks to promote new media platforms; but then again the two have to intersect at some point.
I think techcrunch follows Twitter and the world follows Twitter.
We get it, please this is the 10th news item in two days, regarding twitter..can we move on
you must be new here
“If you have time to lean, you have time to clean…errr..tweet.”
Haha, nice.
I’m new to twitter fandom. At first I just didn’t get all the hype but now I’m seeing how useful it can be.
I’d love to see a post detailing how techcrunch is making use of twitter.
Also, can someone explain how to implement multiple users for one account? As in: “Best Buy employees from across all operations can send messages from the @Twelpforce account.” How is this done?
Two words: Tweeter API
A great way to provide instant customer feedback. Just a shame it’s from Best Buy.
For multiple users on a single Twitter account you can take a look at http://hootsuit.com
On Best buy; This is a great way to get 100’s of experts communicating with consumers interested in their areas of expertise.
@spookz If Best Buy keeps their employees happy they will no doubt be more than happy to help the brand they are proud to be a part of. There is more to business and life than commision!
@jason Searchable? You don’t think real time search is developing fast? I already get tweets showing on the first page of google for my blogs main keywords.
http://www.cheese.com/
Cheese
Much of this is thanks to a Best Buy in my area @BBYFlowerMound. He’s been incredibly successful in offering help through it to customers. I think it’s a great opportunity and a great effort by Best Buy to improve on customer support and customer satisfaction. Because of the great experience that @BBYFlowerMound has offered through Twitter, that store is the only one I like to visit anymore.
Clever. Until an errant Tweet is retweeted ad-nauseum and the company struggles to come to terms with how the manage this without being able to control, edit or delete the stream (while its attorneys wrestle with the TOS and copyright).
Interesting experiment.
I posted an early review on the 10th of the service when I first found out about it. I was less than pleased at first, but then I got to talking with John Bernier and realized they’re determined to make this work, and that’s half the battle for them. They openly and honestly admit their mistakes and are willing to publicly learn from them. The conversation and review can be seen here:
http://www.nath...ce-by-best-buy/
They should set up a twitter account for BB complaints. I remember going to the Best Buy in Woodland Hills, CA 3 months back and was rudely (almost kicked out of the store) told that I could not buy 2 Wii fitness packs because its one per customer. My girlfriend was next to me and said she was the other customer. He said because we entered together we were one customer (?!what@?!). I normally don’t respond well in these situations and result to yelling the loudest to get what I want. Instead, I was very calm and began to ask why his logic made any sense (although it was in a condescending tone). I got frustrated, got his name, and didn’t buy either of them. Net result=no Wii Fitness and no money in BB’s pocket.
Can we start complaining @twelpforce to get their attention?
I saw this earlier and decided to give it a try. Tweeted them asking for the best desktop replacement in a laptop, mac or pc. Never got a response. Very typical of my Best Buy experiences.
BestBuy has become BestDumb. This is the most retarded strategy I[’ve ever seen.
Can’t say I am loving the name. May the Twelp Force be with you. Hahhaha
We had a fascinating chat on twitter via #brandchat with @bernierjohn who is Best Buy Mktg Mngr. It is cool to hear from him on the subject:
http://www.your...t-july-8th.html
Tears streaming down cheeks. Funniest thing I’ve read in ages. THIS ISN’T TECHNOLOGY!
It’s giving a thousand employees who don’t have any customers (um, it’s a recession boys and girls) a make-work project. Considering the basic knowledge level of many employees, we’ll see if they can eek out 140 characters or just reply with: “Huh, I don’t know.”
Look, if I hadn’t been invited to beta test an AI character engine that can intelligently and automatically reply to customers, via TWITTER, over the last few days, I wouldn’t have thought this was so funny.
Really, it is not Tech news, unless we’re devolving to ManualLaborCRUNCH.
Yes, it is a recession and thank Gahd someone is paying thousands of people minimum wage to Tweet. There should be whole Government Work camps following suit, just like the 30’s. It’s the only way to get the Unemployment Number down and make the World all warm and fuzzy again. Hah, AI character engine? I mean, really, what kind of future would that be? Save it for the movies.
Millions of workers tweeting, that will solve everything.
I believe that if we are thwarted in our effort re-employ the unemployed as paid Twelpers and Twitterers it will be our Waterloo and we will be broken.
A recession doesn’t affect the entire population. Last time I was at the mall, the parking lots were still full.
And give the employees a bit more credit: A lot of smart people work at places like that. Not everyone is lucky enough to have a nice office job.
Hey, Marsh, yes, a recession of the magnitude we’re in DOES impact the entire population. Look at the unemployment numbers (maybe the Mall is filled with the unemployed, because going anywhere else costs too much).
Your house value is down, or your credit rating is cut after you pay down a card, or you can’t book a flight because everything is full (because the airlines cut back flights)…IT’S ALL CONNECTED (really, read up on it).
Your observation of a parking lot is not a gauge of the world. Sorry.
I have had good sales people at Best Buy. I’ve also had, dare I say it: “twits.”
But, this glorification of time consuming manual labor, that already has technology solutions, seems a strange posting for TECHCRUNCH. Not everything Twitter is fabulous; some of it is inane.
Some of us are just having a bit of fun with it all. Call me a twit-too, but, I’d rather have an AI machine respond to my queries than someone on the floor of Best Buy. And, when reading TECHCRUNCH it would be more interesting to see where TWITTER may evolve, rather than read about Twitter in the hand of the Apes (that’s a vague reference to 2001: Space Odyssey, not a slam on employees anywhere, who are all brilliant and wonderful humans, godbless them, everyone).
while I do think this is a brilliant marketing strategy, I don’t think anything will help Best Buy at this point, their customer service and return practices are so bad.
It’s difficult right now to imagine more-annoying way for a company to communicate with its customers than by clogging up their Twitter in-boxes with claptrap. If this is successful, all retailers will start doing this and make Twitter completely unusable. I don’t dislike BestBuy now — in fact, the computer I’m writing this on was purchased from the chain’s Vallejo store — but if this takes off, I’m sure no one will have anything good to say about that company.
A Best Buy Twitter ? LOL
Progressive IT dept. – they’re using Google’s AppEngine too! http://bbyconnect.appspot.com/
I guess they are doubling-down on Google App Engine. Their http://www.giftag.com/ is also on GAE and has been a “featured application” on http://appgallery.appspot.com/ since its launch.
Twelpforce/Connect – making of … http://bit.ly/149jN1
What about for back and forth? This exchange is hilarious. http://nextup.f...mo-exchange.jpg
Oh, this is RICH. The company that abuses, lies to, cheats, steals from, and THEN gets nasty to its customers is now pretending like it actually CARES?
I give it a month. Then their real nature will come out.
What a crock… three months ago, the Best Buy employees in on the 800 CS, in-store CS and Geek Squad were Tabula Rosa on Twitter.
I know because I asked the managers and employees on that shift during y visit about it. My customer service experience was ludicrous, and thought *maybe* there was hope | help.
No way could they get a baseline of functionality savvy with social media up and running for such a flat line that fast in a social media.
to paraphrase Neil Young, “Bunch of crap!”
All well and good when you talk directly TO @twelpforce, but..
They forgot to monitor @bestbuy and people are stil saying bad things there and being ignored.
I not only experinced it myself, but looked into it professionally: http://www.drag...twelpforce-flaw
It’s a huge flaw..