I hate my Bank. Dealing with them is worse than sticking a red hot poker in my eye. After a particularly frustrating call with them today, where I basically worked my way up as high as I could on the phone tree, and then was told anything from here on out had to be done in writing, I had just had it. I was so mad. I ended up crying just to get some of that negative energy out of my system. And then what did I do???
I went on Facebook. I immediately posted how much I disliked them. And then I went on Twitter and posted there how much I disliked them. Are you ready for this now? Within 3 minutes, I had a Tweet back from Marquette Bank, a local bank here, telling me I’m not alone, lots of people hate my bank, and they are “welcoming big bank refugees.” THIS IS THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA PEOPLE. The game has changed.
Companies who don’t figure this out and harness it are going to end up burned, and badly. Those who do – like Marquette – will be there to embrace your customers, who have not only stopped doing business with your company, but will spread the fire of their negative experience online. It’s viral. I’m already “over” my rant with my bank, because I’m so excited to see that social media is being leveraged successfully by other groups. So applaud my new friends @MarquetteBank because whether or not I end up doing business with them, they created instant goodwill and got themselves a CHANCE to do business with me.
When will social media generate the groundswell for some Banker showtrials?