How Companies Listen to Customers

In the first two chapters, we look at how businesses listen to their customers. Basically every major company is on all social media platforms; thus giving customers a great chance to interact and suggest things to the companies. The social media site I want to talk about is Twitter. Twitter is good for having information paraphrased and getting information shared at the speed of light. Some companies have really excelled at using Twitter to positively influence their companies; with Wendy’s being a good example of this. They are very active in not only responding to the compliments and complaints about their service, but also being a witty account that is never afraid to tease a rival fast food place.

So we get how companies like restaurants and retail stores using Twitter; but what about, say a sports team? Allow me to introduce you to the St. Louis Blues and St. Louis Cardinals Twitters. First, let’s look at the Blues. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 11 months, you know that COVID-19 has kind of thrown a wrench into everything. Hockey not only returned in January as opposed to October, but games have no fans. With the Blues having a game Jan. 21, the day after the election, their Twitter poked fun at the Bernie Sanders picture that became a meme, and placed him in the middle of an empty section. Fans loved it so much that they asked the team to continue adding to it; which they did. The section now seats Sanders, Blues legend Brett Hull, Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, UFC fighter Conor McGregor, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, Pam and Jim from the Office. This is a fun picture for Blues fans to see before their team takes the ice; with some fans guessing who will be the next person added.

Now there’s Cardinals twitter. The St. Louis Cardinals fanbase is one that is very rarely satisfied; and GM John Mozeilak’s inaction this offseason has drawn the ire of many a fan. So when the team resigned the aforementioned Wainwright, the team tweeted a picture of the pitcher, simply saying “‘I’m back’”. This isn’t to say that Cardinals fans convinced their front office to bring him back; they’re paid the big bucks for a reason. Fans still weren’t satisfied with the team’s excitement for the move, saying it still wasn’t enough. The next day, the team annonces a trade for Nolan Arenado, quite possibly the best third basemen in baseball. With fans begging for the team to make this move for years, it’s no surprise that they have changed their tone significantly towards Mozeilak and the team as a whole. The trade still needs to finalize, so the account hasn’t addressed it yet; but it’s going to be special when they do.

While it may seem silly in theory, a company’s twitter presence can make a big difference in terms of their perception. It doesn’t matter the company. Whether it’s a sports team, fast food joint, retail store or car dealership, a customer can be swayed by their interaction with a company on their phone.