When I realized Social Media was something I wanted to do for a living, I never gave much thought to the type of clients I would be working with. I just knew I could do Social Media well for the brands who put their trust in me, and throughout my career I have been very fortunate to work on several amazing projects.
However, after living the agency life, the prospect of working with a large significant brand, and making Social Media really work for that one brand, appealed to me.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is a brand I am excited to work for. There will be challenges, but all things worth doing don’t happen without putting in some good ol’ elbow grease. A solid foundation has already been set in place by a talented team and by my predecessor, and I look forward to taking BCBSM to the next level on the social web.
Working in Detroit
I never thought I would have the opportunity to work in Detroit. Watching the city growth and development that several of my professional colleagues have been a part of has been exciting. It is my hope that I too can play a small part in the revitalization of this great city.
And then there is the food. It is no secret that I am a foodie. There are so many great places to eat in Detroit. Bucharest Grill and their Chicken Shawarma should expect frequent visits. To my future co-workers, I promise to stock up on the Altoids.
Thank you!
I actually found it a bit tricky to jot down my thoughts per this recent announcement. Those closest to me know that I’m not one to over emphasize my emotions when it comes to sharing good news. But this is very good news for me, and it couldn’t have happened without your support.
If you are reading this post, chances are you have helped me in some way personally, and/or professionally.
Nothing happens in isolated chambers anymore, so it is with the deepest sincerity that I thank you for your support and encouragement as I take on this next chapter.
I remember as a kid loving their deep dish pizza. There was a Pizza Hut on the way home from where my family kept our boat, and I always hoped we would stop in for dinner. It was a special event.
A few weeks ago I ordered a small personal pan pizza and an order of their parmesan garlic breaded chicken wings.
*Disclaimer* I don’t work for Pizza Hut or any of their competitors, and since February I’ve been on a new health program so I shouldn’t be eating this kind of food anyway!
I receive my order to discover that the pizza box was stepped on, the pizza itself was lukewarm, the chicken wings were covered with something that resembled spoiled butter milk, and upon inspection every one of the wings were cold and blood raw inside.
*Disclaimer II* I have ordered Pizza Hut since my utopian experiences described earlier in this post, and I have noticed a continual decline in their product and brand. So, as I was placing this order my expectations were kept in check.
I don’t like to complain.
But I did cut my teeth in customer service, and I did my fair share of working in the fast-paced-gritty-claw-to-the-top world of convenient food. So, when I saw that my hard earned money rewarded me with cafeteria warm pizza and raw chicken, I felt the need to express my dissatisfaction.
I posted my complaint on Pizza Hut’s Facebook page. To their credit, someone replied immediately and provided me a customer service link where I could officially lodge my complaint.
The following timeline commenced:
3/10 – Official complaint sent and received. Apologies are provided and I am advised someone from the store leadership team will get back to me in a few days.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us at Pizza Hut! Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and we will get back to you in a few days.
3/13 – I have received no response, and provide a follow up that no one has contacted me and that I fear Pizza Hut has lost a customer for life.
No one from any of the local stores has contacted me. I fear you have lost a customer for life.
3/14 – Pizza Hut responds with a sincere apology informing me that some will be contacting me again in a few days.
David Murray,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us and letting us know that you have not been contacted by a member of our team. We truly apologize for the delay and we are taking measures to escalate your concern to ensure you are contacted within the next 3 business days.
We sincerely value each one of our customers and we take your feedback very seriously. It is our goal to Make It Great™ for each of our guests every time and when that doesn’t happen, we want to know about it.
We truly appreciate your business, and want to ensure that every Pizza Hut experience of yours is amazing!
Sincerely,
Pizza Hut Customer Service
3/23 – I still have received no reply from anyone at Pizza Hut, and I provide another response expressing my disappointment with their poor customer service.
It has been a week, and I still have not heard anything from any representative of your brand besides the individual who responded to my initial Facebook post and the person reading these emails.
Sad example of losing a customer.
Facebook’s second sincere response
David Murray,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us and letting us know that you have not been contacted by a member of our team. We truly apologize for the delay and we are taking measures to escalate your concern to ensure you are contacted within the next 3 business days.
We sincerely value each one of our customers and we take your feedback very seriously. It is our goal to Make It Great™ for each of our guests every time and when that doesn’t happen, we want to know about it.
We truly appreciate your business, and want to ensure that every Pizza Hut experience of yours is amazing!
Sincerely,
Pizza Hut Customer Service
Wait a sec… isn’t that the same sincere response I received a week earlier? It is!! Concerned, I send a message to Pizza Hut’s Facebook Page and Twitter account.
Facebook: Hello. A few weeks back I posted a message here regarding a poor experience with your pizza and chicken wings. I was provided a customer service portal to which I submitted my complaint. After several messages informing me someone from your brand would be in contact with me, I have heard nothing.
Though I wasn’t anticipating ordering from you again in the near future, having cut my teeth in customer service and brand management, I doubt I will spend my money with you again and will encourage my network to do the same.
Twitter: Dear @pizzahut, thank you for the lukewarm pizza and the raw bloody chicken wings the other day. #becauseyourservicestinks #healthymurr
If you are curious about the above hashtag ranting about their service, hold on. The answers are coming. Pizza Hut did respond.
Facebook: David, it is never our intention to over look you! We have located your case and we see that is has been forwarded to the appropriate team for review. Please allow 3 to 5 business days for contact. Thank you for your patience with this matter.
Twitter: @DaveMurr We have located your case and it has been forwarded to the proper leadership team. Please allow 3-5 business days for contact.
*Note - the above Twitter response and complaint have been hidden from their stream.
*Disclaimer III* This post is not an effort to get free pizza. I don’t plan to ever order from Pizza Hut, anyway. I don’t need or want anything from them other than apology that is not automated or subject to 3- 5 business days.
Now I wait. Again. Needless to say my expectations that anything will happen are low. But there’s more.
As I searched the web for Pizza Hut’s social channels, I came across an ad/job posting they promoted during SXSW. I’m not even going to get into the number of buzz words they crammed into this 30 sec spot… Though I applaud their effort to break away from the normal resume-interview format (though many may argue that if it ain’t broke, why fix it?) this attempt to fill their “Coveted Social Media Maven Manager of Digital Greatness” seems as misaligned as their customer service.
The job posting requires the candidate to have +5 years experience. That’s a lot for an average Maven of Digital and Social Greatness. They also set up a hashtag #becauseimgreat to align with this stunt. Words fail.
So, now am I not only a dissatisfied customer, I am also an offended social media professional.
I’m in no position to tell someone how to run their company, but as a paid professional in this industry, it angers me to see cheap stunts like the one Pizza Hut is pulling. It undermines the work of those who truly care about this space and are working hard to ensure social media is taken seriously.
Pizza Hut, my experience with your brand has rapidly declined since those sunny childhood days. Your customer service is poor. Your products are poor. Your social media efforts… I think you get it.
The one piece of advice I will provide you is that social media stunts will not cover up the fact that you need to work on everything I just mentioned above. Get those fixed first. Then you can go out and find someone who can make your social media fly.
I don’t need 140 seconds or characters to tell you that you have your work cut out for you in the eyes of this social media professional.
Good luck! #becauseimnolongeracustomer
*Disclaimer IV* I recently discovered Domino’s new deep dish pizza. It’s pretty damn good!
I have no idea, and that is the challenge I recently accidently assigned myself.
An explanation.
As you may or may not know I now work for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The more I learned about our organization the more I began to focus on my own healthy activities… or lack thereof. It quickly became clear that ‘healthy lifestyle’ wasn’t in my vocabulary.
So, I thought it would be fun for someone within our company to live the brand we work for.
A quick disclaimer – when I say someone, I meant someone other than me. It was never my intention to be the healthy guinea pig, however; it quickly became apparent that I had volunteered. Go me.
Back to the part where I’m clueless about healthy stuff.
I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m an unhealthy person. I mean I try to limit myself to three chili dogs and one side of chili fries per serving. Oh, and I drink a lot of water. All the rest is a healthy mystery.
As luck would have it, I recently hired a community manager who happens to be a registered dietitian and weight loss ninja.
Her name is Grace. She’s tough, but fair. Well, she’s mostly tough, but the fact I’m the boss gives me the one up on her. This doesn’t however, diminish Grace’s enthusiasm for torturing me with ridiculous health assignments. I now have to measure everything I eat and do something she calls, “regular exercise.”
But enough of my chatter.
I’ll be journaling my diet, and I’m keeping a regular healthy video dairy. You can view the first entry above. You can also follow my healthy misadventures on BCBSM’s A Healthier Michigan blog, or if quick and simple is your thing then you’ll love my Tumblr blog documenting the things I eat. Finally, follow the #HealthyMurr hashtag on the Twitter.
You are welcome to join my healthy adventures. If you have any ideas I should participate in, let me know. I’d like to experience as many healthy activities as I can possibly tolerate!
This post was brought to you by a 1900 calorie diet and the word healthy.
Thanks to the spawn of the social web there have been a slew of sayings, phrases and words that I now wish never existed.
Engagement, epic, gamification, cutting edge to name a few.
However, the one that takes first prize for all time dumb phrase is, “Join the Conversation.”
I can’t think of worse advice when it comes to social media communications.
Never in the history of spoken dialogue have people just joined conversations. It has always been the unspoken rule that one earns or gets invited to participate.
‘Join the conversation’ suggests that businesses or organizations have the right to hop right in an ongoing dialogue without rhyme or reason for being there.
Even worse this theory is based on the assumption that the participating audience of said discussion is anticipating with baited breathe a company’s contribution - i.e. a sales pitch.
My humble advice to businesses and marketers is to learn how to communicate with an audience, and not just to an audience. There is a difference, and it is a big one, in fact.
Practice the lost art of listening.
If you happen to be invited to participate in the dialogue, please bring something of value that actually supports and encourages additional conversation. If you can’t do that, then don’t say anything. Silence is still golden, and last I looked the value of gold continues to rise.
This goes for both online and offline interactions.
Earning conversations should be your priority dear marketers and business owners. Gaining trust of peers is essential if you wish to succeed on the social web. Trust me, people will remember you for taking the time to think before speaking.
I’ll let you all ponder on all this for a moment. Just don’t expect me to join in the conversation… okay, maybe I will if you let me.
I plan to eliminate the word ‘busy’ from my vocabulary.
I’m not talking about getting rid of obstacles that prevent me from living a fulfilling life. I’ve been working hard on that for the last two years, and there have been signs of progress.
No, what I am talking about is removing the actual word from dialogue.
We are never busy. We just simply choose not to commit to things.
In every moment we choose whether or not to commit to something. Should I answer my emails, do my taxes, wash the car, read a book, eat something, etc. These choices of commitment dictate the course of actions that define who we are and what we do. And through this we create the frame in which we view life and how others see ourselves.
In short. Doing things doesn’t make us busy. It makes us productive.
Procrastination is what makes us busy.
Delaying and creating gaps in our already limited bandwidth creates the time crunch we call being busy.
And here’s the real deal.
Because our lives are becoming an open window to many, we are going to be judged more and more by what we do vs. what we say.
Our patience for lack of results is razor thin. We will get fed up with those who just continue to say they are busy, but have nothing to show for it.
I began to realize this as it relates to Andy and Trout. Yes, I have a new job that requires a lot of my time and attention; however, I choose whether or not to make the time available to commit to the project on any given day.
Saying I’m too busy to work on Andy and Trout is just an excuse, and I might as well not even talk about it, because it might as well not even exist.
So, no. You are not busy, and please do not begin a conversation with telling me how busy you are. I promise to do the same, and by trying this we both just might learn how we both can be busy being productive.
As I write this, one can not help but think of David Bowie’s song, Changes
