A Twitterful Year

Once upon time in, what seems to be a galaxy far far away, a small team here at Comcast set out on a mission to assist our customers where ever they were on the Internet. This small team sought to learn from our customers in forums, blogs, personal websites and many other places that seemed foreign to many companies.

One February 2008 day, our close friend, Scott Westerman, a VP from Comcast’s Southwest region, sent as an email: “I love what you are doing out on the Internet, you make us proud. Have you ever checked out Twitter? I think it would be a perfect place for you…”

If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, it is a Web site (some call it a ‘microblogging service’) where people answer a simple question “What are you doing?” As people respond to that question they are providing companies, like Comcast, with details of what they are doing right, and what improvements people would like to see. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so that must mean this video explaining Twitter in plain English is priceless. Check it out if you’re still a little fuzzy on exactly what this tweeting business is all about.

After listening on Twitter for a few months, we started to tweet in early April using what is now my ID: ComcastCares. But now we have grown to others on Twitter including: @ComcastBill, @ComcastBonnie, @ComcastSteve, @ComcastGeorge, @ComcastSherri, @ComcastMelissa, @ComcastDete. We are talking with our customers everyday and we look forward to tweeting with each of you!

Over the course of our first year on Twitter we have learned a lot, mainly around communication. Customers want to have as much real time information as possible. We’ve taken this lesson to heart, and it has, in part, lead to this blog. We are so happy to see all of the lively discussion here. We also learned the importance of making a personal connection with our customers, and listening to them.

That simple email brought a new era in listening and interacting with our customers. Much has been made of our efforts on Twitter, but to me it’s just common sense. If someone needs assistance, you offer to help.

I never imagined that simply stating “Can I help” would take us so far.

Before I part ways today, I do want to give a shout out to @ComcastBill who got married on Saturday. While he didn't actually twitter during the ceremony I'm sure he had a great time.