Something happened last night that perfectly illustrates the power of Facebook. I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed to see the NFL Playoff game get cutoff in the middle of the third quarter. I immediately checked the remote…did it fall between the cushions and change the channel on it’s own. NO! Did my DirectTV dish get blown off the pole outside. NO! What to do, what to do? I immediately turned to the nightstand and picked up my trusty little blackberry. Then, I turned to my trusted friends on Facebook. I wasn’t alone. It was so nice to know that it wasn’t my fault, that we were all in this little predicament together. People really worked together, offering solutions. Check out this site online, or listen to this radio station that has the game. What a nightmare for the programmers at FOX 56. They ended up moving the game to sister station Channel 38.
Today I became a fan of FOX 56 on Facebook and saw the outpouring of anger. Here are some of the posts:
When the hell can I watch something other then the big yellow screen, this programming sucks.....
Fix your tv station, there's an important game on and my screen is pink!!!!!!!! BOOOOOOOOOOO FOX 56!!!!
aaahhhh I had to become a fan of your channel to complain that my screen is pink?!?!
What the hell is going on???.......Are you going to air an infomercial???...... or how about Heidi?
Not only is Facebook an important tool for the people, it’s a great tool for businesses. Why didn’t FOX 56 utilize their Facebook page to inform viewers about the problem, and the channel change? They promote their upcoming shows but failed to connect with the people when something went wrong. Even today, there’s no company response on FOX 56’s Facebook page. I understand that they are extremely busy trying to get everything up and running, but someone needs to get in the customer business.
I know what it’s like to hear from disgruntled listeners. There were a number of early years of Rush Limbaugh on WILK when we pre-empted his show with Triple A baseball. The phones would ring off the hook. I was called every name in the book. There’s a reason why we didn’t run those games anymore. When irate listeners called, I told the board operator to forward the calls to me. It’s important as a manager to step forward during a tough time and offer solutions, no matter who is at fault. Case in point last night- If you have people sign up as FANS you need to treat them with extra TLC. On the Fox 56 website, I see a story explaining the problem. Unfortunately, that update came at 10:55 this morning, more than 12 hours after the poop hit the fan.
While there’s still a debate out there about whether Facebook is an appropriate place to put your personal information, pictures and updates, there’s no debate that it’s an extremely important tool for businesses to really reach out and touch the consumer. If you don’t, those little fingers may do the walking…to another channel on the remote!
Corbett
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