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| Humor at Work |
ISSUE 440 - JUNE 6, 2012 |
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Of Flying Guitars
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Dave Carroll, he of the "United Breaks Guitars" viral video fame, is estimated to have touched 100 million different people worldwide through his story and viral videos singing about how United Airlines broke his guitar and then refused to make amends. I've written about this phenomenal story before, but having just recently heard Dave Carroll being interviewed, and upon hearing the numbers... 100 million people, I thought an update was in order.
To recap: Dave Carroll had a horrible customer service experience and he did what any one of YOUR customers now has the power to do: he let the world know through a hilarious song posted on You Tube. (Of course your irate customers might opt for Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, or they might create their own I HATE YOUR BUSINESS.com website.)
Dave Carroll's epic customer service story is now being told at Harvard Business School as a case study. And it's been turned into a new book called, naturally, United Breaks Guitars.
A big part of the effectiveness of Carroll's customer viral rant was due to his fabulous use of humor, which helped his story go viral. In fact, studies that have compared the effectiveness of humorous social media campaigns to other social media customer service rants that were more angry in nature, found that the use of humor definitely helps spread a message faster and wider.
Here's four simple lessons from this story:
1. Customer service matters more than ever. In the old days (like the 90's) a person might rant to a handful of their closest friends whereas now they can reach the entire world!
2. Using outrageous humor in a creative way can help your message travel farther.
3. As customers a little humor can help all of us when we're on the receiving end of horrible service.
4. The flip side is also true: delivering outrageously fabulous service with a mix of humor and creativity can help you attract positive worldwide attention and stand out from the herd!
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Mike's Fun at Work Tip |
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Don't let your organizational history fade to dust. There is an astounding amount of wisdom, advice, historical knowledge and humor to be found by mining the stories from your veteran employees. So before your long-timers fly the coop, take the time to interview them and capture their stories on audio or video. Not only is this a great way to keep your culture and history alive, it's a fabulous way to honor your long time employees.
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Quote of the Week |
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"If I were
to give a gift to the next generation, it would be the ability of each
individual to laugh at himself." Charles Schultz |
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It's a Wacky World |
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Have you heard the exciting news? There's a new TV station being launched...for dogs. Just to be clear, it's not about dogs. It is for dogs. The idea is that when you leave your dog alone, Dog TV will provide countless hours of doggie entertainment designed to help keep your dog relaxed and, more importantly, up to date on current events. If you think I'm making this up, check it out at DOG TV.
And in other wacky news...many of you wrote last week raving about the "Pro Wrestler Name Generator"...so here are two other sites along that same idea you may also want to check out:Your alter ego Country Star Name (I'm Buddy Lee Lovett) at Country Star Name Generator .
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Inspiring Savings
Cost-savings to bring Mike in June 14 - 28 in:
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Stockholm, Sweden
Inspiring Reading
I highly recommend the book "9 Minutes on Monday - The Quick and Easy Way to Turn Managers Into Leaders" by James Robbins. And not just because I get major mention in the chapter on fun at work, but because the book is full of simple, practical ideas on engaging employees at work. Nine Minutes on a Monday.
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Copyright © 2012 Humor at Work. All Rights Reserved.
mike@mikekerr.com
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