In grad school, I took a class on the management style of Machiavelli’s The Prince vs. the management style of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching.  I had always been drawn to Eastern philosophies and the words of the Tao spoke my language.  I was hooked.

Over the past couple of days, I have had numerous conversations with friends, colleagues, and industry experts, that have caused me to take pause and reevaluate the way I work, the way I interact with people, and my general principles in which I conduct business.

Yesterday, I was called out as being a “complainer” and I wondered if that was true, and if I was really adding any value to my industry or if my opinions even mattered at all.  And then I thought, I left my first job out of college because the company I worked for was full of corporate clones, they all spoke the same language, they all nodded in unison when the big guy talked.

I don’t want to be right all the time.  I don’t want to be surrounded by people who agree with everything I say or do.  I want to be challenged, if I’m always right, then how can I ever progress past the current state that I am in?

In Chapter 61 of the Tao, Lao Tzu says “The Master considers those who point out his faults as his most benevolent teachers.”  If we aren’t open to feedback, to criticism, and to ideas that differ from our own, we will never grow, we will never learn.

You may be asking yourself at this point “great, so how does this relate to web analytics and site optimization?”  Glad you asked.  In our role as analysts, we often challenge and are challenged based on the facts that we present.  The great analysts know that they will never make everyone happy and it’s not about being a “complainer” or being “negative” or being a “cynic”, it’s about being critical and questioning, questioning, questioning.

So, regardless of the role you are in, marketeer, product manager, web analyst, site optimizer, or CEO, if you want to create something great, be open to feedback (both positive and negative), if you want to be mired in mediocrity, surround yourself by people who readily agree with you, people who never push you to improve, people who never challenge you to transcend your limits.

“To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open-mindedness; chaotic, confused, vulnerability to inform yourself.“

~James Maynard Keenan

For 3 days, I was unable to access my FTP server on GoDaddy and I was starting to panic.  I begrudgingly reached for the phone and dialed their support number (a toll number at that). After a 15 minute wait and a 45 minute phone call, it was determined that the problem either was on my end or with my ISP. GoDaddy’s suggestion “contact your ISP”.

My first step was to send an email, explaining the complexity of my problem, to Qwest’s email support. After several hours of not hearing back, not even an automated email saying “we received your request”, I decided I would give the Qwest call center an opportunity to resolve my issue.

“Thank you for calling Qwest. We are experiencing a large call volume at this time. You estimated wait time is MORE THAN TEN MINUTES.”

5 Minutes Later (must be said in the Sponge Bob voice over voice).

“Thank you for calling Qwest. We are experiecing a large call volume at this time. You estimated wait time is LESS  THAN TEN MINUTES.”

5 Minutes Later (must be said in the Sponge Bob voice over voice).

“Thank you for calling Qwest. We are experiecing a large call volume at this time. You estimated wait time is MORE THAN TEN MINUTES.”

After finally reaching an agent, I spent at least 15 minutes trying to explain what FTP was.

Jason: I can’t access my GoDaddy FTP account. I can access it from work but not from home on the Qwest network. GoDaddy suggested I call you.

Qwest: Ok Jason. I want to assure you we will get your issue reconfigured (I think he meant to say “resolved”) shortly.

Jason: Fantastic.

Qwest: Jason, can you see web pages?

Jason: Ahhhh, Yeah, I like web pages but my problem is with FTP.

Qwest: Ok, so you are saying you have a problem with FPP. Let me configure (I think he meant to say “confer”) with my colleagues. {hold music} Ok, Jason, we don’t support FPP, that is why you are seeing this problem.

Jason: F-T-P

Qwest: Ok, let me reconfigure with one of my colleagues.

This went back and forth for over an hour and which point I was told that if I can see web pages the Qwest DSL service is working properly and I would need to hire a local computer technician to solve my problem.

I was at my wits end and decided I would give Qwest one last chance before I canceled my service and looked for a new ISP. I have had good luck resolving Omniture issues with their world-class support via Twitter so I thought Twitter might be the answer in this case as well. I found Qwest’s Twitter account:

Through this Tweet, I was quickly introduced to a top-level engineer at Qwest, who spent 2 hours with me, reconfiguring my network setup, going above & beyond his job to ensure that my network was configured for optimal performance. Not only did he fix the issue I was having accessing my FTP account, he also increased my network speed by 40% with a few modifications.

Did this one support incident have any impact to Qwest’s bottom line? I doubt it. I’m just a small customer, but this one event had a huge impact on my view of Qwest. Not only did I decide to stay with Qwest, at least for 6 more months, I now have a very positive story about how Twitter saved Qwest a customer that I’m more than happy to share with whomever will listen.

As an analyst, I found myself thinking, how would I measure this? How could I attribute the use of Twitter as a support tool to a customer’s lifetime value? I don’t have the answers but I do know that companies who are using social media tools in innovative ways (see also: other than lame PR and marketing efforts) are getting a huge jump on their competition. Companies that are using social media to push PR or who are not using social media at all, will find themselves playing catchup for a long time to come.

Ever since Shaq And Ashton made Twitter a household name, it seems like every celebrity and business entity out there is trying to cash in on the popularity of this social networking tool.

I can hear the boardroom conversations now, “shit, we just got WordPress installed because they told us we needed a blog, now you are saying we need to create something called a Twitter account?”

Most companies have no clue how to Tweet and foolishly jump in head first doing the same thing they have done before, pushing PR approved marketing blurbs to an unknown universe of people. I can’t think of a better way of alienating your current and potential customer base.

So who is doing this right?

Omniture ClientCare
Ben Gaines in Omniture ClientCare is a great example of what a corporate Twitter presence should look like. He is a real person, with a real personality. He is knowledgeable and he is a constant presence on Twitter. Have a product issue or question? Send him a Tweet and he will personally follow-up to make sure you are taken care of. What I enjoy most from following Ben on Twitter is that he isn’t just some corporate clone trying to brainwash me into liking the product. He provides valuable insight and is a great escalation point when I run into problems.

JetBlue
JetBlue is another shining example of a company using Twitter the “right way”. Rather then posting an endless and mind numbing stream of Tweets about how cool JetBlue is they are providing a real service on Twitter. They are actively listening to travelers and are responding to each one individually to ensure they have a world-class experience. “I’d like to travel with my pet dog but I don’t know what I can or can’t do” Well, Tweet to JetBlue and ask them and you may get a response back like “Pet carriers can’t exceed 17″L x 12.5″W x 8″H. We’re partial to the JetPaws program: http://www.jetblue.com/jetpaws/ offering a carrier and tips!”

I believe Twitter can be an extremely powerful tool for corporations but only if its done the right way. Remember, social media tools like Twitter are grassroots, don’t go in trying to think you can apply archaic business practices because if you do you are destined for failure.