Customer Service: New Rules for a Social Media World

2. Examples of When It Doesn’t Work (and What Happens)

You never want to hear the words “uh oh.” It’s so rare that anything good ever comes immediately after “uh oh.” You never hear “Uh oh, I just won the lottery,” or “Uh oh, that supermodel said she wants to date me.”

No, “uh oh” is usually followed by “the server just went down,” or “we just lost our #2 engine,” or “did I forget to pack my parachute?”

Yeah, the general consensus? “Uh oh” sucks.

So it was with a lot less than happiness when I uttered the term “uh oh” in February of 2009. I was holding a conference call for about 700 or so people, all of whom had paid $50 per head to attend. The conference call was about how best to pitch the media and included reporters from the Wall Street ...