How Bresnan Could Have Turned Failure into Opportunity

TL Hines — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:13:44 -0600

As I write this, I'm about 14 hours into a broadband outage from my provider, Bresnan Communications. No, this isn't going to be some WTH???-laden anti-Bresnan tirade. I've been pretty happy with their broadband service--this is the first major failure. Rather, this is an opportunity to talk about something more companies need to recognize: the need to use social media for crisis communication. Already on Twitter, there's a #bresnanfail hashtag. There are stories about the outage popping up on local media sites in Bresnan's markets. And Bresnan's response has been...nothing. Depending on how long this lasts, the misery could snowball for them. Some things they could have done already to mitigate this:

Have employees with Twitter accounts replying to tweets as they appear. That's the beauty of microblogging--you can communicate even if your servers are melting down.
Posting status updates on the company homepage. Instead, they have the "corporate" home page up, as if nothing's wrong. Put up a simple "We're sorry for the outages, and we're working on the problem. We'll update you again at noon MDT." Apologize, say you're working on the issue, promise an update. It's really that simple. As it stands, I'm betting folks might feel Bresnan is ignoring the problem.
Use your technology to communicate. Bresnan could send an automated phone message to broadband customers, giving status updates. (They're also experiencing problems with their VOIP, but my phone has been back up for several hours--I think a call could have been made in that time. Especially if they anticipated this kind of problem and set up an automated call system ahead of time.) Or here's an idea: their cable TV service is unaffected; why not run a crawler with updates on the cable system?
Look for opportunities to do something unexpected. Turn the failure into something noteworthy by partnering with a coffee chain to offer a free cup of Joe to Bresnan customers. Offer a free on-demand movie through their cable connection. Do something to acknowledge the problem. Frankly, nothing is more endearing than people (or companies) who go out of their way to say "I'm sorry."

Learn from Bresnan. Anticipate a crisis, and map out how social media can work for you. If you don't, it will work against you.

UPDATE: As of 9:30 am, internet service is back up. And, I notice a message acknowledging the network outage on Bresnan's home page--not sure when that went up, but as the Aussies say, good on ya, Bresnan.

Would You Put Your Face in the Fire for a Free Book Download?

TL Hines — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:27:12 -0600

My latest book, Faces in the Fire, is on shelves now. And I want you to get a free digital download of the book (Kindle, Sony E-reader, pdf--your choice). All you have to do to get that free download is put your face in the fire.

It may sound painful, but it's quite the opposite. To celebrate the release of Faces in the Fire, I'm building a photomosaic at my website (tlhines.com), using images from readers just like you. Just go to the website (tlhines.com--or did I say that already?), click on "Become a Face in the Fire," and upload a photo of yourself. Or of your dog. Or of your car. Or of your tattoo. (More on that below.) Just for submitting your photo, you'll get a free download of the book, no strings attached, courtesy of my publisher Thomas Nelson.

But there's more. Action figures. Not your typical, run-of-the-mill action figures, either. We're talking Bigfoot. Crazy Cat Lady. Obsessive Compulsive. Moses. Jane Austen. Librarian. When you submit your photo, you could win your choice of any of these funky action figures (I'm giving away 20 of 'em). Five submitted photos judged most interesting/odd/unique will win. Five photos of the most interesting/odd/unique tattoos will win. Five people who share the "Be A Face in the Fire" project with a friend will win. And five people drawn at random from all submitted photos will win.

Now as I said, there's no real catch to any of this. But there is a deadline. If you want a free download of the book, you have to submit your photo by SUNDAY, AUGUST 2--downloads are only active for one week, starting Monday, July 27. (Downloads "officially" start Monday, but if you submit now, you'll get the download information on Monday when the downloads activate.) After the free book downloads end, I'll still collect photos through the month of August, and hand out the 20 action figures at the end of the month.

I think this is a fun project, and I hope you do, as well. Maybe you just think it's strange. And hey, that's okay, too. In any case, I hope you think it's interesting enough to share, bookmark or tweet with other people, so please do so. I want to give away a bazillion free downloads of the book next week. I want to see your photos--tattoos and otherwise. And I want to give 20 strange action figures loving homes.

So come on: put your face in the fire for the Crazy Cat Lady. Or for Moses. Or for Jane Austen.