We’ve written many times previously about how savvy marketing folks can use Twitter to solve complaints. The latest example comes from a bunch of restaurateurs interviewed in Chicago by the Associated Press.
For example, when Tony Bosco saw mostly negative reviews about the restaurant Wow Bao, he tweeted: “Going to ‘business’ dinner (at)Wow Bao. Can any1 tell me if it’s going to suck as much reviews suggest.”
And almost immediately he got a response from an unexpected source — BaoMouth, the official Twitter feed of Wow Bao, an upscale fast food place in Chicago. The restaurant offered him a coupon to find out for himself, on the house.
So what happened? Bosco went there for dinner the next night, enjoyed his meal and posted pictures of the happy meal on Twitter.
Geoff Alexander, managing partner of Wow Bao, told the AP he is committed to Twitter. If somebody has 1,000 followers and writes a negative Tweet about Wow Bao, then 1,000 people could think the restaurant is bad. But if Wow Bao publicly responds to that Tweet, 1,000 people may see the issue is being handled.
Chipotle, the Mexican food restaurant chain based in Denver, has responded to customer problems through Twitter, even though the chain has about 1,000 locations across 50 cities. Their entire feed, ChipotleTweets, is a list of answers to consumer questions and responses to problems.
Dennis Yslas tweeted in a Fort Worth, Texas, Chipotle about a lack of corn tortillas. Less than 2 minutes later, the company replied to Yslas, a 47-year-old actor via Twitter. Chipotle one employee dedicated to social media, plus several customer service representatives also Tweet and use Facebook part-time.
