Twitter Tips From the Comcast Cable Guy

One question I had for Frank Eliason, director of Comcast’s digital care:

Has he ever been tempted to throw up his hands and say, I don’t care!

He insists that thought never crosses his mind.

I caught up with Eliason after he spoke at Federated Media’s Conversational Marketing Summit on Monday and shared his experiences providing customer service as @comcastcares on Twitter along with his team of 10.

At the summit, he offered these tips for online customer service in a Twitter era:

–Don’t forget the personal touch. Each Comcast digital care team members has his and her own Twitter account (e.g., @ComcastBonnie) accompanied by a photo. “You’ll see my picture. You do not see a company logo. My picture is my ID,” Eliason said.

–Don’t avoid blending your personal and professional lives online. For instance, Eliason’s @comcastcare account on Twitter includes links to the Comcast blog and his family Web site.

–Don’t judge a person by the number of followers he has on Twitter. Because he pumps out so many notes to customers, Eliason understands if some followers tire of his tweets. “I wouldn’t follow me, either,” he said.

–Follow the stream of tweets related to your business. “We respond to almost every single one of them and say, ‘Hey, can I help you?’ ” he said. The team doesn’t provide an answer to a customer the first time around. “We throw the ball into their court (and ask) if they want help. They will let us know.”