What If I Gave You A Few Free Leads?

What If I Gave You A Few Free Leads?

Posted on 27. Jun, 2011 by in Business, Marketing, Social Media, Storytime

Photo Credit IceNineJon via Flickr

This past weekend, my air conditioner went out at the house. So, like most of you would do, I hopped on Facebook to ask my network who they would recommend locally to help me out at midnight on a Saturday night. Then, I took to Twitter and made a few desperate cries for help:

And then I waited. So I stopped waiting and dug out a 2 year old receipt from my files of the company who did the service on the A/C unit last time it wasn’t working. And fortunately for us and for them, they had  24/7 phone line service.

So I called and the answering service put me on hold…meanwhile, I tweeted again:

Now what would have happened if a heating and air company had replied to my tweet and asked if they could have helped? Here’s a potential scenario:

1. I scream in excitement and joy for a brief moment as I sit uncomfortably in my own sweat.
2. I start telling everyone via my online networks what just happened.
3. I start preparing this blog post with their name and company.
4. I use them to do the service at my house!
5. They probably would have got a customer for life (if they did great service, but if they are using Twitter to connect then they are probably well on their way to backing that up…more on this in a minute).

Alas, this scenario did not play out. I ended up having the company I used last time come out and do the work on Sunday morning. They fixed it. No problem. They even let me work a deal with them regarding a furnace tune-up in the Fall. But, I was a prime lead and candidate for A/C servicing and I would have switched my business to whomever contacted me first online – hands down. I had no loyalties with this other company.

It’s not difficult to do. Listening that is. But it is necessary if you want to establish your business as head and shoulders above the rest.

While I was on hold, I also headed over the Twitter Search to see how many other people needed A/C help. The numbers were astonishing. Take a look:

As you can see with just a quick Twitter Search, there are numbers of people throwing their names out there as “PLEASE HELP ME A/C COMPANIES!” They needed help. And help was not found.

If you would like a bit more info on how to use Twitter Search, I recommend just going there and typing in a few key phrases to see what happens maybe a “looking for” phrase. Also, Chris Brogan wrote a great piece on “Growing Bigger Ears” which can help you get started.

If you’re an A/C company in Tulsa. Look out because you may be receiving a phone call in the next week…

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