This story is in my opinion an unfortunate case of
“knee-jerk” reactions based on emotions rather than logic. We are all faced with dilemmas in our life
where we get to make an instant decision.
How we choose to react to these situations can be good or, in this
particular case, bad. We have “Freedom
of Speech” in this country. Because of
this, added to social media, we get to read many opinions, many thoughts, and
many rants or complaints.
It is
unfortunate that Ms. Holly Jones-Benson was so distraught concerning her New
Year’s Eve party, the handling of the bill, and the disruption of her night by
the woman who was having a critical health issue. Sometimes people can be a bit selfish when
they overlook the plight of others and feel that their wants and needs are of
the utmost concern. Had she maybe taken
a few minutes to find out what was going on, this may have all been
avoided. Publicly displaying her
displeasure in the manner she did on a Facebook page may not have been her most
prudent action. She did leave herself
open to the onslaught of attacks that came back at her. We have all experienced times when things
don’t go the way we planned or how we would prefer. How we choose to handle those times can
affect the outcome.
When Kilroy’s managing partner, Chris Burton chose to
respond, he took time to give a well-thought out reply. “The manager pointed out that the experience was far more traumatizing
for the heart attack sufferer than other diners, and explained that getting the
woman medical attention was a higher priority than explaining the customer's
bill”. I believe his intent was to
put Ms. Jones-Benson in her place.
As the acting manager in this situation, he not only had
customers to service, but a victim of a heart attack, who also was a customer
in his establishment. Was the way he
responded good or bad? In this case, Mr.
Burton chose to stick up for the underdog.
He showed his humanitarian side and pointed out that Ms. Jones should
have showed a bit of that herself in this situation as well. Jumping to conclusions about what took place
that night not only portrayed her as selfish and indifferent, but it instigated
a public backlash such as she probably never could have imagined.
What about the poor woman who was the victim
in all this? I’m sure there are hundreds
of things she would rather have been doing than experiencing a heart attack in
a crowded public restaurant on New Year’s Eve.
How do you think she feels about all this publicity? The most positive part of the incident, other
than her recovery, is that the Go Fund Me campaign for her medical expenses was
successful. I’m sure if she could change
the course of events that night—she definitely would!
Social Media has changed how conversations between
businesses and customers are handled.
Complaints are now public, rather than handled discreetly between
parties. The rule of thumb in the past
regarding customer service was that “the customer is always right”. That trend is changing in that sometimes, a
business is in the right. Online
business reviews are popular, and important to the success of businesses. Customer complaints can be very damaging to a
company, and there can be serious issues when social media exploits these
complaints.
“Steve
Hatmaker, Jr., digital marketing strategist for Seismic
Audio Speakers agrees
that there are serious implications for social media's ability to amplify
customer complaints. "Until recently, companies could do you wrong or
right and you would be limited to telling only those you knew in your immediate
surroundings," he says. "But thanks to the Internet and the unlimited
access to almost anyone, such an event can easily be spread around the world in
seconds! The Internet is much like the halls of a high school: one false move
and everyone will know about it the next day."
Lessons learned from the business side: It can be ok to defend your business if you
feel customers are wrong. Use
professionalism and state your case to represent your business clearly and
fairly
Lessons learned from the Individual side: Be careful about what your posts can do to
your reputation. It may not be in a
person’s best interest to post everything you think or feel, because once out
there, you can never retract it. Use caution
in what you post and be responsible. Ms.
Jones posts have cost her job, her reputation, and caused issues for other
people with her name that have received hate mail and threats as well.
As for those that chose to respond in a violent way against
Ms. Jones, once again, this comes back to those “knee-jerk” reactions that
people make based on emotion. We need to
be prudent in what we read, what we believe and how we act. How we can get the public to actually
accomplish this feat is beyond me.
Sources:
Sources:
I liked your description of the "knee jerk" because we all have times that we say something that we shouldn't. Unfortunately if one of those moments is on social media then there is no taking it back! At least if its in person then you can try to explain yourself. I also agree that there are many lessons learned from this story.
ReplyDeleteSo many lessons from this story! I agree with Kayli as well in that the term Knee Jerk perfectly explains the phenomenon. We are emotional being and social media is right at our finger tips giving us the chance to let it out with some degree of anonymity. I wish there was more we could do to educate people as a whole but at least we can learn from others mistakes. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteSherri -
ReplyDeleteI love how you incorporated the lessons learned from the story. I think it adds a good touch to something that can be life changing for those involved and life altering for those who have been reading about it. I also really like how you covered multiple points and put thought into this blog post.
Sherri,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you bring up that the manager talked more about the victim and the night that the victim had. It isn't like she wanted to have her body showed to the restaurant while life-saving measures were taken, nor would any "junkie" want that either. In my blog I also talked about the paradigm shift that we are starting to see in dialogue that takes place between management and customers. Do you think that this could be because of the "new" public space via Social Media? I think that you bring up some great discussion points in this blog. Thank you!