A story about soccer, coffee and social media
It’s a cold, rainy Sunday morning. Turf fields make playing soccer possible on days like today. We’re ready.
I mean, my son is ready, he’ll be the one playing. I’ll be a spectator in the stands. I’m also the driver. There’s no time for my morning coffee, we have to leave at 7:45, but I fill my trusty carafe for later.
We load up the car. Soccer gear, chair, rain protection, and towels…. So I don’t spill my coffee in all the confusion, I set it down in the garage and make a mental note to pick it up later.
“Time to go!”
We rush out the door and get on the road. It’s about a 50-minute trip. We’re on time, we have everything we need, everything’s going well—except, then it dawns on me; no coffee. I never picked up my carafe. It’s still back in the garage. There’s no time to turn around, and today is about my son’s game, not my coffee. I’ll just pick up a cup someplace when we get there, while my son warms up before the game.
I don’t drink a lot of coffee, but I do need that first cup, at least.
I am thinking McDonalds or Panera, but they turn out to be a little out of my way. I don’t want to miss the start of the game. Then I spot a Circle K gas station literally just two minutes from the soccer field. I drop my son off, and head back out for coffee.
I’ll be honest, I’m not expecting much from a gas station, but when I walk in, I’m impressed. It’s a clean store. The coffee options are plentiful. I find a dark roast, a great station for milk and cream, and another area (again, clean) with sugar, stirrers, and more. The attendant is nice and friendly. I like this place.
My first sip surprises me. Good coffee, I think to myself. I enjoy the rest of my coffee, and the whole time I am thinking, I need to go to Circle K for coffee more often.
In fact, when I call my mother before the game, just to chat about nothing in particular, I mention my recent coffee experience and recommend she give Circle K’s coffee a try (an unexpected tip!). Later, during halftime, I fire off a tweet just to let others know of my new found coffee spot. Coffee and social media–a good combo!
Forgot coffee at home ??♂️
So got to learn that @CircleKStores coffee is legit ?? #Cornelius #NC#learnsomethingneweveryday— Eric Kasimov (@Eric_Kaz) January 28, 2018
I don’t have any expectations for my tweet, I’m not looking to get anything from anyone, I just wanted to say something kind about Circle K. I mean, when I’m dissatisfied with a business I sometimes tweet about it, so why not tweet the nice things, too. It’s not every day my thoughtless coffee disasters turn out this well.
It’s been some time, since that soccer game and my tweet. I haven’t heard a peep from Circle K. Thanks to that all-important @, they must have been notified about my friendly tweet, but they didn’t respond. It’s not that I sent the tweet expecting a reward, or anything—if I had a goal in mind at all, it was to do my part to make sure Circle K stays in business so I can go back and get more coffee. But you would think they would monitor this sort of thing.
Social media is not a game. It’s real business. There’s positive and negative feedback, and each has an impact on your bottom line. Every time your customers say something to you or about you, that’s your opportunity to make something happen. And to make no response at all may be the worst thing you can do.
It’s not about whether or not you have an account with this or that network, it’s a matter of what you do to engage with people on your accounts, ESPECIALLY when they contact you first!
Let me ask you this; if someone contacts you to say “hey, thanks for the coffee,” or whatever else, how are you going to respond? Will you even know the message has come in?
Are you paying attention? Because your customers are.
Let’s connect on Instagram. We can discuss coffee and social media if you like.
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