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Bill Warner is trying to figure out how you can order a pizza using Twitter.
The Avid Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID) founder is an investor in Oggi Gourmet, a Harvard Square pizza parlor launched by his brother-in-law. Like most take-out restaurants, Oggi takes orders by fax or phone. With Twitter, the shop could take orders via messages from cell phones and computers through the microblogging social network. Oggi is among the latest additions to a growing list of companies trying to use Twitter for customer service.
“Twitter is going to be a way more efficient thing than a telephone call,” Warner said. “If people already know what they want, they should be able to tweet it out and get a response in seconds and actually have a personal response from someone they know.”
The problem is, how to make sure a Twitter order doesn’t fall through the cracks, he said. “What I really would want is for the Twitter order to come up right on the register.”
Most business models use a more complicated sales process than a pizza shop. However, other companies in New England are finding ways to communicate with customers on Twitter. Since last year, companies have used the site’s search feature to find and participate in Twitter-based conversations about their brand. Cable company Comcast Corp. is widely credited with pioneering the strategy, but others have picked up on the idea.
“With Twitter, we can constantly monitor and participate in conversations and thought patterns as they happen,” said Jeff Whatcott, senior VP of marketing at Cambridge-based Brightcove Inc. “It’s much more effective to engage a prospect when they are in the moment of consideration.”
Few companies see it as a sales channel that will have much impact, but as a vehicle for improving customer service, Twitter is finding its place.
Vernon, Conn.-based ticket reseller Ticket Software LLC uses Twitter similarly for its site TicketNetwork.com. If a user mentions they can’t get tickets to Jimmy Buffett, they might get a message from content developer Kim Crandall, who goes by @ticketnetwork on Twitter.
If a firm isn’t watching its brand on Twitter, negative comments can quickly get out of control, said Boston social media consultant Laura Fitton. “If you’re in marketing and you’re not monitoring the live web on behalf of your clients, it should almost be an ethical breach at this point,” she said.
At Toy Soldiers, a long-standing Amesbury store selling games and comic books, owner Mick Galuski uses Twitter in a less strategic way. For Galuski, talking on Twitter is a lot like chatting up a customer over the counter. When new releases come in, he sends out a tweet to regulars he thinks might be interested. “I just started to engage customers where they engage me,” he said.
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