Measuring the impact of Twitter Redux -- imroving PSNH's reputation

.When I was in my 20s and a journalist, Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) was probalby the most hated brand in the state. It was building the detestable Seabrook nuclear power station, and had some of the highest electric rates in the country. I can remember titling a caption under a photo of the CEO looking out his window in Manchester as "Bill Smith (can't remember his name any more)  looks down on New Hampshire." 

So imagine my surprise to find them on Twitter, and even greater surprise when I started reading all the nice things that people were saying. ....amazing what listening and talking to your customers can do for you, isn't it?

Comments

[Kevin Micalizzi, Dimdim Web Conferencing]

KD-
I have to admit, I was one of the many NH residents who didn't care for PSNH. My attitude has changed since the December ice storms here in NH. We went without power for 7 days after the storm and I appreciate PSNH's response and outreach program.

Each day I would run from my house to the local Starbucks (30 minutes away) to get online for a few hours. On one of those trips I discovered @psnh on Twitter. There wasn't much their team tweeting could do to help us, but it was encouraging to see how much they were trying to reach out and communicate. They also had updates at least twice a day at www.psnhnews.com. We read that religiously from our cell phones.

I know there's a push now to investigate PSNH's handling of the crisis. I'm not sure what these people are looking for, besides a political scapegoat. I saw first-hand the incredible damage from the storm. In my area we could not find a main road that didn't have at least one power line down (for several days after the storm.) It looks like PSNH recognized they couldn't handle the repairs alone alone and brought in crews from out of state (and Canada). A group of us actually cheered (honking horns and waving like maniacs) when we saw 9 utility trucks racing into NH from Quebec 2 days into the outage.

There is such a lesson to be learned from this experience. People will always feel the need to assign blame (even when it is a natural disaster,) but PSNH clearly stepped up their outreach during this outage in a way that kept me better informed and gave me the feeling that everything possible was being done to get the power restored.

I appreciate the very difficult and dangerous work the crews did as well as the long hours the support and marketing teams did to help NH residents feel there was someone listening who understood what they were going through. Many PSNH employees went without power during the worst of it -- but the company didn't shut down, instead they stepped up.

Thanks!

-k
Kevin Micalizzi, Community Manager
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