Fan Post on Panera's Facebook Page Got Half a 1/2 mil Likes Small act of service reaps huge
How a Fan Post on Panera's Facebook Page Got Half a Million Likes Small act of customer service reaps huge rewards By Tim Nudd
Given all the rubbernecking at ChapStick-style social-media fails, and all the hijacking of corporate crowdsourcing efforts, it's tempting to see the Internet as a sea of sharks always out for brand blood. But the truth is, millions of people on Facebook are hungry for a feel-good story, and ready to praise any brand that delivers it—magnifying even the smallest, most random act of kindness into something that's celebrated across the web.
Case in point: Panera. Last week, a young man in Wilton, N.H., named Brandon Cook posted this heartwarming story on his Facebook wall about the customer service at a Panera in Nashua:
"My grandmother is passing soon with cancer. I visited her the other day and she was telling me about how she really wanted soup, but not hospital soup because she said it tasted like 'shit' she went on about how she really would like some clam chowder from Panera. Unfortunately Panera only sells clam chowder on friday. I called the manager Sue and told them the situation. I wasn't looking for anything special just a bowl of clam chowder. Without hesitation she said absolutely she would make her some clam chowder. When i went to pick up it up they wound up giving me a box of cookies as well. Its not that big of a deal to most, but to my grandma it meant a lot. I really want to thank Sue and the rest of the staff from Panera just for making my grandmother happy. Thank you so much!"
Brandon's mother Gail loved her son's post so much, she reposted it (slightly edited) on Panera's Facebook wall. It soon blew up. Since last Wednesday, it's gotten a staggering 500,000 likes and 22,000 comments. And Panera's wall has been deluged with other people thanking the brand for the actions of one store manager.
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/how-fan-post-paneras-facebook-page-got-half-million-likes-142716
= new reply since forum marked as read
when I get great service or something totally unexpectedly great.
The employee receiving the commendation gets a real boost and the boss may take that letter I wrote into consideration when raises happen or when layoffs are happening..,
It happened for me when I was a brand new travel consultant at the travel agency the bank I worked for owned.. I was totally INTO my new job and bent over backwards to do everything I could to make my clients' trips great. One of them wrote a nice letter about my service.
Out of the blue one day, my boss said "Mr. Stockwell (bank president) wants to see you in his office... what on earth did you DO?"
I was stunned and quite scared ( I had only worked there a few months)..
He told me to sit down, and then produced a piece of paper which he read to me.. and then he said .."Well done"..
whew !!
but I never forgot how that felt, so I still do it 
