Nordstrom does Twitter right

This morning I popped over to my local Nordstrom to check out what's new for Spring. David Angiulo helped me choose some styling shirts that I can wear with my Peter Millar blue suit.

As we were heading to the cash register, he asked me if I'm on Twitter. It was a very low key, very casual question. It did not feel pushy in any way.

"Absolutely," I said. "Are you?"

He gave me his card and included his Twitter handle @NordstromDave

Damn. I wanted to learn more.

Dave says he uses Twitter to keep his customers informed. He tweets photos of clothes he likes.

Sometimes he comments on what's happening, like this tweet on the Academy Awards: "I think my vote goes to Colin Firth for best dressed last night..or maybe Tom Hanks-just proves again you can't go wrong with a classic look"

Dave also told me that he has a bunch of clients who he sends direct messages to. He knows their taste in clothing and when something new comes in, he informs the client, privately, right away. This real-time effort frequently generates sales right away — Dave already has the customer’s size and payment information and he ships the item right out. Brilliant.

In a corporate environment where many companies fear letting employees use social networking, Nordstrom is doing it right. Yes, there is a corporate @Nordstrom Twitter account, but Dave's personal touch is a fantastic way to use Twitter for business, pushing the interaction down to people who work directly with customers.

To be sure, this is Dave's initiative. He's making it happen. But the effort is fully supported by Nordstrom. Dave has access to computers and iPads at work to tweet and he usually uses his personal iPhone for the photos.

Ex-Girlfriend jeans

As I was checking out his Twitter feed upon returning to my office, I found myself fascinated by a video that Dave pointed to about Ex-Girlfriend Jeans. Dave's not too fond of them. Can't say I blame him. Others jumped into the Twitter discussion.

This is how you use Twitter at work!

I'll DM @NordstromDave next time I need something. I want to make sure he's there before I go in.

Comments

[colleen]

is their a female shopping version of @NordstromDave?

[Marianneworley.wordpress.com]

Thanks for sharing this. Too often we hear about organizations that don't trust their employees to use social media to promote their products and services.

[David Meerman Scott]

Colleen -- I don't know. Why don't you tweet @NordstromDave and ask?!

Marianne -- that's exactly why I like this. We hear about disasters and fear. Not the good stuff.

[David Kirkpatrick]

Very cool use of Twitter. Loved the post, David.

[Girlgamy]

Great post DMS! Surprised to hear the Nordstrom is in favor of it, but glad. Would be so beneficial if other stores took note of this and started practicing. Also Nieman Marcusis doing a promotion on SCVNGER.

[Bob Collins]

Very Nice and Very Natural -

Dave with Nordstrom cares and is passionate about his business, his customers and developing a way to connect with them on a personal branded level. That is what Twitter enables and scales to so well.

All brands, particularly the largest, should view themselves as the local general store, particularly when they have a geo-physical presence. In the automated and rushed world of today, the personal touch is even more valued and finding a natural, unforced way to showcase it more, will serve the brand, the customer and the community well.

Or -"How I learned to stop fearing Social Media and let our employee service our customers and love what they do."

Its what @Ramon_DeLeon with Dominoes did so effectively in Chicago.

~@RobertCollins

[Chuck]

A brilliant example of using technology to care about his customers - most probably feel in a 1-on-1 relationship. You can bet many of them are telling friends, "Go see Dave @ Nordstroms, he's the guy I go to for my clothes." Thatnks so much for sharing this great story David.
-Chuck Kossuth

[Tony Faustino]

Maybe it's coincidence, but it looks like both Dave and Nordstrom are practicing principles from three (3) great books:

* Trusting Your Employees to Responsibly Communicate in Social Media Channels: Open Leadership by Charlene Li

* Taking Individual Initiative: Poke the Box by Seth Godin

* Leveraging Time-Sensitive Information to Generate Sales Leads & Revenues: Real-Time Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott

Way cool.

[twitter.com/vkippes]

Sharing this post with my sales team. Way to go @nordstomdave

[NORDSTROMdave]

Thanks for the Post David...it is much appreciated.

Collen -- one of my favorite Nordstrom tweeters is @NordySanda. She's awesome!

~NORDSTROMdave

[David Meerman Scott]

NordstromDave - thanks for jumping in. Keep up the great work. See you next time!

[Lucy Thorpe]

What we have here is a return to good old fashioned customer service - the kind from way back, when each town just had one or two department stores and they knew their customers personally. Funny that it takes new technology to make this kind of thing possible again!

[Helena]

Good features from twitter right?

[Fazal Mayar]

thats great...twitter can be a good marketing tool if used right!

[Jmcnichol]

I enjoyed your post. It's great that Nordstrom's trusts their employees enough to allow them to include their twitter handle on their business cards. Wish I could say the same for my employer...

http://smartblogs.com/insights/2011/02/02/are-your-associations-business-cards-social-media-friendly/

[Todd Schnick]

i love this story. and i love what dave is doing. but what i love most is that nordstrom is empowering him to do this...

[Kathy Mayer]

Working on my boss to outfit entire sales staff with Twitter accts; forwarding this her way now!

[Illysa]

Nordstrom has a history of trusting employees to make the right decisions. They also put more effort up front hiring the right employees.

On the other hand, I wish my local Nordstrom's petite department employees were as on the ball as Nordstromdave. For some reason, they think short women want to be served by people with no sense of style!

[Pdxlmh]

This is a great post, and one that I will pass on to our sales team as well. We have been discussing the most effective way for them to use Twitter, and this story does an eloquent job of summing it all up. It is in the store's best interest to translate the 1-1 in-store customer service they are known for to the social channels. The company has come a long way since one of the Nordstrom family executives was a guest speaker in one of my MBA classes at the University of WA in 1996/7. When asked about their plans for the internet, he said, it was probably not relevant to their business.

[Ricky Yean]

Hey David,

Thanks for pointing out @NordstromDave's great initiative.

I am not sure if you can mandate this from the top. Dave has a genuine love and expertise when it comes to fashion and he is only succeeding because it shows in how he uses Twitter. What do you think?

- Ricky
CEO, http://Crowdbooster.com

[edward boches]

Yes, I know Dave well, having benefited from his use of SoMe. This is a great shout out. But you didn't get the full treatment. :-) I will share my example in a post, as well. Thanks for the spur.

[Proposal Software]

Twitter has rocked the world. I read countless posts about using twitter to get alot of business everyday and now i am thinking to jump to twitter as well. I think we must have a team in our company to utilize the social media effectively. i also think that the customers we get from social media are long lasting and give alot of references. This is what i think i dont know if its true actually. Ill appreciate if any one of you could share anything about this with me.

[Bob Williams]

Incredible story of customer focus. Thanks for sharing.

[aluminium kozijnen]

That one smart work.. When something new cloths coming he sharing that updates in twitter.. Then only customers will come easily.. This is great effort to promote our business.. Nowadays this social networking sites gives lot of business..

[Pepe Fanjul]

This real-time effort frequently generates sales right away — Dave already has the customer’s size and payment information and he ships the item right out.

[Nic Windley]

Excellent example of empowering employees and building relationships beyond the confines of shop walls.

Thanks for sharing Dave.

[chandani]

That is great and real use of twitter. I recently had similar experience with Mango(clothing retail is Europe) and just one tweet to their account told me exactly what to do next for my exchange.

[Tatyana Gann]

Love this post David! Wow.. Great PR for Nordstrom. Natural selling..Twitter power rocks!

It is awesome to see that sales professionals like Dave put their heart into what they do and stay connected with their customers.
Personal touch via Twitter..

Thank you again David. Your posts are really amazing!

Tatyana Gann

[Drew]

That's the Nordie way, No? Nice post and Dave's a natural!

[Nicole]

Great post! It is a great read and very informative... Thanks for sharing...

[Derek Cromwell]

David,

Thanks for this - this is a great example of -good- things that happen. Man, how often do we hear about the bad stuff? I was so done with hearing about corporate brands failing left and right in their social media outreach this was really refreshing.

What's more is that it sounds like it's working for him. The important thing to point out is that he's selling the business without selling it. He knows what his customers want to hear because he's in touch with their interests, he's actively listening and feeding them (you!) what's relevant. Definitely doing Twitter right. Bravo.