Crisis Case Study: Steak and Shake Refuses Service to Deaf Mom
(www.businessandblogging.com) Yesterday Laura wrote about the use of blogs as part of a company’s crisis management plan. Today I’d like to discuss a real-world PR crisis that is currently unfolding.
It’s an interesting look at how quickly an incident can take on a life of its own - before a company can even begin to respond using traditional PR methods.
First the facts:
On Jan. 23rd, Karen Putz, a hearing-impaired mother of three hearing-impaired children, decided to visit the local steak and shake drive-thru for a milkshake for herself and her 10 year old son. Since she is unable to use the intercom system, she drove to the payment window to both order and pay. Unbelievably poor customer service then ensued. The end result was that Karen, in front of her 10 year old son, was denied the opportunity to purchase the milkshakes and was then threatened with police action if she didn’t leave the drive-thru immediately.
In the old world of public relations, this event would have gone un-noticed except for Karen’s close friends and family. In fact, incidents like this happen every day and for the most part, do go un-noticed by the world at large. But this is the 21st century, and Karen has a blog, in which a Deaf Mom Shares Her World. So that afternoon, she didn’t just call her friends and family to complain about the poor service - she wrote a post on her blog.
The next day, she itemized over 80 blogs that had picked up her story. The story was also picked up that night by ABC News and Fox News. Today, approximately three weeks after it happened there are almost 1000 hits on Google when typing in the search words, “Steak and Shake” and “Deaf Mom”.
More than that, this story appears in positions #3 through #9 on the front page of Google when searching on the terms “Steak and Shake”. Currently, the Steak and Shake site itself holds positions #1 and #2, but if this continues - how long will that last?
And how is Steak and Shake handling this PR crisis?
From a traditional sense, they appear to be doing well:
- They responded almost immediately to Karen’s complaint and agreed to set up a meeting to hear her concerns.
- They published an apology:
“Steak ‘n’ Shake regrets the misunderstanding between Ms. Putz and one of our associates. Ms. Putz has been a long-time loyal customer that we greatly value. This incident has made us aware that we must continue to keep our associates focused on customer needs and satisfaction.”
- They followed through and met with Karen to disuss the incident and how they can take action to better serve individuals with disabilities in the future.
But is that enough?
While Karen has continued to update her blog with the progress of her complaint, including the follow-up actions that Steak and Shake has done, most blogs only reference the initial incident. Without corrective PR action, will the “Steak and Shake incident” develop a legendary status that continues to live on in the blogosphere long after Steak and Shake has revamped its communication equipment and its ADA policies?
What do you think?
Should Steak and Shake attempt to post comments on the blogs that are writing about the story?
Or are they better off ignoring bloggers and focusing on traditional methods of reparation?
Or is there a third alternative they could try?
Let me know what you think - and be sure and ask yourself - does your company have a crisis management plan in place to handle the rapid escalation of web 2.0??
photo credit: Tim Psych
Tags: crisis_management, customer_service, deaf_mom, steak_and_shake, steak_n_shakeRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Corporate, Public Relations, crisis management
16 opinions for Crisis Case Study: Steak and Shake Refuses Service to Deaf Mom
John
Feb 12, 2008 at 6:57 am
If I were them I’d be tempted to post comments on each blog covering their apology and the action they are taking to fix it.
Liz Fuller
Feb 12, 2008 at 7:10 am
Hi John
I was thinking about that some more this morning - how would I approach commenting on 1000 blogs? Just jump in? Try to sort the most visible? Look for ones that seemed at least more open to being fair-minded? Target the ones that are most upset? And should they try to hit all or just a good percentage and hope that others pick up on it? Or should they start their own blog and post there?
One thing I think they should be careful of if they go that route - is not to just slap an identical press release type blurb on each blog. I think it will come off badly - like they are just interested in covering themselves.
They should instead try to take the time to respond authentically to each blogger - much easier said than done.
Liz
John
Feb 12, 2008 at 7:17 am
I think for the damage done it’s worth the investment required to sit down and write a genuine reply to each blog.
I’d also be tempted to suggest they start their own blog for the future.
Liz Fuller
Feb 12, 2008 at 7:21 am
I tend to agree John -
If only they had had a blog before this happened - they could have posted something right away and other bloggers probably would have linked to that as well - it’s such a good pre-emptive strike and a quick response tool.
Taking the time to respond to each blogger would be ideal as long as they do it personally - I still think there might be a “tipping point” that they would reach where it would become less urgent to catch every one.
John
Feb 12, 2008 at 7:30 am
Absolutely, they’re never going to catch each one, but it would be a good goal to start with.
Miranda
Feb 12, 2008 at 9:30 am
I think starting their own blog is a great idea! And posting replies. This story illustrates the point that bloggers cannot be ignored. A local restaurant in my town wasn’t very good, so I wrote a review on my blog. Since the company doesn’t have its own Web site, guess what’s #1? I don’t think that the restaurant has even addressed my concerns.
Contrast this with another local business. When they saw a negative review on my blog, the manager posted a comment addressing the issues. I’ll go back to his place (as will many of my readers), but not to the restaurant (along with many of my readers).
Liz Fuller
Feb 12, 2008 at 9:59 am
Hi Miranda
That’s a great example. It’s encouraging to hear that some businesses are understanding the influence that blogs have on word of mouth marketing.
Lisa Callsen
Feb 12, 2008 at 10:19 pm
What an excellent example! As a business gal, I would have done damage control a long time ago. I know that big corporations don’t act fast. As a member of the Deaf community and advocate for all things Deaf related most businesses really drag their feet if they don’t think that an issue is worthy of addressing immediately. That’s part of the problem, they may not have thought at the time of their apology comment how far this could go.
Since not too many people in the corporate world think with their hearts, they don’t see the importance of Deaf awareness, disability awareness or anything that is based on matters of people. Which is the biggest investment a business can make.
A blog would have done wonders. Responding others blogs would have been a great thing. Using a virtual assistant on this project would have been perfect. An outsourced project can negate defensiveness or PR type responses that may come from an employee. They might say too much or too little.
In our busy busy lives, we want to connect through our hearts. A blog allows a personal reflection to the business. Feeling that even I am important to them.
Oh and as for your third alternative? Hire me, I’ll train them and then consult them with valuable marketing ideas to turn this thing around. (wink)
Liz Fuller
Feb 13, 2008 at 7:23 am
Hi Lisa
What a fantastic idea - contact them and tell them you can help them avoid this debacle the next time by bringing them up to speed on both web 2.0 and diversity awareness!!
What a great foot in the door!
Online Reputation Management and Business Blogging
Feb 13, 2008 at 7:39 am
[…] Liz blogged about Steak and Shake and mentioned how unfortunate it was that Steak and Shake didn’t already have a corporate […]
Chelle
Feb 13, 2008 at 11:28 am
I think I’m going to have to agree with the other commenter’s who say S&S need to start mea culping all over blogs and pretty quick. I would imagine before too long the effort would be noticed and picked up by most of the remaining blogs who ran the story in the first place.
I don’ t know if it’s true elsewhere but here in Eugene/Springfield Oregon there are not a lot of restaurants that have blogs or even very active (up to date) websites. I’ve often thought it would be a good business to start - offering web creating and upkeep to local restaurants, keeping their hours, events and menu’s updated. Why don’t online phone books offer this service?
Apparently I have a lot of thoughts this morning. :)
Liz Fuller
Feb 13, 2008 at 11:32 am
Hi Chelle,
That does sound like a great service. There are ghost writers that small businesses or bloggers can hire to create content for their blogs. But I haven’t heard too much of it going the other way - where a business solicits other businesses and offers to create blogs for them.
Kind of falls in line with Laura’s post for today on businesses that help individuals and businesses manage their online presence.
Lots of opportunities!
DeafMom
Feb 13, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Hi, I’m Karen, the Deaf Mom who was denied service at Steak ‘n Shake. I’m giving them the opportunity to make their restaurants accessible through http://www.inclusionsolutions.com. If Steak ‘n Shake takes us up on that, this would easily generate some great publicity for them. Let’s hope it goes in that direction!
Liz Fuller
Feb 13, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Hi Karen
Inclusion Solutions looks like a good innovation that closes a gap (that I never even realized existed until I read your post). I like the fact that you’ve come up with a concrete solution for them to rectify this situation - it’s a win-win for them and for the hearing impaired community.
I’m curious how you came up with this idea rather than just an apology or a monetary compensation to you?
Also, if it’s possible, can you comment on their reaction to this - did they seem surprised by the rapid escalation in the blogosphere? do they seem aware of all the press swirling around them? and do you think that is what is motivating them to take more action than if you hadn’t escalated it?
thanks
Liz
(update - to see Karen’s responses to these questions please read her full interview on Thursday 02/14’s post!!)
Interview with Karen Putz: Deaf Mom Denied Service at Steak and Shake
Feb 14, 2008 at 12:02 am
[…] Tuesday’s post, I wrote about the PR nightmare facing Steak and Shake after an employee denied drive-thru service to Deaf Mom and Blogger, Karen Putz. With your help, […]
Deaf Mom Turned Away by Steak Follow Up | Just Thinkin'
Feb 14, 2008 at 5:12 pm
[…] sure you take a look at her follow up post that brings things up to date. I recommend also reading Liz Fuller’s write up on the incident and subsequent interview with Karen since she takes a more in depth look at what this could mean […]
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: