One thing that I truly love about my job is that I am passionate about it so it doesn’t feel like work.  I am fascinated by the way that the social ecosystem works and its nuances, but it’s not my only passion or hobby.  Shocking, I know.

Aside from all things social, I am a passionate imbiber of craft beers and home brewing.  In general the two rarely intersect, so I was ecstatic, to say the least with my Christmas Eve experience.

A few weeks ago, I attended the Sam Adams unveiling of their new beer Infinium and ever since have been looking to get my hands on a bottle or two.  After striking out a few times at my favorite stores, I shot out a tweet asking if anyone had any insight into stores with the elusive beer in stock. Soon after I received this Tweet from someone who I have never met, but am grateful for:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/mmc4999/status/18294785798307840″]

Shortly after the local Whole Foods store responded:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18297634733170688″]

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18296481312149504″]

Now I typically do not shop at Whole Foods and the store is a hike from my home, but this Tweet was an offer I could not refuse. This olive branch of sorts was also a great example of how large businesses can be hyper-local with their social efforts and how local businesses can compete with the big boys.

In this case the big guy won, but in a way it was because they out hustled the little guys. By offering to hold two bottles Whole Foods used Twitter to drive a $40 sale that could have turned into more if it wasn’t 9:30 in the morning and I wasn’t leaving town for the holiday weekend. The local liquor stores that I contacted via phone wouldn’t hold bottles for me when I called and noted that it was a one per customer and a “Good luck, they’re going quick,” statement or two that left me driving around with nothing to show for it. The guy behind the Whole Foods account got it and made a great social sale.

Some takeaways from this whole encounter that are applicable to businesses at the local level are:

• Grow big ears
• Treat every referral as a potential sale, even if it doesn’t look like a large win
• Go above and beyond
• Have fun with the customer
• Small niceties can turn a happy customer into an advocate
• Keep hustling

Sometimes it’s the little things that matter – in this case holding the bottles for me made my day and also made my belly happy. It’s also an example of where the real worked meets the social world for a collective win. Do you know of any companies doing social well on the local level?

One thing that I truly love about my job is that I am passionate about it so it doesn’t feel like work.  I am fascinated by the way that the social ecosystem works and its nuances, but it’s not my only passion or hobby.  Shocking, I know.

Aside from all things social, I am a passionate imbiber of craft beers and home brewing.  In general the two rarely intersect, so I was ecstatic, to say the least with my Christmas Eve experience.

A few weeks ago, I attended the Sam Adams unveiling of their new beer Infinium and ever since have been looking to get my hands on a bottle or two.  After striking out a few times at my favorite stores, I shot out a tweet asking if anyone had any insight into stores with the elusive beer in stock. Soon after I received this Tweet from someone who I have never met, but am grateful for:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/mmc4999/status/18294785798307840″]

Shortly after the local Whole Foods store responded:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18297634733170688″]

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18296481312149504″]

Now I typically do not shop at Whole Foods and the store is a hike from my home, but this Tweet was an offer I could not refuse. This olive branch of sorts was also a great example of how large businesses can be hyper-local with their social efforts and how local businesses can compete with the big boys.

In this case the big guy won, but in a way it was because they out hustled the little guys. By offering to hold two bottles Whole Foods used Twitter to drive a $40 sale that could have turned into more if it wasn’t 9:30 in the morning and I wasn’t leaving town for the holiday weekend. The local liquor stores that I contacted via phone wouldn’t hold bottles for me when I called and noted that it was a one per customer and a “Good luck, they’re going quick,” statement or two that left me driving around with nothing to show for it. The guy behind the Whole Foods account got it and made a great social sale.

Some takeaways from this whole encounter that are applicable to businesses at the local level are:

• Grow big ears
• Treat every referral as a potential sale, even if it doesn’t look like a large win
• Go above and beyond
• Have fun with the customer
• Small niceties can turn a happy customer into an advocate
• Keep hustling

Sometimes it’s the little things that matter – in this case holding the bottles for me made my day and also made my belly happy. It’s also an example of where the real worked meets the social world for a collective win. Do you know of any companies doing social well on the local level?

One thing that I truly love about my job is that I am passionate about it so it doesn’t feel like work.  I am fascinated by the way that the social ecosystem works and its nuances, but it’s not my only passion or hobby.  Shocking, I know.

Aside from all things social, I am a passionate imbiber of craft beers and home brewing.  In general the two rarely intersect, so I was ecstatic, to say the least with my Christmas Eve experience.

A few weeks ago, I attended the Sam Adams unveiling of their new beer Infinium and ever since have been looking to get my hands on a bottle or two.  After striking out a few times at my favorite stores, I shot out a tweet asking if anyone had any insight into stores with the elusive beer in stock. Soon after I received this Tweet from someone who I have never met, but am grateful for:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/mmc4999/status/18294785798307840″]

Shortly after the local Whole Foods store responded:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18297634733170688″]

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18296481312149504″]

Now I typically do not shop at Whole Foods and the store is a hike from my home, but this Tweet was an offer I could not refuse. This olive branch of sorts was also a great example of how large businesses can be hyper-local with their social efforts and how local businesses can compete with the big boys.

In this case the big guy won, but in a way it was because they out hustled the little guys. By offering to hold two bottles Whole Foods used Twitter to drive a $40 sale that could have turned into more if it wasn’t 9:30 in the morning and I wasn’t leaving town for the holiday weekend. The local liquor stores that I contacted via phone wouldn’t hold bottles for me when I called and noted that it was a one per customer and a “Good luck, they’re going quick,” statement or two that left me driving around with nothing to show for it. The guy behind the Whole Foods account got it and made a great social sale.

Some takeaways from this whole encounter that are applicable to businesses at the local level are:

• Grow big ears
• Treat every referral as a potential sale, even if it doesn’t look like a large win
• Go above and beyond
• Have fun with the customer
• Small niceties can turn a happy customer into an advocate
• Keep hustling

Sometimes it’s the little things that matter – in this case holding the bottles for me made my day and also made my belly happy. It’s also an example of where the real worked meets the social world for a collective win. Do you know of any companies doing social well on the local level?

One thing that I truly love about my job is that I am passionate about it so it doesn’t feel like work.  I am fascinated by the way that the social ecosystem works and its nuances, but it’s not my only passion or hobby.  Shocking, I know.

Aside from all things social, I am a passionate imbiber of craft beers and home brewing.  In general the two rarely intersect, so I was ecstatic, to say the least with my Christmas Eve experience.

A few weeks ago, I attended the Sam Adams unveiling of their new beer Infinium and ever since have been looking to get my hands on a bottle or two.  After striking out a few times at my favorite stores, I shot out a tweet asking if anyone had any insight into stores with the elusive beer in stock. Soon after I received this Tweet from someone who I have never met, but am grateful for:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/mmc4999/status/18294785798307840″]

Shortly after the local Whole Foods store responded:

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18297634733170688″]

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/WholeFoodsRVR/status/18296481312149504″]

Now I typically do not shop at Whole Foods and the store is a hike from my home, but this Tweet was an offer I could not refuse. This olive branch of sorts was also a great example of how large businesses can be hyper-local with their social efforts and how local businesses can compete with the big boys.

In this case the big guy won, but in a way it was because they out hustled the little guys. By offering to hold two bottles Whole Foods used Twitter to drive a $40 sale that could have turned into more if it wasn’t 9:30 in the morning and I wasn’t leaving town for the holiday weekend. The local liquor stores that I contacted via phone wouldn’t hold bottles for me when I called and noted that it was a one per customer and a “Good luck, they’re going quick,” statement or two that left me driving around with nothing to show for it. The guy behind the Whole Foods account got it and made a great social sale.

Some takeaways from this whole encounter that are applicable to businesses at the local level are:

• Grow big ears
• Treat every referral as a potential sale, even if it doesn’t look like a large win
• Go above and beyond
• Have fun with the customer
• Small niceties can turn a happy customer into an advocate
• Keep hustling

Sometimes it’s the little things that matter – in this case holding the bottles for me made my day and also made my belly happy. It’s also an example of where the real worked meets the social world for a collective win. Do you know of any companies doing social well on the local level?