I read this headline last week with a bit of a chuckle. As someone who has spent the last 20 years in the retail industry, I would not consider this to be a new concept. I’ve always known that the way to get someone back into my store was to provide the customer with a superior experience – whether that was service, product or environment. Unfortunately, not every retailer thinks that way – but there are some who are taking service to the next level and utilizing today’s emerging technologies.

Best Buy, as example, views customer service as a marketing and brand building opportunity. They have created Twelpforce, a Twitter based customer service department. Twelpforce members do everything from route consumers to website content, demonstration links, or the latest Best Buy advertising.

What I like about this program is that it acknowledges that pain points are opportunities, and that the best way to nurture loyalty and advocacy is to show evidence that you are interested in addressing a concern, solving a problem or fixing an issue.

But these sort of opportunities to exceed customer’s expectations are not only reserved for retailers. Any company can make their customer’s experience a better one. As Best Buy shows, utilizing today’s social media is one example of several in the digital arena to immediately improve your customer’s experience.