PART 3 of 4 ─ When Dave Carroll wrote "United Breaks Guitars" about his prized instrument's unfortunate run-in with baggage handlers, he told his brother and fellow bandmate Don the date of the video shoot.
Don, a fulltime firefighter, had to work that day. "I said OK," Carroll recalls. "Probably not that many people will watch it. No big deal."
No big deal? Within four days of the video's posting on YouTube it had a million hits. Two and a half years later, it's been viewed 11.5 million times and Dave Carroll's name is synonymous with customer service. He discusses the rise of a whole new career in this video, the third of four segments of an interview with Social Media Today/The Social Customer:
"Some people think that because of "United Breaks Guitars," I have to choose to be either a speaker or a musician or an author," says Carroll. "... I'm a songwriter first and I always bring music into whatever I do. Music's always a part of everything I do."
His penchant for strong customer service stems in part from his mother. In his early days in music, his mom handled mailed requests for his CDs by knitting a dish cloth to enclose them in padding. It was just a touch of a little something extra. "Customer service isn't rocket science," he says. "It's basic respect for others."
Carroll's first book (yes, he wrote it himself) comes out in May. The title: is "United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media."
Next: Dave Carroll on social media.
Previous Dave Carroll video posts:
'United Breaks Guitars' Made Dave Carroll a Customer Service Celebrity
'United Breaks Guitars' Sparks New Customer Complaint Resolution Model
Reach Dave Carroll at DaveCarrollMusic.com