Episode 12 - Square Cow Moovers

The folks at Square Cow Moovers clearly have a sense of humor (note the two o’s in their name), but they know that providing outstanding customer service is no laughing matter. A residential and commercial moving company based in Austin, Texas, Square Cow Moovers boasts a coveted 5-star rating on Yelp, and asks its customers to rate every move on a scale of 1 (“cow patty”) to 5 (“cow bell”).

Wade Lombard is a founder and co-owner of Square Cow Moovers, and he spoke with Dan Moriarty and me about how a local business can provide amazing customer service as well as (or even better than) the big guys.

Some of the most quotable moments of this episode include:

• “People have a good or bad experience and they immediately tell tens of thousands of people, and that power can be incredibly helpful for some companies or it can put some businesses out of business.”

• “I can show someone how to move an armoire, but I can’t show them how to be a good person.”

• “We’ve never had a client call us and say, ‘You know I’m really upset because you guys just provided me with too much information.”

• “We do try to give our clients as many outlets as possible to share with us if something is happening, during or after their move, that isn’t agreeing with them.”

• “To get defensive or to try to pick a fight online is about the most worthless thing you can do.”

• “Responding quickly is more important now than ever before.”

Here are the highlights of Episode 12 and where to find them:

1:54 A brief overview of the company and its unique name

4:32 What it’s like to run a local business today when ratings and reviews are so public and impactful

6:09 Square Cow’s commitment “to providing unparalleled service” and its hiring practices

10:21 How and where customers complain if something goes wrong

13:03 How the response approach changes based on the customer’s channel of choice

14:58 What the company does with positive feedback and reviews

17:33 Wade shares some unintended consequences of customers posting on social media

20:50 Wade talks about small businesses that “stick their head in the sand” when it comes to social media and online reviews

22:11 Wade’s (fantastic) advice for other small businesses

If you have had a great customer service experience on social media, we want to hear about it! Please tweet us using the hashtag #FOCS and we will try to interview that brand on a future podcast.