Well, it’s that time again, Memorial Day weekend is here and I thought I would take another look at how Home Depot and Lowe’s are doing via Social Media/Twitter. Here’s the post from last year.

First, let’s compare how many are following each Twitter account:

Home Depot has 22, 350 followers and is following 21, 022.
Lowe’s has 7,355 followers and is following 3,700.

Home Depot now has a team of people helping with the social media work, so you can see how serious they are about social media. Another plus to me. I also like the fact that HD follows back most of the people that are following them. Lowe’s – not so much.

Second, Home Depot is still leading the way with interactions between customers, either positive or negative comments. I am very impressed with how they improving their in store experience and really listening to their customers. More about this later.

Lowe’s is doing an ok job, much better then last year, but they still need to improve. Many of their responses regarding negative comments are the same. Very robotish, which almost makes it sound like they really don’t care. “Doug, I’m sorry to hear about your store experience. We’d like to know more. You can reach us here: ”

Third, in store experience, I mentioned last year that if I have the choice, I usually go to Lowe’s over Home Depot. But I have tell you, the past two months, I’ve chosen to spend my money at Home Depot. Part of it is that they had some of the products I was looking for, but I have to say, both times I was there, I was greeted by employees and they were very helpful. I’m not taking anything away from Lowe’s because I still enjoy going to their store, but HD is impressing me with the improvements they are making. Keep it up Home Depot.

So, there you have it, how both Lowe’s and Home Depot are doing via social media one year later.

Final Grade, Home Depot A- and Lowe’s C+. Maybe I’ll do another review next year. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.

As I reflected back on my last post (Two different experiences in-store service & social media presentations (using Twitter) with Home Depot & Lowes.), I wanted to talk in this post on how Home Depot (HD) is impressing me with their social media presence. 

 1. HD cares about its customers! 

First off, from Sarah’s (HD’s poster) tweets on Twitter I can really see HD cares and wants to be involved with how they can improve their stores. See the tweet below - 

 @blankuser “we’re investing in improvements to customer service & inventory mgmt. Your feedbk helps us locate areas that need more help…”

 From HomeDepot @dougmcsorley “Yes! everywhere. All associates have been through new training (me too!). Tell me what you’ve run into and I’ll pass it along”

5:31 PM May 26th from web in reply to dougmcsorley

When you hear immediate feedback from the company, it makes the customer feel like their being heard & knows that the company is looking into their issues. In my last post, I talked about how I normally shop at the Lowe’s in our area because I enjoy the experience more and find the staff much more helpful. But from my conversation with HD, it sounds like they’re trying to improve the in-store experience and I’m excited to see the changes at our local store. 

 2. We’re sorry we messed up, how can we fix it?  

HD seems to be focused on the customer and the concerns seem genuine. See the posting below- 

@blankuser “I’m sorry to hear that – we’ve been making imprvments. I gather feedback and pass it along. Try us again soon”

We know from time to time companies mess up. However, it is how the company reacts and fixes that issue, that is sometimes more important. From the HD postings, they are really using Twitter well to help resolve those customers’ issues. As more people start using Twitter, I think this will be a huge benefit for company’s to use Twitter. 

The most important step for companies thinking about using Twitter is to have a social media plan before starting. In order to be successful a plan is necessary to make sure everybody is on board. Remember that 40% drop-off right after the start; I talked about in the last post. Sounds familiar? Not only do they have to commit to using those tools on a regular basis and build their relationships with their customers, but they also must monitor what their customers are saying about them.  Tools like Techrigy’s monitoring application is key to companies succeeding in the social media world. HD is doing a great job at building their relationships with their customers and keeping us updated on changes within the company on a regular basis.

It’s also great to see postings like this from Sarah regarding what’s being said within the HD corporate walls. I think this is a truly awesome message and I really liked reading this from her before Memorial Day weekend -

“Our CEO just reminded us all to remember the meaning of Memorial Day and read the names of 10 HD associates who made the ultimate sacrifice”

5:31 PM May 22nd from web

 3. Posting how-to videos, allowing customers to learn!  

 The how-to videos on Twitter (via YouTube) are great and very helpful. 

How can companies grow their customers knowledge on their products? What better way then using YouTube to show how they can use their products. Growing up I remember HD was one of the first lumber stores to have “How to” clinics to show their customers ways to use their products, build different things and much more (which they still run). What better way then to show them online now? It’s truly an awesome idea. I think this is great, as a homeowner I find it really informative and highly useful. 

 4. Informative & helpful postings! 

Many companies on Twitter are just posting about sales, themselves or other things. HD is doing a great job at standing out above the crowd. They know that one to one relationships are key to a successful Twitter experience. HD posts about interesting facts, things that followers can use to improve their homes and more. 

 @blankUser “Great project for your climate, save water & time. To remove the grass you need to get ready to dig! Or rent a sod cutter from us”

 I knew you could rent tools from HD, but I’ve never even heard of a sod cutter before. 

 HD is also letting customers know about on going in shop workshops. 

“Another great way to use Twitter to help promote your brand. Free tonight? Attend a Free ‘Do It Herself’ workshop. We’ll talk about growing and maintaining your yard The Home Depot Home Improver Club. “

 Notice how their promoting the HD Home Improver Club. 

 5. Give us feedback on how we can improve our company. We’re listening! 

Finally, they want feedback from users regarding their stores and website. Brilliant! Listen to our customers and see what we can change. It’s fast, free and you can talk directly to your customers. How cool is that? 

 @blankUser “Great! We don’t have a spot on our website yet but that’s a great idea. You can tell me the store location and I’ll pass along fdbk”

What company, sports team, individual, etc has impressed you with their interaction on twitter, facebook or other social media websites? Post your comments below. 

I hope you enjoyed this posting. As I was doing my last post about HD & Lowe’s, I found out many ways that HD was really impressing me & I wanted to share them with you. Maybe you learned something more about ways to use Twitter better as I have & I hope it helps you on your path to success on using Twitter. I think HD is doing an great job at it. Awesome job Sarah! I’d like to see more companies use Twitter in this way & I think we will in due time. That’s all for now folks. Thanks for reading & have a great week. @dougmcsorley

Updated 2010 version, “A year later, another look at Home Depot and Lowes….”

Lowe's

The other day I was sitting back, thinking of things that I needed to do in order to get ready for Memorial Day weekend. Two places that I spend a lot of time throughout the year are Lowe’s & Home Depot. I enjoy spending my time at both places, but I have to say I enjoy spending my time more at Lowe’s then HD (Home Depot). Why? The customer service, product selection, staff & cleanliness here in Rochester is much better at Lowe’s. Maybe it’s different in other cities, but I find if I ever have a question, I can usually find a Lowe’s associate much faster and more helpful then I can at HD.  Sometimes there’s an exception, but for the most part I find this to be true. How are your in-store experiences with Lowe’s & HD?

I also notice that because I like my experiences more at Lowe’s I end up spending more there.  Just ask my wife. I like how clean Lowe’s is and how much easier it is to find products. Most of my neighbors and friends have the same opinion about the two stores. If I need something quickly I may end up going to HD, but more times then not I’ll end up going to Lowe’s.

Home Depot

Now if you visit both of their twitter accounts’ (@Lowes & @HomeDepot), I’m more impressed with what HD is doing with their twitter account then Lowe’s. HD’s customer service is much more impressive. HD has been using YouTube to show case projects that you can do around the house , eLearning videos & much more. I did notice that the Lowe’s account (1409 followers) seems to be newer and they’re trying to catch up to HD (with over 7K followers). HD is also much more interactive and responsive with others, posting back answers to questions and much more informative & interactive. I hope to see many new exciting things with Lowe’s in the future.

I will say Lowe’s and HD are providing great customer service in their own way. Kudos to both of the people running their accounts (Jesse @Lowes & Sarah @HomeDepot). They’re both doing a great job!

In closing, I have to say my online experience is changing my views of both companies. Will it change my shopping preferences, maybe? Time will tell. I’m very impressed by the quick responses I’ve gotten with Sarah @HomeDepot and I look forward to seeing some changes at the local HD store. As time goes on, I think Lowes will get better on Twitter and I’m looking forward to that.

What are your thoughts on these two companies using Twitter? I’d love to hear your comments!

Coming up, I’ll go more in depth on how HD impresses me with their social media presence in the next blog.

I hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend with your family and friends. I wanted to pass along my congrats to the Syracuse Men’s Lacrosse team for winning the NCAA tournament 2 years in row on Memorial Day! And to all of our troops – thank you!

If you enjoyed reading this post, check out the 2010 version “A year later, another look at Home Depot and Lowes….”