Our daughter turned 12 this week. To help her celebrate, my wife and I did what all busy, modern parents do — we fired up Amazon and ordered some of the tween-ish gifts at the top of her wish list.

The day before the big day, one of the gifts we ordered still hadn’t arrived. I received an e-mail from the good folks at UPS informing me that the package would arrive during a four-hour window the following afternoon.

On her birthday, as I waited (and waited) for the package to arrive, my inner wise-ass got the better of me and I tweeted the following:

“UPS sent me a note saying they’d deliver my package today ‘between 2:30 and 6:30’ — by which they mean ‘at 6:30.’”

To my surprise, within moments, the folks who man the @UPSHelp Twitter account responded with the following:

“We’re sorry for the wait! The estimate is based on past deliveries to you. We’ll be there as soon as possible!”

Amazing, isn’t it, what happens when you take the time to listen to your customers? You can allay their fears, set their minds at ease, and keep their business — all in one step.

And thanks to social media, that step is easier than ever.

People out there are talking about our organizations all the time — right now, in fact. Until recently, we had no way of hearing what they were saying and addressing their concerns.

Now we do. Anyone with a social media account and a search query can hear what the world is saying about them and respond in kind.

Are you listening? Are you responding? Are you allaying fears and setting minds at ease? Are you solving problems?

You have the tools to do all of that.

Use them.