At least once a week I read a new blog post or article in some industry report touting customer service as the new marketing. There are even groups cropping up in SV and other tech cities for just this purpose, conducting webinars, dedicating entire conferences to shedding light on this new movement- huh? I must be missing something, or I’m just too dense to see it- here’s how I see it….
There I am, at least once a week at the grocery store deli counter, waiting in some haphazard line, really more of a crowd or gathering, hoping everyone else is as fair as me and knows who got there in what order. The longer the wait the more milling and wandering occurs and the order becomes unknown again, which always leads some major rule follower to go the beaming red, much dreaded number dispenser. Why we do this is beyond me, when has anyone ever seen the deli counter person use this system and call out numbers? Never. Maybe they are afraid to yell out numbers? Not sure really. Nonetheless, now that somebody has taken a number, we all have to pull down a number, which later ends up on the floor. Well, today something truly amazing happen at my Fry’s grocery store, no they didn’t bail out another bank or airline- but close……
Rewind to Valentine’s Day 2007. My h-band drags me to the Apple store. He proudly says, pick out your new Mac for your Valentine’s gift. His excitement is barely controllable. Why you ask? He has his new Macbook Pro and of course he loves it. He has “switched” our entire house over to Apple gear. I considered fighting, this unnecessary change and disruption to my life, but know in the end this change is happening with or without my cooperation. I select a nice MacBook and off we go with our big white boxes with the happy fruit on the side.
The next day I head into the office, where there are several “fruits”- affectionate nickname for Apple users. They have already heard about my new purchase. Is there some sort of underground notification system among Mac users that let’s them know when one of “the others” has been converted? Anyway, they are overflowing with the same excitement my h-band had, this is strange. Each one offers to help me “get adjusted” to this new way of working. I don’t dare tell any of them, the first PC I used back in the 80’s- seriously, was a MacIntosh, they would really think i was the old lady in the office. I am determined to do it on my own. I am a believer that you can teach old dogs new tricks. Before my first day is out, each of the “fruits” stops by to ask me- Have you had your “Mac moment” yet?
The airline industry is a mess right now, as we all know. Ticket prices are higher than ever, and passengers are being nickeled and dimed to death for sodas, peanuts, and baggage. What next? Will they charge us to use the bathroom? I don’t even want to fly anymore unless it’s absolutely mandatory, and it’s not just because of the overall hassle of traveling. It’s because when I pay for an airline ticket, my expectation, born of years of habit and ”this is how it’s always been” mentality, is that my money is paying for the entire flying experience, meaning my seat on the airplane, complimentary peanuts, and being able to check at least one bag so I can bring stuff along with me to my destination. What a concept. [Read more →]
Last week I wrote about Sour Grapes, and my experience with a small boutique in Chandler…….if you recall, I was faced with a 3 year old daughter who is waiting, not so patiently for her new bed…..so, I immediately move into I can solve this problem mode, my business mind kicks in, surely I can locate a similar bed or convince someone to sell me their floor model or something. No such luck, however, I did speak with Shasta, at Norwood furniture (remember that chain store I didn’t buy from before), she was so understanding, she really tried everything for me, in the end, if I wanted to stick with my bed choice, I had to order the bed and wait, she could get it for me in 4-6 weeks. She took care of everything for me over the phone, we went to the store just to meet her, and pay our bill, and cross our fingers that this would all work out. [Read more →]
I’m sure Zappos has been blogged about countless times, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. Free shipping & handling on everything. Usually a one-day turnaround from when you order to when it leaves their warehouse. And if you want to return something…FREE shipping and handling. No questions asked. It doesn’t matter if it’s an exchange or a return for a full refund. It is risk free buying. Sure, I can buy shoes, handbags, tee shirts, yoga pants, and other stuff on other online shopping sites- and maybe the prices are a teensy bit better at those sites- but come on, FREE return shipping? It is an awesome customer experience. Not only is it awesome, but my expectations are the same every single time I shop on Zappos. And they are met every single time I shop on Zappos. That is the main reason I shop there and tell all of my friends to do it too!
