Well, I just managed to get christopherboynton.com up and running again. Embarrassingly, I let it expire several months ago. So now that all that administration is taken care of (for the next several years anyway) we can get back to the business of infrequent, but thought-provoking posts. Looking forward to it – I hope you are too.
Cheers.
This post is about how businesses today need to think hard about their customer experiences, before, during and after the sale. It’s based on a not so positive recent experience I had.
Recently, while shopping for a Halloween costume for my 3 year old son, we made a special stop at one of those seasonal Halloween specialty stores that seemingly appear overnight in empty mall/strip mall retail space. Excited by the idea of getting this annual task out of the way early in October, and finding a great costume, we walked briskly from parking lot to store, which was a massive retail space formerly the home of CompUSA.
Entering the first set of double doors we were greeted by a life-size Dracula, Frankenstein and Mummy in a dark and cob- webbed environment. This was a great start to the shoping experience! My son was relishing the sight of the spooky creatures.
Then it happened. Read the rest of this entry ?
This will probably fall on deaf ears, but what the heck.
To supermarket GM’s and Regional Managers who are looking to acquire new customers and retain existing customers: there are two areas where you should not be cutting corners.
1) Freshness of Produce: Past ripe produce shouldn’t be on the shelves, period. The cardinal error in produce handler judgment is leaving it on shelf “just a day” longer than it should be. And, hiding soft spots from view. This may get it in someones cart initially, but will inevitably be discovered at home and you will have a very angry customer.
2) (and this is just ever so slightly less important than fresh food…) Read the rest of this entry ?
In a recent Mashable article, I learned of an iPhone app that improves upon the ancient ritual of flashing your lights to warn fellow drivers of nearby speed traps. Trapster is an ingenious little app that, once installed, uses your phone’s GPS signal to track your location and give you a verbal warning when you approach areas that commonly have speed traps.
What’s cool about this app is that it is socially driven, depending on local roadsters to populate it’s database of traps. Read the rest of this entry ?
I discovered @AgencySpy on Twitter recently and have to say that I am having a ball reading their tweets and posts on Media Bistro.
Agency Spy offers daily rumors, truth and news for “addies” all over the US. In their own words “AgencySpy was created for the sole purpose of reporting agency screw ups.“
So there you have it, it’s the National Enquirer, no, the more reputable People Magazine of the ad agency world. It’s a fun indulgence for me, but a word of caution – this blog can suck you in, so watch your time – and enjoy. www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy
customer service trumps process!
About a week ago I dashed off to the bank on a Saturday morning to make a quick deposit. It was a cold and blustery day, and I also wanted to get home quickly so I could spend time with my wife and son. I pulled into the bank driveway thinking that jumping out in the cold to use the ATM would be my best option, mostly since I didn’t have a deposit slip, nor did I even remember to bring my account number. ATM’s are very forgiving this way. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to see the drive through was open and there were no cars in line in either slot. I talked myself into giving it a shot, thinking if I can do this via ATM then a drive through teller on a slow day should definitely be able to help.
The teller was standing next to a colleague ready to help. I mentioned all I had was my check card and that I was hoping to make a deposit ATM style (no deposit slip, no checking account number). The response I got was “I’m sorry, you need to fill out a deposit slip”. I asked why and cited the ATM as a way to make a deposit like this, but she reiterated that I had to complete a deposit slip to use the drive through, otherwise I could use the ATM on the other side of the building. Disappointed, I backed out of the drive through and went to the front of the building, parked and used the ATM.
So here are the facts:
I didn’t even bother getting into this customer service discussion because the moment was gone. I guess I expected this reaction, but was hoping for more. This would have been a perfect opportunity to bend the rules, make “an exception” and make the customer feel special. Maybe she was new and that was her boss standing next to her. Maybe she wasn’t empowered to bend rules. Maybe she was having a bad day.
Whatever the reason (excuse) it would have been easy to go the extra mile here and have a really positive customer interaction, maybe even create some loyalty for Wachovia. I guess the moral of the story is, if you are going to be on the front lines interacting with customers, you should provide great customer service. Not just service.
I’ll try to avoid cliche, but with just one look at the news headlines it becomes very easy to be thankful for what we have here in the United States. Freedom, security, prosperity, long life expectancies… Life could have turned out very differently for all of us had we been born into different, less fortunate, situations. I hope all of you are able to share this Thanksgiving with friends and family and enjoy the moment.
I’m exposed to a lot of musical genres, and the fact is, I like a little of everything! But there are a couple bands I find myself listening to over and over again. Lifehouse and 3 Doors Down by far get the most play on the old iPod. So of all genres, I guess my favorites indicate I’m mostly in the rock/alternative camp.
There’s no doubt about it – taking your medicine sucks. But if you are going to get better, you’ve got to do it.
Well, in sickness and in health we’ve all got our proverbial daily doses of medicine to take. Having the discipline to actually do the super annoying things in life that must be done is a real talent. I’ve never been great at it, but good enough to skate by. Here’s a list of some of the things I have to stay focused on the most so I don’t suffer the consequences…
I could keep this going for a while – but it is time to hit the sack. Need to get 8 hours, you know!
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