thinks

I get asked all the time, “what’s the most amazing thing you’ve seen lately?” And I’m continually amazed by how often I have I am amazed. What amazes me:

• How quickly Twitter came from nowhere to offer us something this compelling we didn’t know we needed
• Facebook – ditto
• Last.fm.
• Flickr
• Google Reader’s new “Sort by magic” feature
• iPhoto and Picasa organizing photos by face

I could go on.

The point is, magic happens. Sometimes, as with The Beatles Sgt. Pepper or Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog, in the name of art. Or Art. And sometimes, as in the examples above, in the name of commerce. But always in the name of taking people – your listeners, your viewers, your customers – somewhere new. Teaching them something. Making their dreams real.

Seth Godin once listed how you can be remarkable, which is very much the same thing. The key to both: put aside your fear. Tell it to come back tomorrow. Today is for magic.

And if you do it today, why not tomorrow, too?

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Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

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Which is more important to building your brand:

• Your marketing?
• Your customer service?

To Conversation Agent’s 7 sins of customer service, I’d add the First Commandment of Marketing and Customer Service: Customers don’t care what your marketing says. They care what you do.

Case in point: I had a credit card stolen last week. My main personal card, no less. I use it every day, for common purchases like parking, lunch and groceries to less frequent purchases like family vacations and big-screen TV’s. I pay it off almost every month in full and redeem my rewards regularly, so I know the company isn’t making huge money on me, despite how frequently I use the card. But, I do occasionally carry a balance, so they’re not going broke, either. They snail me and email me all the time, telling me how valuable a customer I am, encouraging me to buy more stuff, take advantage of their rewards and transfer additional balances. The card issuer even calls it a “Platinum Plus” account. Between all the attention and the “Platinum Plus-ness,” I expected to be treated like royalty. Boy, was I wrong.

I called my card issuer and followed their phone tree for lost/stolen cards, only to get a recorded message stating all systems were down. And then they disconnected me. So I called again. Same thing. After a quick check of the GetHuman database, I called a third time, pressing “0″ repeatedly in hopes of getting an operator. And I was getting pissed. But, I expected that, as Platinum Plus Boy, they’d make it right once I got to a person. Um… right.

The customer service representative who answered opened with, “Welcome to Big Card Issuer, can I provide you superior service?“

I fought the impulse to respond, “I doubt it.”

I’m sure that sounded like a great line when their marketing folks wrote it. But it was the last thing I wanted to hear right then. Particularly since, as you’re about to learn, they actually had no intent of providing it.

I explained my situation, that my main card, one I used every day, was stolen and that I needed a replacement ASAP. The agent told me it was no problem, they’d close that account and happily send me a replacement card. In 7-10 business days.

Did I happen to mention that I use this card every day? Doesn’t their account system tell them this?

I explained that wasn’t acceptable and I’d need the card sooner. The agent replied they’d be happy to expedite it and send me a new card in 2 business days. For a fee of $35.

What?!?

I asked why they charged me – Me! Platinum Plus Boy! – a $35 dollar fee. The CSM’s response: “As it’s not our fault your card was stolen, any expedite fees get charged to you.”

I couldn’t help myself. I bellowed, “How is limiting my access to your service for 7-10 days or charging me $35 for more timely response superior service?“

The response? “I’m sorry, sir. That’s the best I can do.”

After much back and forth – including asking to speak with a supervisor and being told none were available as it was late on a Sunday – I decided the $35 wasn’t worth it to me. And, as their actions showed, I wasn’t worth the $35 to the company. I’m now using a different card for my daily transactions and soon will use another for my larger purchases.

I recognize why it’s important for companies to decide for themselves whether someone is a valuable customer or not. I do it mysefl all the time. And maybe this issuer feels that I’m not profitable enough, what with all my crazy paying off the monthly balance most of the time. That’s OK. But then don’t give me the impression that I am a valuable customer. Don’t give me a “Platinum Plus” card. Don’t contact me twice a week with offers telling me how valuable I am as a customer. And don’t ask me if you can provide “superior service” if you don’t plan to. Because when your marketing and your customer service don’t connect, you fail at both.

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Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

Image credit: jm3 via Flickr using Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

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Can 2009 really be half over already? We’ve accomplished lots here at thinks Central so far this year, reaching new records in visitors and page views, growing our subscriber count and increasing Twitter friends. But half over?!? Sheesh.

Well, before we move forward to the second half of 2009, now seems like a good time to take a look back at what you all loved so far this year. These posts are the ones you seemed to enjoy the most based on traffic, bounce rate, time spent and comments. And if you’re new to thinks, these should get you started on the right path here.

Enjoy!

1. Many businesses – especially in service industries – don’t yet have a handle on their online strategy. Which is what led us to ask the following question: Is your business still invisible? Why?
2. We all want more customers and search engines like Google continue to work for most companies. That’s probably why these two posts get so much attention:
   • Top 5 SEO best practices.
   • Screw Google, or Why I Hate SEO.
3. Even for companies more comfortable with online, the rise of the social web is causing many to rethink their strategy. Want to know more about how to apply a strategy to social media? This review of the POST Study by Forrester Research – part of our Book Review of the Week-ish series – seems to be helping many answer that question.
4. Assuming you have a social media strategy, many still struggle with Twitter. For most, its key identifying traits are the amount of media attention Twitter gets and the perceived difficulty in using the tool to make money. So it should come as no surprise that four separate posts got lots of love from you this year. In no particular order, these are:
   • Can you find new business using Twitter?
   • How Twitter can save your life as well as your business.
   • Twitter is a fad. So why does your business need to be there?
   • Yet another reason smart companies use Twitter.
5. Finding useful tools takes time and energy. So it’s no surprise that our posts comparing Jimdo to SiteKreator, Webnode, Weebly and Wordpress and Jimdo adds social features get a lot of love.
6. Of course, getting customers and keeping customers are two different things. Maybe that’s why articles on how to keep customers, like I heart Zappo’s: The best customer service story you’ll ever hear continue to get so much attention.

Finding customers. Connecting with customers. Keeping customers. Yep. That’s how we roll here at Tim Peter thinks. Stay tuned for the next 6 months for more of the same. Only, y’know, better.

Miss one of your favorites? Or is there something you’d like to see us do better? Tell us all about it in the comments.

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Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the local, mobile, social web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today.

Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Tim on Twitter.

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David Armano is a rock star blogger, big thinker and bastion bonhomie. I’d originally planned to include David’s recent experience dealing with Comcast in my roundup of social tools yesterday. But, I, um… forgot. I’m glad I did. Because when re-reading David’s excellent post I found the even more excellent comment from Alan Wolk I’d missed the first time through. To wit:

David: While I agree with your points on this, I can’t help wondering why the non-Twitter/Frank customer service experience has to be so awful. I mean if they’d put you through to a live person (versus an endless phone chain) or given you accurate information in the first place, would Franks’ intervention have seemed so magical?

It can’t be a good thing for a brand to have such wildly divergent customer service experiences. I’d suggest they look at the benefits of what Frank is doing on Twitter and build from there.

Oh, Mr. Wolk. You, sir, receive highest marks. While so many of us wrapped up in the Interwebs sometimes forget it, online is only part of the total customer experience.

Once, in a past life, I was confronted by a young brand manager and asked why our e-commerce site didn’t better reflect “the brand experience.” I asked the young manager to describe the brand experience. HIs answer: a blank stare. Looking to your website – or a social media channel, or an on online campaign, or what-have-you – to sell an experience that doesn’t exist is like using Kleenex as an umbrella. You might get away with it once. But it won’t last.

Obviously, the Web is a critical component of the overall customer experience. And social tools play an increasingly strong role, especially, as David’s post illustrates, in the area of customer loyalty. Failing to address these in the long-run will cost you dearly.

But, what Alan Wolk reminds us is customer experience is the sum of your customer’s interactions with your business. Sure, you might do well in some areas. But each failed interaction provides your competitors an opportunity, a toehold, a beachhead towards providing your customers a better experience. It’s great Comcast gave David an alternative way to get help. But it would be better altogether if they didn’t need it.

Like this post? Want to read more like this every day? Then what are you waiting for? Subscribe to thinks now in your favorite reader.

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Not long ago, Michael Arrington wrote about his experience getting support from Comcast after mentioning their service – negatively – on Twitter. Well, it seems I’ve joined rare company. Er, on the Comcast front. Chickens, not so much.

I, too, recently maligned Comcast on Twitter, due to a series of partial and complete service interruptions (mostly of my television service. Internet was sluggish, but more or less functional). And within a couple of minutes, I got a response from a Comcast representative, giving me an email address (we_can_help@cable.comcast.com) for me to get help with my issue. Since then, I’ve had continuing contact with Comcast field supervisors, office personnel and service technicians hell-bent on resolving the problem. And they did. Not only is my cable service now whole again, but my Internet service is faster, too.

Maybe the Comcast folks hoped I would say something positive. Maybe not. They never asked me. But, two things impressed me throughout the whole situation:

1. The dedication of the people I talked to at Comcast. I don’t know if these are the regular customer service reps. I don’t know if they’re specially trained. I do know that each one focused on addressing my concerns and did so with grace and consideration.
2. Comcast clearly has their finger on the pulse of where customer complaints take root. That’s not surprising given their history. But, they’re clearly trying to improve that perception. The reality behind that perception, too, I gather. I only hope they provide equivalent service to customers who call their support lines, not just those of us with bully pulpits.

The lessons here:

1. Tools like blogs, and Twitter – when it’s working – provide your business with an “early warning system”, a place to hear what’s on your customers’ minds. And a way to engage with those customers to resolve their issues. Both big points in Arrington’s original post. Using tools like Tweetscan, Comcast has put their emphasis on dousing these issues before they turn into raging fires. Maybe Comcast hopes those customers will say something nice. Maybe not. But the negative comment a customer doesn’t make carries its own rewards. Not least of which is the likelihood you’ll retain that customer.
2. Want your employees to do their jobs well? Give them a clear mission and get out of their way. The Comcast employees I dealt with seemed to place my satisfaction above all else. And satisfied, I now am. Whether that would have happened if Comcast put its focus on traditional “customer service” center metrics like talk time is doubtful. These people knew they were supposed to make me happy. And they did.

My “Twitter friend” Brian Solis has an ebook about using social media to improve customer service and, ultimately, marketing. It’s worth the read.

What’s your customer service story? And does your team know how much value you place on customer service? Let us know in the comments.

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Heard any great customer service stories lately? I did. Yesterday at SES, Jennifer Laycock, editor-in-chief of the terrific Search Engine Guide (The small business guide to search marketing), told an amazing story called “I Heart Zappos”. Must’ve gotten something in my eye at the exact moment she was telling the story. No. Really.

What’s the best customer service story you know? Tell us about it in the comments.

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Are you getting enough value out of your small business website? Want to make sure your business makes the most of the mobile, social, local web? thinks helps you understand how to grow your business via the web, every day. Get more than just news. Get understanding. Add thinks to your feed reader today. Or subscribe via email.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.

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