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Archive for the ‘customers’ Category

Stop The Press : A CEO actually called a customer ?

13 Nov

OK _ not strictly a customer – but another example of why Apple wins over and over. I know a lot of people bang on about Jobs and his one one liners, his arrogance, how dare he – blah bah – but how many CEOs anywhere even track their customers, partners, developers and vendors – much less respond in emails – or pick up the phone.

Good Story – and a such a contrast to a customer complaint I made to a company at the other end of the spectrum of Customer Centricity  (let’s call them American Airlines – post here)

A conscientious guy: Steve Jobs has a well-deserved reputation for creating great quality products and for his passion for excellence and user experience. I’ve also read that he is a detail-oriented executive and a hands-on guy who is intimately involved with his company’s work (in a way that few other CEOs are).
His phone-call reinforced those notions and went further to suggest that he was also a very conscientious guy who cared about people. The fact that he took the time to read my email, think about the app and then personally call me was amazing.

Passed on – with thanks to Cascade Soft

 
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Posted in customers, link, service, software

 

How great leaders inspire action

30 May

It is reasonably easy to say well – ‘duh’ – when you watch something like this. The hard bit is transforming it into action. Take a few minutes out of your day to watch – and see how it might work for you.




Passed on – with thanks to : Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action | Video on TED.com

 
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Posted in business, customers, management, marketing, video

 

Reading Letters

06 May

So this caught my eye as I was flipping through the networks tonight … no idea if the article is worth reading – BUT – imagine …

If Barack Obama can read ten letters daily from Americans, surely you can talk to your customers. (Your company’s entire staff should spend fifteen minutes daily talking with customers.)

Passed on – with thanks to : Holy Kaw!

 

 
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Posted in brand, business, customers

 

Flowers

18 Jun

Friend of mine – Paul Hawkins – spends a while allowing you to have a gentle three minutes to start your day.

 
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Posted in beauty, business, customers, video

 

Virgin v American Airlines

10 May

… customer focus … customer first … the customer is always right … been doing some thinking based on real experiences …

Virgin

Yes – I am pro Virgin – but here is the reason – customer centricity. And it isn’t taken lightly.

I flew with American Airlines last year …

  • they delayed a flight – so we would have missed a connection
  • i took another flight – at big cost – to make the second leg of the trip (still with American).
  • they lost my luggage andit did not arrive for over three days
  • as a result we had to buy clothes etc
  • in the end the bags only arrived because we went back to the airport and hunted the luggage down
  • when we found it – we removed it from the lockers – without any identification
  • we left the airport – without any identification – with our bags
  • we got calls up to nearly a month later asking if we had our bags – and i so – to let them know – and if we didn’t – let them know …. that is they had no idea where our bags were
  • when we added it all up – we were out of pocket to the tune of well over $1,000
  • all this seperate to the fact that our bags travelled independantly to ourselves on a plane in this post 911 world (which AA assure me is allowed. is it ? (how many of you have been delayed on flights while bags were removed because a passenger hadn’t rurned up … what are the rules ?)I wrote to complain – I got an offer of 10,000 airmiles – which was credited to my account. Which didn’t seem to me to be right – so I wrote a personal, physical letter (note that emails, contact info etc is not available for these people) to
  • G. J. Arpey – Chairman, President and CEO, AMR Corp. and American Airlines
  • P. M. Bowler – President and CEO, American Eagle Airlines
  • D. P. Garton – VP, Marketing, AMR Corp. and American Airlines
  • I. D. Goren – SVP, Customer Relationship Marketing & Reservations, American Airlines
  • C. S. Kreeger – SVP, International, American Airlines… suggesting that this was not reasonable.Two months, Four Months, Six Months … nearly a year later – not a single response. Nothing. Nada. From anyone.Compare and ContrastVirgin – earlier this year had an AV problem on their plane. Everybody in the cabin – everybody – was given a claim form where you got to choose how you would like to be compensated for the ‘inconvenience’ – I chose – get this – 10,000 airmiles – and I didn’t even ask !! (And even my viewing pleasure wasn’t an issue – I turned my head and watched another screen) !!

    Customer Centricity ?

    Guess who I fly with – a lot.
    Guess who I will absolutely not fly with again if I have any say in the matter ?
    Guess who I will never recommend – to anyone – ever ?
    Guess who cares ?
    Guess who doesn’t ?

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    Posted in business, customers, service

     

    Apple v British Government

    10 May

    … customer focus … customer first … the customer is always right … been doing some thinking based on real experiences …

    Apple

    Yes – I am pro Apple – but here is the reason – customer centricity. And it isn’t taken lightly.

    I have been a proud user of Apple since the IPOD was launched – back in the days it ONLY integrated with a Mac – so I bought one of those as well. The point of this post is not to wax lyrical on the beauty of all things Mac. No. I am going to talk about the problems I have had with the Mac – to date – 4 significant problems. And every single time – it was fixed in less than 24 hours.

    I am prompted to write because today I have an alternative view. That is how others handle issues …

    Detail available for anyone that wants it – but last Christmas, I made one of those photo books for a friend. When it arrived, on time, it was perfect – EXCEPT that HMRC / The British Post Office has taken it upon themselves to charge me VAT (that Apple had already collected from me) and – get this – a handling charge, which as far as I can see is a charge I pay to them for charging me the VAT that they shoudldn’t have charged me to begin with.

    I called one of the two numbers I was given when I complained. Oh yes … when the other department lets us know that they will recompense you – they will contact us – and we will issue that payment to you.

    The second call reveals that I need to send a letter to some address in Coventry. Do they have an email address – yes – and I quote ‘Craig’ … it is “so backlogged that it isn’t worth doing.” So I have to send a letter to Coventry – and eventually someone will examine my request, make a decsion and if it is found to be an error (which – by Craig’s admission – could well be the case – they will send me the £3.11 (no kidding … three pounds and eleven pence). In parralel they will then let the other department know that the eight pounds can also be refunded. This will I assume be through a check of some kind … who knows.

    I flagged the issue to Apple – because I have other books that I want to buy and send as gifts – but do not want to have recipients garner a tax for receiving a gift ….

    I emailed them – concept.

    In less than 12 hours I knew that all the monies that the government want to charge me will be refunded by Apple AND the original delivery charges as well. SORTED ! And it was. Customer Centricty. And it hasn’t happened on subsequent orders either.

    The government of course make it hard in the hope that I won’t go ahead and claim – multiply my 11 quid by all the people that get caught up in this – well – more steaks for Gordon and Mandy I assume. Life is too short – for most of us. But surely it has to end. Isn’t this another stealth tax ?

     
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    Posted in apple, business, customers