A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 dollars to drop that towel.”

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes
back upstairs. When she get to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?”

“It was Bob the next door neighbor” she replies. Read more…

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If the saying is true and you are only as good as your last impression, then Verizon is a rockstar. In the last 7 days I have defected from the “I Hate Verizon Camp” over to the “Verizon and Gregory Ng 4EVA Camp”. Here’s my story:

I am a consumer to technology, a lover of gadgetry, and in most cases, an early adopter of new technology. So when I heard about the benefits of Verizon’s new fiber optic network (FiOS), I wanted it. I wanted the digital voice. I wanted the blazing fast internet. And I wanted crystal clear, minimally compressed high definition television.

The problem was Verizon was only slowly rolling out FiOS service to towns in Massachusetts. Here I was, receiving direct mail telling me about FiOS and when I called to sign up, I was told it was not available in my area. (The fact that I got these mailings is fodder for another post. Scrub your lists people!). Read more…

In 1993, The U.S. Department of Transportation coined the term “The Southwest Effect“. This was in reference to Southwest Airline’s entry into the airline market. By lowering cost, focusing on customer service, and flying to less frequently travelled cities, Southwest Airlines changed the industry.

Rival airlines were scared that it the lower fares would cause them to lose customers. So they lowered fares too. What developed was a surge in demand for air travel, a rise of “all boats”, and a stimulus to some second-tiered cities.

What is very interesting about the story of Southwest Airlines is they started flying to lesser travelled cities because the bigger hubs had no room for them. But what happened was people started flying in and out of these satellite cities causing new markets and new opportunities for growth. Read more…

Go and review the latest piece of communication you sent out to your broad audience of customers. Is it a clear, concise message? Is it filled with concepts that are consistent with your brand voice? Or is it riddles with disclaimers, sensationalism, and legal information? Do you gear your messaging to your best or your worst customers?

The reason I bring this up is because I just had 2 experiences that span the spectrum of that question. On one hand, you have a big utility company that treated me like a criminal. On the other hand you have a retailer who treated me like a king.

I recently took a winter coat back to L.L. Bean. My son had worn it for a full winter and my daughter for 2 winters before him. And this winter, the fourth year of use, the velcro on the zipper ripped off. I took it to the local L.L. Bean store and asked if it could get sewn back on. Instead, I got a gift card equivalent to the full price I paid for it over 4 years ago. This was by far the best service I have ever received. So much in fact, that I felt almost criminal taking the full refund and walking out with a brand new winter coat for my son. This, after having a small tear on the velcro. Read more…