When I was 19 years old I saw an ad for a new portable cassette player that caught my eye. Sony Walkmans had been around a few years, but when the Aiwa T600 came on the scene I knew that was the one I had to have. It looked a lot cooler than the Walkman and was a smaller and included a 5-band equalizer. I spent the summer cleaning pools for my father and eventually saved up enough money to purchase it.

I was so excited to finally purchase my first good quality portable cassette player with “Auto Reverse”! I didn’t realize how hard it would be to find a place that carried the model I was after. I called around to a few electronic stores before locating one that had it in stock. I got my cash together and headed to the store which most sold higher end audio products.

The sales person made it clear that since I was only looking at portable units instead of high end audio he only interested in providing the very minimal amount of service. It took a while before he could locate the key to the glass case which held the Aiwa. I was not a priority and felt I was putting the guy out by asking questions. The quicker he could get me to leave the store the better. I bought the player and left the store feeling like crap due to how I was treated. What should have been a fun experience left me feeling like my business wasn’t appreciated.

That experience would turn out a lot different today. Although I could still be treated poorly, the end result would be different. I wouldn’t hand over my money to someone who didn’t value my business. But I’d be sure to take down the salesman’s name and blog about it when I got home. So instead of telling a few friends about my bad experience, my blog could reach hundreds if not thousands of potential customers. The salesman was in charge back then. The buyer is in charge today.

The internet and blogging have drastically changed the transaction process. It’s no longer good enough for merchants to display their wares and take your money while relegating service to the back burner. Those companies that provide poor service will be exposed and many will fade away while companies that provide excellent service like New Egg, Amazon and Starbucks will thrive. That means each customer inaction if more important than ever. Your bad sales people can no longer hide behind the counter cherry picking the big spenders. Conversely, those sales people who treat customers with respect and appreciation will be valued now more than ever.

Does your company value each customer interaction?

Elka, our seven year old boxer, was out of food so I drove up the road to Covington to the Petsmart. I arrived at 8:30 knowing the store closed at 9. What I didn’t know was that I should have brought my hiking boots.

I grabbed a cart and turned down the first aisle only to find a Petsmart employee sitting on the floor organizing cat and dog shampoos. So I went around her making my way back to the dog foot section. Although the store was still open for another 30 minutes it was clear the restocking crew wanted to get an early jump on the evening as stacks of boxes littered the store. As luck would have it, I only had to move two boxes in order to free the dog food I was after. 

But the dog collars were an entirely difference matter. I attempted to make my way over to where the collars were hanging which was in the far back corner. This wasn’t going to be easy because every aisle on the way was littered with stacks of partially open boxes. I shoved boxes to the side as best I could but eventually decided to abandon my cart. I did my best to move boxes out of the way but some where heavy leaving me little choice but to step over and sometimes on them. As I got closer to the collars I realized there was a moat of stacked boxes in front of them. I began moving boxes, stacking them on top each other. I cleared out a path to one area of the collars but still had to stand on a box to reach them on the wall.

I grabbed one of the few collars I could reach and decided it was time to head back to my cart. It was nearing 9 pm by this time and I’m not kidding when I say it took another five minutes to navigate my cart full of dog food around the obstacle course and back to the front of the store where I was greeted by a friendly checker.

Looking back now, I wish I had left the store when my quest for dog food made me feel like I was rat in a maze. Or maybe I was competing in a Survivor-like immunity challenge and just didn’t know it at the time.

Did the Fed Ex drop box disappear after 9/11 and I just didn’t notice till now? I’ve now spent a couple of hours looking for a Fed Ex drop box. Not a store, counter or self-service station. Just a drop box.

Fed Ex is known for using cutting edge technology for package tracking so I figured they’d have an easy way to search for a drop box from their website. Well, they do have a section where I can search for a bunch of other stuff but not drop boxes. Great, I can filter my search by “Location accepts cash”. It’s good to know there are business that are still taking cash!

I was able to find several “Fed Ex Authorized ShipCenters” in my area, but all of them were closed on a Saturday evening. And not one had a drop box which makes me believe maybe they don’t exist anymore. 
Clearly, this drop box in the wild has been Photoshopped

On the back of my package (which is wrapped in authorized Fed Ex duds) I found a 1-800 number to call to schedule a pickup. Or I’m told I can do the same thing by going to Fedex.com. So I head back to the website and click on a link called “Schedule a Pickup” which takes me to a registration area. I begin typing in my address and such. Everything goes well until I’m asked for my “Account Number”. Well, I don’t have one which means I can’t register which means I can’t schedule a pickup from their website.

Fed Ex probably won’t read this, and even if they did, I’m just a blogger who is trying to ship a single package. “Not even worth their time” is how I feel they feel about me after spending too much time on their website and still failing to accomplish what I’m after.

Given the time I’ve spent, I would have been better off waiting till Monday and making the delivery myself.

We’ve picked up a number of prescription medications at Walgreens lately. We’ve used Walgreens for several years because they are located close to our home, have a drive-thru, and are open late.

Kim dropped off several prescriptions yesterday morning and I picked them up in the evening. When I arrived home I handed two bags of meds to Kim. She said there should have been three to pickup. I was about to put my shoes on and head back to Walgreens when Kim noticed something. One of the prescriptions that was filled had a piece of paper stapled to the outside. The paper was the prescription that Kim’s doctor gave her to take to the pharmacy.

But there was one difference: On the paper, someone at the pharmacy wrote, “OTC” in the upper left-hand corner.

Kim and I both wondered why, when I stopped to pickup the meds, the pharmacist didn’t tell us that we could buy the stuff Over The Counter? Taking it one step further, what if the pharmacist had not only told us that but also grabbed the meds for us so I could purchase them at the same time I picked up the other drugs? It wouldn’t have taken much time to do that.

A small detail, no doubt. But it left a bad taste in our mouth, especially since we’ve been loyal Walgreens customers for several years. Now I have to make another trip to the store. But this time, I won’t be making that purchase at Walgreens.

I needed the windshield replaced on my Honda Odyssey and BMW 325i. Our car insurance his through Response Insurance. Here is a run-down of everything I had to do:

1. Call claims number
2. Answer 4 or 5 questions
3. Next day, mobile installer replaces windshield

That’s it. No going back and forth. No taking the car in for inspection. I couldn’t believe how fast and how efficient this company is.

I’m paying about $80 less a month (compared to State Farm and GMAC) for better coverage including zero deductible for windshield replacement.

Their service is much better than I’ve experience with other insurance companies. It’s so unexpected I’m having to change my opinion of insurance companies. Two friends have gone to their website to get a quote and both have left Farmers to join Response.

Ever been so stoked about a new gadget that you can hardly wait to try it out? That’s been the case for me when I bought my Motorola Q and my first iPod. One would think companies would do everything they could to leave a good first impression. Some companies (Apple, Nordstrom, Starbucks) understand this. But most don’t.

I was reminded of this as I’ve been following Dave Winer’s experience with his new Nokia N800. I would have expected better from Nokia.

I’ve been looking at the way my company does business to see if there are things, even small, that can be done to leave a better first impression with our clients. I found a small one today with our order form that made a number of assumptions and could be made more clear.

What are some companies that leave good first impressions? Which don’t?

I took our Honda Odyssey to Grease Monkey to have have the oil changed. As I sat in the waiting area, several customers came looking to do the same. Listening to the exchanges was interesting. Whenever someone would ask for a basic oil change ($31), the person behind the counter would ask if they would like to upgrade to one of the following:

1. High Mileage Oil ($47) 
2. Synthetic Blend ($52)
3. Full Synthetic ($60)

Several people came in with cars well over 100,000 miles. These people would be good candidates for the high mileage oil. Yet I didn’t see a single person upgrade to any of the fancier, more expensive oils and I think I know why: The Grease Monkey employee could not explain the benefits in layman’s terms.

I would guess that most customers who use a quick lube and oil shop are also owners who don’t know all the nitty gritty technical details of their cars. They want to get in and out with minimal fuss. I’ll bet few know what kind of oil the manufacturer of their car recommends let alone the difference between 5W-20 and 10W-30.

The Grease Monkey employee might have given a great technical explanation on why a synthetic oil would be a better choice, but the soccer mom, the teenager and the elderly man I saw today were lost seconds into the explanation. The Grease Monkey employee was using words like grade, viscosity and SAE which confused the customer. And when a customer is confused they will revert to what the know. In this case it meant asking for the standard, least expensive oil they’ve used before.

Although the Grease Monkey employees were helpful and well trained from a technical level, they were not able to explain their services to customers who would benefit most of their services and upgrades.

Can your employees explain the services and products your company offers? Better yet, can they explain them in the terms your customers will understand?

I believe that top companies handle returns with grace and flexibility. But many companies train their employees to hassle the customer to the point that the return is more painful than the refund or exchange.

The first company I worked for out of college provided training on how to wear out the customer when handling a return. The idea was that employees were trained to toss out so many road blocks that it would eventually wear down the customer to the point of leaving the store. In rare instances, exchanges were allowed but only if we could resell the original item for full price. Refunds were only allowed if the product was defective. Such policies are near-sighted and will never result in delighted customers.

Both Nordstrom and Costco are two companies that have consistently treated me well when making a return. In fact, Nordstrom seems as happy to deal with my return as they do selling the item in the first place. It’s as if they understand that each interaction is a opportunity to show how much they value me as a customer. And in doing so they earn my loyalty.