1-800 Contacts, A Vision of Customer Service

Posted by: Sonja Fridell
Tags: Customer Service

Dear 1-800 Contacts,

I love you, and here’s why…

Your web site is awesome. I don’t know about other people, but I wait until I can barely function with my last pair of gunky contacts until I reorder. It’s easy to order and the shipping is free if you spend $50, which is easy to do.

You remind me when I need to reorder with nice, very infrequent emails.

All of your salespeople are overly friendly, mid-western women who thank you up and down.

You can talk to one of those awesome customer support people VERY easily.

Your prices are great.

It may seem silly to like an eye-wear company so much, but it’s refreshing to get excellent service. I relish it! And hope to replicate it every day.

Any other outstanding companies out there?

June 1, 2010 [ 0 Comments ]

Face to Face Meetings Still in Fashion

Posted by: Jim Ward
Tags: Customer Service, Sage Software

Think meeting face to face is a thing of the past? Think again; there’s nothing like breaking bread, shaking hands, and getting to know your customer. Even with new technology like online meetings (gotomeeting), instant messaging, email, and social media (think Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), face to face holds real value in the business world.

What I really enjoy about our business is meeting clients and learning about their business as well as their people. During a client meeting I have no other agenda but to learn and often it’s surprising to find out what I didn’t know. On Wednesday last week I had the pleasure of meeting a new client, Susan at Conproco. We had the chance to get to know one another and gain an understanding of the issues she faces day to day while using Sage MAS 200 ERP software that we service and supply.

We had far more in common than just the accounting/ERP software we service. In fact, Conproco is a manufacturer of architectural coatings and masonry applications. In my earlier career, my family business was also a manufacturer of architectural coatings and my understanding of the business is part of my DNA. I’d worked almost every facet of such a manufacturing operation. Not only did I have an appreciation for their business, and a new means to provide better service with personal experience, but I also enjoyed a walk down memory lane. My thoughts went all the back to my teenage years and begging my dad to let me work at the factory. It was a place I had loved to visit and come to enjoy the smell of paint.

You may think this meeting trivial, however, for me it was an awakening to how we might be able to help this client further. All because of a fateful face to face meeting. Even better, when we asked Susan what restaurants were nearby she meantioned great place called Margarita’s. Funny, also a client of ours. I had to make sure we gave our business back to another great customer.

Get out and see you customers. In a market where new business may be a zero sum game, building relationships and knowing how to help the ones you serve will be one of your best investments.

May 21, 2010 [ 0 Comments ]

The Customer Experience: JetBlue Flight Attendants Made the Difference

Posted by: Jim Ward
Tags: Air travel, Customer Service, JetBlue

If you’re a frequent flyer like me, air travel has become a drag. Cramped seats, bag charges, getting through security, stress and then the infamous meal plan. Right, no meal plan. Well ok, maybe nuts and crackers if you’re lucky. Or if you’re real lucky you get to buy a meal, if they don’t run out before they reach the 12th row. It’s an understatement to say that air travel just isn’t fun anymore.

I’ve held fast to that unfavorable impression of air travel, until yesterday. Thanks to two Jet Blue flight attendants, my seemingly ordinary Denver to Boston flight was pleasurable and fun. Yes, fun.

In typical fashion I joked with the flight attendents as to what time my steak would be served. What happened next was fantastic. During the flight instructions that we all listen to so attentively, one of the attendants that will remain anonymous (Suzanne) mentioned that there would be no steaks served on this flight Mr. Ward. That got a chuckle out of me.

Then as the typical snacks were being offered, I was presented with a special serving.

My Airplane Dinner

A beautiful white paper towel as my table cloth, plastic flatware, followed by pictures of a rare steak, desert and of course my cold roasted nuts (they were real). Yes, it made me feel special and I laughed as did all the passengers around me!

So, you think you’re selling a commodity? What can you do that makes you different. People make the difference in a world filled with same old, same old. Thanks JetBlue for the customer experience!