Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category

Rewarding your customers during

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

If ever there’s a situation that’s outside your control that causes hardship on your customers, it’s so important to COMMUNICATE & reward your customers. This situation could be road construction blocking your entrance, bad weather changing your event plans, running out of a product, damage to your store which forces a day closure…anything that could happen to your business that’s out of your hands.

For example, The Human Bean is one of our clients - there is a location on N. College Ave. in Fort Collins; N. College is currently under construction which is creating a mess right in front of their stand. Some days the entrance is closed all together and customers have to literally drive through orange cones behind the ally to get their coffee. Talk about customer loyalty! Instead of doing nothing and hoping for the best, we’ve taking this situation head on by creating banners giving direction, communicating on Facebook telling customers when the entrance will be closed and how to enter the parking lot when it is and finally, The Human Bean is rewarding customers with double punches and bounce backs during this time.

Bottom line is, BE PROACTIVE! Talk to your customers & reward them for their patronage. Your bottome line will thank you.

Posted in Ashlee Hille, Customer Service, Marketing, Public Relations | No Comments »

Another Social Crisis

Monday, January 31st, 2011

It’s always good for businesses to monitor what is being said about them in the social environment because things (usually negative things) can go viral quickly, and if a company doesn’t respond quickly and effectively they may end up with irreparable damage to the company reputation; let’s face it, reputation is everything.

Reputation is especially important for fast food chains which have been under fire since the famous documentary Supersize Me illustrated the negative effects of eating McDonald’s for every meal every day.

The social victim this time? Taco Bell. Due to a class-action lawsuit on the chain by Beasley Allen, who alleges that Taco Bell misleads consumers with advertisements claiming its products contain “ground beef,” when the majority of its meat filling is made up of non-meat extender substances, social networks have been buzzing about Taco Bells “meat” products.

Taco Bell has decided to fight social with social by utilizing their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to try and gain control over the situation. Taco Bell uploaded a YouTube video of company president and chief concept officer Greg Creed explaining that the beef is “100% USDA inspected” and that the beef is seasoned with various spices and water, which actually mean that the beef is composed of 88% actual beef.

The YouTube video has had almost 90,000 views and their Facebook post regarding the issue has 1,113 likes and 558 comments with mixed reviews (most being positive from loyal Taco Bell lovers) and they also opted to purchase a promoted Tweet that reads “@Tacobell President’s beef with the #Beef Class Action Suit – watch his video message to set the record straight http://bit.ly/presvid”

It seems as though most Taco Bell fans are embracing the honesty of Taco Bell, while others are angry that they use fillers. While I doubt Taco Bell will switch to 100% beef any time soon due to cost, at least they’re being proactive in letting their consumers know the truth behind the rumors.

Posted in Customer Service, Kerrie Luginbill, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »

Helping out when needed

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

My co-worker, Brittany, went to a local wedding venue over the weekend that our client, FLEXX, was hired to set up some rental items – Brittany went to take photos of the great products FLEXX was providing – While taking photos, she noticed the venue needed some help laying down linens, so she stepped up and helped out. No one asked her to, she just saw what was needed and lend a hand.

If we all would lend a hand where needed – whether it be in community service, holding the door for an elderly person, helping a frantic mom to her car with groceries… or in Brittany’s case, helping out perfect strangers at an event she was not even hired to work at… this world would be a better place! Thanks, Brittany, for starting off my morning on a positive note!

Posted in Ashlee Hille, Customer Service, Events | No Comments »

Facebook is free, but FarmVille can cost you…

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

FarmVille, one of the most popular games on Facebook, allows members to manage a virtual farm by planting, growing and harvesting crops, trees and livestock. When users begin playing they are given virtual coins to set up their farm and the revenue from matured crops can be used to maintain it—ultimately making the online game free. But, for those who don’t want to sit around and wait for their virtual crops to mature, there are options to progress more quickly. Users can buy extra virtual coins using real cash, speeding up the processes and making the game more fast-paced.

Seems harmless enough, right?

One mother has begun warning about the use of these free games, and with reason. Her 12-year-old son has reportedly racked up £900 ($1,400) in FarmVille bills without her knowing until it was too late. The woman, who would like to remain anonymous, discovered last month that her son had spent more than £900 playing FarmVille. The boy emptied his own savings account of £288 and then proceeded to use her credit card to pay another £625.

 “The total spent is about £905, but the credits are still rolling in. Facebook and Zynga will not refund anything as [the son] lives in my house. Facebook has disabled his account and Zynga has unhelpfully suggested I use password protection on computers in the future,” said the boy’s mom.

She contacted her credit card company, HSBC, but was told she would only qualify for a refund if she reported her son to the police and obtained a crime number, something that she considered to be too drastic and possibly detrimental to her son’s future.

The son has admitted that he knew what he was doing, and the woman has stated that she does not blame Facebook, Zynga or HSBC, but she does feel that “they need to shoulder some responsibility in this business and put systems in place to stop this happening again.”

Hopefully this case serves as a warning for other parents to pay attention to what their children are doing online, and maybe urge children to go play outside instead- in fact many are suggesting that the woman have her 12-year-old son work on a real farm this summer to pay off his virtual farm debt.

 

Posted in Customer Service, Kerrie Luginbill, Social Media | No Comments »

Social Media and Sincerity at Southwest Airlines

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

This weekend Kevin Smith was “kicked off” of a Southwest Airlines flight for being “too fat.” At least that is what he Tweeted on Saturday to his 1.6 million followers.

Here is a little sample of Smith’s Tweets:

Dear @SouthwestAir – I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?

Wanna tell me I’m too wide for the sky? Totally cool. But fair warning, folks: IF YOU LOOK LIKE ME, YOU MAY BE EJECTED FROM @SOUTHWESTAIR.

This is not the first time that an angry consumer has found retribution via social media. After United Airlines damaged Dave Carroll’s $3500 guitar, Carroll posted a video on YouTube which created quite a stir- and resulted in a new guitar for Carroll. Social Media is obviously turning into a way for consumers to channel their anger towards products, businesses, and organizations in general. “Thanks to social computing, travelers’ tales are no longer confined to what they tell to their coworkers and neighbors,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a VP and airline and travel industry analyst at Forrester Research.

It is becoming more and more important for companies and organizations to have the resources to find these Tweets, Youtube videos, etc…, so that they can successfully counter them with good PR responses. However, the more often these situations do occur, the more important it is to focus in on sincerity.

The following Tweets among many others were posted following Smiths disgruntled remarks:

@ThatKevinSmith hey Kevin! I’m so sorry for your experience tonight! Hopefully we can make things right, please follow so we may DM!

Hey folks – trust me, I saw the tweets from @ThatKevinSmith I’ll get all the details and handle accordingly! Thanks for your concerns!

Southwest also blogged an apology to Smith that many considered to sound as if it had gone through multiple rounds of legal, one commenter on Mashable.com said “They positioned like they were making a case, not like they were listening.” While it is important to quickly respond to situations like these (especially when they involve celebrities like Smith who is a filmmaker and has a large following) it is also just as important to remember that these are real people we are talking to. Sometimes leaving the big-out-of-the-book words behind for a sincere and “human” apology is necessary—otherwise it just becomes one more generic response that can be done by a computer in a matter of time.

Posted in Customer Service, Kerrie Luginbill, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »

When signing up for an enewsletter takes 20 minutes…

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

So I just came across an enewsletter that was very intriguing – so I went ahead and subscribed to it. While signing up for the newsletter, not only did they as for my email address, name, address, fax number, job title… but I was asked to fill out another 6 pages of information about our company, our clients, our client needs, what I wanted for Christmas 2010… Just kidding. But seriously, 6 pages of information?! Really? Is that necessary?

Getting information from your subscribers is important and quite useful, but I think 6 pages is way too much to ask for when all I wanted to do was submit my email address and be on my merry way.

So please make note of this - Don’t annoy your email subscribers right from the start!

Posted in Ashlee Hille, Customer Service, Marketing | 2 Comments »

Crisis for Toyota is Learning Experience

Friday, February 5th, 2010

It is not something commonly taught in Driver’s Education classes: What do you do if your gas pedal sticks?

As one of the most popular vehicle manufactorers in the world, Japanese vehicle manufactorer Toyota is under recent scrutiny for this very vehicle malfunction that has caused recalls on millions of cars and the shutting down of many Toyota plants. But what was the popular manufactorer to do as they were going full speed to become the top vehicle manufactorer in the world?

They waited. And waited some more to tell consumers that a recall was necessary on many of their popular cars for an accelorator pedal malfunction. It could have been any other problem, but one that could mean life for death has put Toyota on the chopping block both in consumer and lawmakers’ eyes.

Case in point is that Toyota is in a bad situation due to poor communication, and poor parts but that is beside the point now. It is rumored that to fix the 5.6 million potentially malfunctioning vehicles would take Toyota dealerships across the nation staying open 24 hours a day for the next 2 months … thus more communication is needed now more than ever.

Toyota needs to shift into neutral and get information to consumers on what to do if their gas pedal sticks, what kind of rebate or incentive a consumer will receive for purchasing a poorly manufactored car, a more open communication policy, and most importantly, Toyota should consider more drastic financial possibilities. Personally, I am not about to purchase a Corolla anymore as I was say a month ago, and with plants shut across the world, Toyota could be facing a monetary plunge, which they had managed to stay out of in the recent turmoil of the economy.

When it comes down to it, there is a learning experience hidden beneath the pounds of malfunctioning metal: the communication any business or corporation should have with its public needs to be honest, upfront and immediate. Toyota encountered a fatal flaw in their cars, and by not letting consumers know or by not creating a contingency plan for repairs, the standards that Toyota vehicles are some of the safest is shattered. Consumers will now face months of uncertainty and months waiting for a part. Although the unforseen malfunction has now been addressed, a plan needs to go into place to help the consumer. Not everyone may see a problem, and not everyone may get their car fixed, but when liabilities and lawsuits appear on Toyota’s doorstep, they can only look to themselves for not taking action sooner.

And what should you do if your gas pedal sticks? As Toyota is finding out, shift into neutral and shut the engine off. Your car is done.

Posted in Customer Service, Public Relations, Valerie Hisam | 10 Comments »

Should signing up for an eClub take over 2 months…?

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Back in early Sept. I ate at this local fish restaurant at Southlands Mall in Aurora, CO. This location is now closed I noticed a few weeks ago. There is another location, however, about 20 minutes away. Anyway, I signed up for their e-mail club; I just received my “welcome” email today – over 2 months later!

How effective is it to put your desiring customers on hold for over 8 weeks? Not at all, I say.

I have worked with Fishbowl for the email marketing needs of a few restaurant clients – It takes 10 days upon mailing eClub sign up forms to Fishbowl for the new eClub member to receive their “welcome” email. So, the most it should take is roughly 2-2.5 weeks for a customer to receive their welcome email – and I believe this is how it should be.

How many times do we see companies tryto execute marketing tactics (like email loyalty programs) effectively? Time and time again. This is why it is vital to keep tabs on your various marketing tactics. What is working? What isn’t and why? Do you evaluate your programs? If not, you could be spinning your wheels.

Don’t put your customers on hold for 8 weeks. It could bite you in the end.

Posted in Ashlee Hille, Customer Service, Marketing | No Comments »

Secret Service

Friday, July 17th, 2009

I heard of a book the other day called Secret Serviceby John DiJulius – I haven’t had a chance to pick it up yet, but I’ve been briefed about it and the concept is intriguing.

Below is the forward from the book, taken from Amazon.com:

All businesses have customers, but how many of them deliver unforgettably good customer service? Secret Service reveals the hidden systems of the few exceptional companies that do: what actions they take behind the scenes to consistently surpass customer expectations. These organizations reap the benefits of greater customer loyalty, exponentially expanded referral networks, lower employee turnover, and stronger bottom-line results.

By quantifying and examining each phase of the “Customer Experience Cycle,” Secret Service reveals clever, practical ideas that can be transformed into repeatable best practices in any organization and at every level. Packed with examples applicable to a wide range of industries, this book provides practical, realistic ways to:

* Turn customer complaints into positive experiences
* Use marketing to go deeper with existing customers
* Increase customer and employee retention, and turn bland customer service into truly memorable customer experiences

DiJulius talks about the “secret” things that he does in his salons – For instance, when there is a new guest in the salon, the guest is given a color-specific towel – This tells the other stylists and management that the guest is new, that way the staff can interact with the customer knowing this is their first time at the salon. Repeat customers get a different colored towel – that way the staff can say things like, “nice to see you again” or “thanks for coming back to see us.” Little things (or secret things) like this can help make the customers’ visit more enjoyable and can take customer service to the next level – and the customer never even knows about it!

I’m anxious to read the book and I’ll blog about it when I’m done!

Posted in Ashlee Hille, Customer Service, Marketing | No Comments »