I wrote about my struggles with The Marketplace at Jordan Creek when it was still in business some time ago.
Now the thriving Gateway Market (Woodland/MLK) is opening a West Des Moines location sometime in June down near Art Dinkin in the Village at Ponderosa development. So when it opens, go experience great customer service, the right sized selection, and then stop by and say hi to Art.
Mediacom just keeps entering my life.
Here come da pain!
With about 6 months left until the HyVee Triathlon, training has kicked into high gear. We're up to 3000 meters per workout, 3x per week (that's about 1.5 hours and nearly 2 miles in the pool each time). Additionally, each time we do that, we're doing 4 miles on treadmill and/or elliptical.
I've trying to get down to my "fighting weight" but have been struggling. I'm down to 222 but really need to be at 200 to make life easier on my knees. When I restrict carbs a bit to encourage weight loss...by day 3 I'm cold all day and have no energy. Essentially I feel like I have the flu. Bad move. I spend the next 2 days eating everything I can find in the house and ultimately, I feel better.
Obviously I'm depleting my energy stores and not supporting my fuel needs on the carb end of things. So you ask...how can you loose weight, build or maintain muscle mass, stay energized, and be at peak performance?
Well...the answer is well beyond me other the normal research I've done through the years (don't eat bad carbs...eat lean protein...no refined sugars, etc). So, like I do with many things these days where I lack, I've "insourced" my nutritional guidance to Ryan at Nutri-Sport. The store is located just off Swanson and 100th just south of Hickman. Ryan was recommended by triathlon trainer Chad Marchant.
Ryan welcomed me into the store...spent 30 minutes with me running through my situation and guiding my optimum nutrition for my workout days. We're not talking meal plan stuff although I'm pretty certain he can do that for you. Ryan is a competitive body builder so he lives and breaths his business. Nutri-Sport offers personal training also.
Ryan didn't try to load me up with the junk that the kids at GNC typically try to pimp and I really appreciate that. I spent about $30 on stuff today so at 30 minutes...Ryan hasn't made a dime off me yet. But what he did today was inspire me to write this post and recommend that you use him for any nutritional needs you may have. He had no idea (like most people :) that I write this blog or connect with quite a few people in the Iowa metro.
So without hesitation, I'd recommend Ryan at Nutri-Sport for your sports (or couch potato) needs. Tell him "Doug Mitchell" sent you. Only 158 days remaining until I test my metal. See you at Gray's Lake.
OK. I'm not piling on an easy target here. This stuff is stranger than fiction.
My wife called an canceled all of our remaining Mediacom services on Sunday. Of course the rep asked "Why?" He was treated to an ear full and just had to chuckle at his own company's ridiculous lack of service. Yeah...hah hah very funny (in my best Eddie Murphy Raw voice).
Well yesterday evening, just about dinner time, the phone rings. It's Mediacom coming back from the grave. An obviously ill trained youth starts reading a script to me about how Mediacom is dedicated to keeping me...how they want me to stay...how they're going to offer me a great discounted package for another year if I'll re-sign!
How dare they!!!! THE WHOLE REASON I LEFT is that I can was getting the "regular customer for 12 months and 1 day screw you" price. I gave them no less than 12 full additional months at their usurious rates to appease my desire to get a "fair" price.
Mediacom MUST know that all we consumers have to do is switch services about every 12 months to get the new customer price points by now.
I told the representative that it's ironic to be offered a discount package by him...an anonymous call center hack...2 days post disconnect vs. when I kindly asked for it 8 times over a 12 month period!
Arrrrgh!
I'm a huge fan of "chat with a live person right now" buttons on websites. I just love the ability to solve problems when I'm encountering them. I'm far more likely to buy from a firm that offers this option (Qwest just got my business after a 45 minute plus chat session building my bundled services package with a very capable person with a real personality.)
Enter my chat session today with OfficeDepot.com. I just received a $20 coupon of a purchase of $100 or more. I tried to use it buying a $99.99 item. Oops. Invalid. Since they probably don't have items priced at $99.98, I'd like to see them bend the rules and put in a $.01 web rule that bumps the deal so I can use the coupon...but that's another topic.
I added another item, a $40 MP3 player. Still no coupon acceptance. The error message kept telling me that I was at $99.99 and thus couldn't use it. I started a live chat session, during which time I figured out my own error. The fine print says NO ELECTRONICS so the website was correct...it was just rejecting me in an unclear way.
The person on the other end of the chat just didn't grasp that I had discovered the issue and rectified it on my own...never utilizing a drip of human interaction...rather attempting to stay on the scripted path. Oh well.
Remember firms...LIVE CHAT doesn't give you the excuse to skimp on the experience.
Here's the transcript.
Agent21 has entered the session.
doug: no matter what i do, my coupon code will not work. my order is $139.98 but it keeps erroring and telling me that my order is $99.99 (because the first time i tried, it was under $100) but I added an item..now somehow this thing is cookied or whatever and i cannot complete my purchase using the coupon.
Agent21: Thank you for contacting the Office Depot online assistance team, my name is Janice and I have been assigned to your query.
Agent21: May I have the coupon code?
doug: 31543480
doug: u know what...i can't believe it...but i think it's not good on MP3 players...and thus the denial.
doug: hard to believe but true.
Agent21: This coupon excludes technology item, .
doug: i'll buy a $.02 cent pencil to make it work i guess.
doug: :)
Agent21: May I know whether you have added any technology item in your cart?
doug: yes an mp3 player.
doug: sansa
doug: that's why it' not working correct.
doug: i read the fine
doug: print
doug: it would be helpful to note that on the website if a customer makes a mistake like that...but so it goes.
Agent21: I am sorry, then you cannot use this coupon this coupon to this item.
Agent21: Is there anything else I can assist you with?
doug: no thanks.
In days gone by it was nearly impossible to get AT&T (Cingular) to unlock a phone for you. Unlocking of course means that you can use your quad-band GSM cell phone on the other global networks you may encounter while traveling abroad by purchasing local SIM cards. Rates on these SIMS can be very low (sub $.10/min) and include a local phone number. Also, inbound calls are free of charge.
Of course this has always been something AT&T did NOT want to happen because they'd miss out on their often usurious international rates. Rates have been coming down and $.99/min is not uncommon these days but you'll pay $.99/min inbound and outbound while likely paying some sort of monthly fee to get the rate down to that level.
But I have great news. I've just received my UNLOCK CODE and instructions on how to activate it on my Blackberry Pearl 8100 from AT&T's customer service department with one simple call to 611!
I asked the guys at the local store and they said, "We can't do it, but customer service will handle that for you". I was shocked to even hear that much support. Imagine my surprise when I call, I ask, I get.
Bravo AT&T. I'm more loyal now that ever. You know odds are, that if I'm traveling for a short period of time, I'll probably STILL use your service/SIM and pay you the rates you ask for. I'm simply into have the option to do otherwise.
No more paying $20 for a code from someone on ebay. Have at it y'all.
Mediacom announced today that a rate increase would go into affect in January. Specifically the,
monthly charge for the company’s popular Family Cable package of about 75 channels will rise $3 to $54.95 for most customers that subscribe to cable only, said Phyllis Peters, a Mediacom spokeswoman.
Mediacom also will enhance service, she said, by increasing the number of channels available in high-definition in the Family package.
Key points of note:
It will please me greatly when that which I desire is delivered a la cart via wireless to wherever I'd like. I really don't need or want 200 channels. In fact, I could probably come up with about 10 I "need"...and I'd be willing to pay $.xx per show in an on demand environment. (Am I describing Apple TV?)
Unfortunately, I don't believe my leaving will make a difference at Mediacom...but I finally overcame inertia and bailed out.
Here's how I architected the departure.
Savings. I'm down from the "you're not a new customer anymore so here come da' pain price of $167/mo to about $117 (4 tuners on the DirectTV system). Yes, I had to pay some upfront for the equipment with DirecTV but amortizing over 1 year is still a savings then year 2 things are looking much better.
I'm really not so concerned at this point with how GOOD Qwest and DirecTV are. However, I'm elated to be exorcising the Mediacom demon (save for Scott Westerman who I think doesn't work there anymore). It's pretty bad when ANYTHING is better than SOMETHING.
I won't go into the reasons why I'm leaving.....oh who am I kidding.
Blood boiling, pulse accelerating...time to put on some Limp Bizkit and go scrape ice off the drive way. @$%!#@%#!@%$@#^%#@^#@$^%$
"Let the anger flow inside you Doug..........(breathing into toilet bowl).+
If you're from Qwest or DirecTV and you read this, sorry I'm not coming to you on better terms. We'll have our chance to build a relationship soon enough.
My wife has been to a few jewelry stores looking for a new "screw on earring back thingy" that keeps the diamond stud deals securely in place. (Earrings were purchased at Costco's little jewelry section). Each store simply said, "No sorry, you need to go back to the place where you got them and get a new thingy". I've always found this odd since they sell similar stuff but I digress.
Fruitless for months, we decided to visit Jared at Jordan Creek. We were immediately greeted by Stephanie who asked us how she could be of service. Once we told her that we wanted this little problem solved (and effectively that we weren't going to be buying a $5k ring that day), she solicited assistance from Arnold, another associate immediately. Stephanie then offered us coffee, cappuccino, water, etc. Shortly thereafter, Arnold returned with new back thingy installed and sent us on our way...free of charge. Here are my first impressions, often the only ones that will matter.
Great job Jared. In closing, let me tell you that my barometer of service excellence is my wife. As we left the store, she said, "Well I guess we know where we'll be buying all of our jewelry from now on." That's the kind of instant loyalty that you want...and you've got it from us.
Hello all. I've written an article that has just been published in Rental Product News. (I even got special permission in advance to post it on my own blog)
If you don't already know me personally, I do a fair amount of work in the industrial/heavy equipment rental sector helping these companies leverage technology solutions to their fullest potential while accurately measuring and recouping their investment in them. I've written an article that introduces the often "old school" rental business to blogs and their power. This article "wrote itself" after I attended a "Guerrilla Marketing" seminar for the rental industry...that didn't mention blogs whatsoever. Shame.
Here's the piece:
Ready for a blog?
You've heard of them. Perhaps you read them. You might even be one of the 50-plus million people that have created one. But it's not likely that you've drawn a clear connection between blogs (short for WeB-LOGs) and your rental business. In this article, I will shed some light on business blogging, the often misunderstood marketing tool, and provide some reasons why it might make sense for your rental business. (HINT: Blogging can be the most powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal … and it's free!)
Background on blogs
When all of the hoopla is stripped away, blogs are simply websites that
make it easy for non-technical folks like you and me to show the world
what we think in words and pictures. Disappointed? Don't be. The
simplicity of blogs and the tools used to create them have spawned an
entire industry focused on providing tools enabling the rest of us to
make very professional looking blogs that complement our corporate
websites.
Also, blogging is not just about writing, it's about reading. Although I won't focus on reading blogs in this article, using the power of RSS feeds (RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication) and feed readers, your company can search once and subscribe to feeds delivering real-time news and information on your industry and your competition. At least equally important, you can subscribe to what the industry and others are saying about your company, so you can answer.
But I already have a website!
If you ask 100 people on the street where they go first to look up a
business, 80 percent will likely say, "I Google it." Have you spent
some time searching for your own website using common key words? If you
don't come up in the first page and your competitors do, don't feel
lonely. Most corporate websites are put up with great intentions and
many look great. However, they quickly become stale and stagnate.
Often, business owners are held hostage by the webmaster or design company that created the site. Want to put up a new event, press release, or product information section? Get out your wallet. As a result, most sites transition from "web" to "cob web" in less than six months. Stale websites do not impress search engines.
While there are techniques to make your website rise in rankings, typically called SEO or Search Engine Optimization, you can help your company ascend the ranks by posting quality content to your blog with regularity. Regular blog postings (three to five times per week) are consumed by search engines voraciously. As more people find and link to your quality posts, they become more "relevant" to the search engines and the site rises in the rankings. By linking your blog site to your corporate website, you can complete the circle and drive more people through the front door. Of course, simply posting random thoughts about the weather will not attract the masses.
Business blogging is really two-way communication between a business and its clients or potential clients. Blogs provide the platform for your company to become more findable and for the public at large to comment and link to what they're reading.
Before you jump in with both feet, it's important to establish the reasons why your business should blog in the first place. After all, you're probably not looking for more workload to fill the day. Let's not forget that your goal in creating this business blog is most likely increasing revenues and differentiating yourself from the competition.
Blogging tools
The most common blogging software platforms today are Blogger(www.blogger.com), WordPress ( www.wordpress.com), and Typepad (www.typepad.com).
Each has strengths and weaknesses but all allow the author to create a
blog site and start posting with zero upfront expense. If your company
outgrows the software or desires more technical tools, they're readily
available. These products allow even the most technically challenged
among us to put a blog up and post entries in minutes.
Eventually, you might want to employ someone to match the look and feel of your blog to your website. Or, you might even go so far as transitioning your entire corporate site into a blog site. Remember, "findability" is what you're after and a blog's freshness of content provides the fresh new treats that search engines love to eat.
Be different, honest, informative
Your company blog is a platform to highlight what makes your rental
operation special. Here are some blog post topics that come to mind if
I were posting to your blog:
Share stories that highlight interesting customer service experiences. Share your unique ability to resolve problems and satisfy customer demands.
Share times that things went wrong and what you learned from them. Sometimes I get bored with hearing about how well things go. Tell me about some times when you messed up and how you made them right. These tales get my attention.
Discuss specialized solutions your company provides the industry. I love hearing out-of-the-box solutions to complex situations. If your firm has innovated, tell the world! If you think the competition won't find out eventually, think twice. Share with the industry.
Mention specials or other unique promotions your company is offering. A blog is not merely a site for your electronic sales pitches, but it can be a place to strategically share your specials. If you offer your clientele something they need, they'll likely forward the deal to their friends.
Expose the unique talents of your employees. It's really cool to see that your sales coordinator is a drummer in a rock band and that your shop foreman is a gourmet cook, specializing in French cuisine. Expose a little bit more of what makes up your company's unique personality. These details give outsiders a glimpse of what it's like to deal with you before they walk through the door and might provide "instant rapport" when the potential client walks in the door.
Your unique blogging voice
Your company's "blogging voice" and flare will evolve over time. You
should encourage many in your organization to write for the blog and
see where they take it. Of course, the software makes it easy to
moderate and edit the posts in case someone decides to post a rant
about your management style. Also, don't forget that there might be a
budding writer out there operating your equipment.
Engage your organization in blogging passion and watch the results!
Doug Mitchell is the vice president of business development at Dispatching Solutions Inc., a provider of logistics software and GPS tracking solutions to the equipment rental industry.
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A special thank you goes out to the Godfather, Mike Sansone who ignited the business blogging gene in me almost 2 years ago.
I visited Scheels today at the Jordan Creek Mall. Here's what I experienced.
I'm looking for a bike rack for my trailer hitch. A woman asked me if I needed help, I explained what I needed, she brought over a specialist, and I learned everything from a "kid" that couldn't have been more than 18. He was smart, courteous, and very in the know. Excellent.
I'm looking for a specific type of holster and ammunition. I head over that section and a gentlemen proceeds to give me the download and the what's what on everything I needed. He wrapped up issues that have been boggling me for months. He was also courteous and "real" and knew the products from use and customer testimonials.
By the way, neither employee would bad mouth any other products...rather they gave me the straight scoop based on their industry experience. That's a good thing.
Great job Scheels. You got the business.
I've done my quick case study on the Marketplace at Jordan Creek (MAJC). I've also highlighted another friends experience where "neutral service is negative". Now today the front page of the Business section in the Des Moines Register has the following headline:
"Specialty Grocery Struggles in W.D.M."
(W.D.M. is West Des Moines non-Iowans).
The article paints a pretty bleak picture of the market's prospects and does well to prop up its competition. (Which by the way has gotten pretty good marks from my ad hoc surveys of customer service experiences).
I still believe that the bottom line is this:
In retail, especially high priced retail (aka Starbucks)...experience is everything. Create the environment that brings folks back over and over again, because single visits do not a successful market make. It's repeat high average ticket sales that win the game my friends.
I'm still offering to recruit a cadre of black aproned customer service agents to make this a place that people rave about. Shall I shine the signal light in the sky? Is the MAJC listening to the blogosphere?
Our friends visited the Marketplace at Jordan Creek again recently. (Here's my original post on the customer experience I've had thus far there) When chatting about the experience, our friend said, "It was a bad experience and I experienced horrible customer service." I asked for elaboration during which I was told, "No one approached me, said a word to me, or offered to help me...even though I was buying a cart full of cheeses and gourmet items."
I confirmed my understanding, "So you mean a NEUTRAL experience was a NEGATIVE experience for you?" YES. In that setting especially YES. Our friend went on to explain how she, "Probably would have purchased whatever wine the employees suggested for cheese pairings and even more cheese selections if someone would have asked about preferences and tastes."
This is especially true when consumers are spending discretionary income on high priced, high margin items. The folks at the Marketplace could turn these experiences into:
Remember: When you are in the business of providing high end goods at premium prices especially...(think Starbucks), you can turn potential customers into raving fans of your brand by delivering a truly dynamic and engaging customer service experience. This is not something you'll teach your employees in a class. This is something that starts from the top, is burned into the culture through living the example daily, and is propagated by hiring the right people.
Guy Kawasaki points out a possible challenge to the iPhone's success...its involvement with AT&T. Does this transcript of the help session sound familiar? It's a non-native English speaker from somewhere else that has absolutely no capacity to understand something outside of the scripted possibilities. This is the number one reason I don't do business with companies. (my Dell experience post)This type of "customer disservice" wastes my time and theirs and damages the brand (AT&T doesn't need more damage). I think what really makes these auto-foreign chat service rooms more distasteful is the constant apologetic nature of the agent. Stop apologizing and start DOING @@#$%@$%!!~%#$^
I've given The Market Place At Jordan Creek numerous free passes. I've spent 20-30 minutes wandering the isles and asking questions of employees. I've queried others on their experiences there. Now, I feel obligated to ask the question of the store's management: Where is the customer service experience? On the scale of 1-10...with 5 being neutral, I'd give the place a 4. Here's why.
This is the kind of store that must have massive overhead. Their inventory is huge. Selection is probably unrivaled. But guess what? It's going to bleed to death slowly unless it makes raving fans out its potential client base.
Please engage someone to train in customer service effectively so that EVERY employee (partner, associate) is engaging the customer and attempting to go above and beyond.
I guarantee that if you took surveys on the experience there for 30 days...then put a black apron on me or many other readers of this blog and you'd get a massive boost in scores and repeat business. (Shall we develop a charity customer service roving team?)
It's simple. Build a connection with those customers and they'll come back because they love you. You aren't selling food and beverages, you're selling an experience. Thus far, my experience is exponentially better at HyVee where I'm greeted by literally every employee that passes me.
If you do pay attention to the blogosphere Market Place management, I'd gladly sit down with you or do some mystery shopping.
Here's their front splash page blurb on how they approach customer service:
We strive to provide exceptional customer service through extensive training for our store associates. Stressing knowledge, courtesy and prompt response to the needs of the customer, our goal is to develop loyal long-term customer relationships. In addition, we strive to develop a long-standing relationship with customers who are interested in pursuing culinary arts with our specialized culinary and cooking events, as well as, guest chef appearances.
I've been verbally and electronically accosted a few times in the last month. The topic has always been the same: technology. More specifically, I've been on the receiving end of a technology reaming, given by a technologist, over something that I cannot understand beyond superficially knowing the terms being used.
In all cases, the situation was actually not my doing...rather it was the technologists emotional overreaction to:
My gut reaction is to lash out and throw down. My professional senses have learned to listen, acknowledge, and accept what the person is saying as a "temporary truth". Additionally, I take the drop everything and resolve the situation approach. In all cases, the lashings I received were unwarranted and in fact, later the true causes were discovered and addressed.
I received no apologies or atonement for having been the whipping boy.
The Lesson:
There will be many situations like this in your business. Avoid gut reactions. Sit on those flaming response emails for at least 24 hours to cool off. Accept that when emotions are hot, blame will fly. Understand the it's entirely possible that the person on the other end is missing chunks from their posterior because the boss man/woman ate them for breakfast. Calm down and work methodically to resolve the issue. Don't expect atonement...it's the price you pay sometimes for excellence.
I know working for the airlines is tough and that the industry has suffered. You can "taste" the cutbacks in food (or lack thereof), drink selections, attitudes, delays, and general service quality. One area that seems to have suffered heavily is the frequent flier programs. For years they've been making the rules stiffer and reducing options, but what I've noticed recently is an absolute absence of human bodies in these departments. I've emailed and faxed to no avail many times recently on at least 3 airlines. My issue is one of those that I'd prefer to handle via email or fax since it will inevitably require me to fax/send paperwork anyway. The bottom line here is that I emailed US AIR about two weeks ago, receive the automated "we're working hard for you email" and then have received nothing back now. American still provides me excellent service in this category by the way. Then, I receive a marketing email, asking them to vote for them in the Freedie Awards, the industry's way of slathering gravy on each other I guess.
I hope the airline's culture has not shifted to "well, that's just free stuff anyway so it can wait or be cut" because that "free stuff" is called MY LOYALTY. I actually make conscious decisions to fly with you over and over again to get some modicum of reward for being absent from my family XX days per year. I know things are tough but they're tough all over.
I use GoDaddy email forwarding for my Mitchgroup.com domain. Silly me let the mailbox fill up since day-to-day, I filter everything through gmail. Anyway, the problem is fixed so if you've received a bounced email when trying to contact me, I apologize. No wonder the volume has been low the last few days.
doug@mitchgroup.com is fully engaged.
Mediacom and Sinclair reached an agreement today on bringing FOX back to Des Moines cable. I'm not sure what the catalyst was this time...but it's a done deal. I can now watch 24 anytime I please on DVR. Thank goodness this is over. Thanks to Scott Westerman again for being a voice of reason and customer care during this bad situation. 
I'd like to tip my hat today to Panera. Today I was greeted by name (wow!), I was asked about what I was doing, there was a comment about my lack of attendance lately (coincidental travel not staying away on purpose), and was engaged in conversation about my business travel and was made an offer to swap jobs for a while!
I felt more connected there than ever before. I don't know if our blog posts have reached someone...and frankly that's not important to me.
Today, Dorothy brought some added joy to my hectic day and made me feel like a valued customer. I appreciate this immensely and can't wait to engage again.
I moved to Iowa about 13 months ago. Upon arrival, I was welcomed and really hooked up by Mediacom, the cable company presently embroiled in a battle with Sinclair Communications. I've posted on that deal before. At the end of the day, I'm at the nexus of the perfect storm regarding my whole telecom infrastructure:
My buddy forwarded me a link to Grand Central where you can use one 515 phone number and it will ring to any phone you want it to ring on (cell, office, etc.) It's free right now but probably wont be forever and it's a bit clunky.
Anyway, I'm anxious to hear someone's suggestions if they have them..but I'm pretty sure I've covered every conceivable way of doing this..and that I'm left with bending over for Mediacom and living with rabbit ears, or going the DirecTV / Qwest phone/DSL route.
I'm really having trouble remaining entrenched Panera. I don't want to launch a revolt, rebellion, or negatively impact their business but here's my feelings at present.
I will hold on for a while and will likely continue to utilize Panera as my office away from home...but I am looking. Is it just University Panera? I did visit the Panera on 86th in Johnston (Urbandale maybe?)...and I felt more of a sense of community there immediately from the employees. There are many businesses around town with free wireless connectivity.
A news story just hit the wires moments ago. Here's the headline and the link.
"Three Mediacom employees with signs stood outside the cable company's
office at 2205 Ingersoll Ave. in Des Moines this afternoon, notifying
customers there were no free antennas left and that more would be
available on Tuesday."
Cue the circus music. If you're going to bridge the absurdity gap, make sure you buy enough Acme Absurdity Gap Fillers.
I posted my piece on the Mediacom-Sinclair debacle and within 24 hours, I received a very nice note from Scott Westerman, a Vice President with Mediacom. Doing a little research on where my visitors come from, I think he found my blog by searching technorati for the Mediacom and Sinclair tags. Excellent and Admirable! I'm posting our follow up email chain below. The bottom line here, Mediacom gained a notch on my respect totem pole because they are watching, listening, and reaching out. Below is my answer to his first response but the link at the bottom will get you the entire chain.
Doug's Response to Mediacom:
edited here but full letters available at link below.
The key thing that all parties should remember here is that (in the nicest way possible here) the customer doesn't care what your businesses are squabbling about.
We care that something we desire is no longer conveniently available to
us at a price point. We're being forced to look elsewhere or take
additional inconvenient action to get get "back to ground zero". How
many of your customers use DVR? I'm guessing an ever larger number.
We cannot use DVR to watch 24 at our convenience anymore and that's a
problem. I bet the sports fans are REALLY angry and considering the
myriad NFL packages on DirecTV and Dish, this will really damage you
over time.
Somewhere, some very smart analysts have probably provided
you the top secret report with the "Bend over and take the losses vs.
bend over and take the Sinclair price tag equation mapped out". As you
approach that break even point of losing customers and/or paying out
whatever it takes to get the programming back, I'm guessing we'll see
action. So the question is will I and enough of those like me, all
Mediacom VIP's with all of your offerings bundled, switch quickly
enough to trigger the "oh crap" button.
I'm stuck in the middle...and it's the WORST place for a customer to be.
Thanks
for listening and participating in the conversation. I'm not sure
where you are located...but Des Moines has a vibrant blogging community
that would like to know that someone in "big corporate America"
listens...in case you'd like to meet some of them.
Scott Westerman's email to me with all follow up messages.
Lately, I've been assisting my wife with some local mystery shops (where you engage in certain scenarios designed to measure and test customer service in a technical way in exchange for a small payment + reimbursement of a set expense limit). What I'm more and more convinced of after doing this...is how undervalued Starbucks Coffee stock is. As I've said before, "It's the people" that make your brand. By and large, Starbucks hires right and its baristas live the brand.
There are shining stars to everywhere to be certain (glass half full approach) and some baristas have flamed out I'm sure...but it fascinates me that Starbucks can achieve excellence on such a grand scale. I visited a Starbucks last night randomly wandering through the mall and was seriously impressed with the barista's abilities to connect with my wife and I.
I know that more companies are attempting to reinvent themselves into a service excellence culture. Are you aware of any that are succeeding on the Starbucks scale or close?
Maybe I just need to get out more!
Hey readers, I have 3, 1-free day coupons good on National Car Rental that must be used by December 31, 2006. I'm pretty certain now that I will not be able to use them so please advise if you're interested.
First come, first served. They are not valid in San Jose, CA or Manhattan, NY and can be used together (up to 7 in one shot). I'm traveling but have them with me. It will be a lot more convenient if you tell me by 6PM Pacific, tomorrow the 4th of December.
Lately I feel like starting a competitor to every service business I run into. Whether it's getting a quote for tree trimming, buying home improvement supplies, or eating something...the service and attention I'm getting is sub-par (save the experiences I've noted in my blog before) I had a chat with a friend about "The ubiquitous decline of service quality" I'm experiencing and it always comes back to the people.
It's the people you hire that are the face and quality of the experience you provide, i.e. your brand. If you think that simple cash register ringers are all that's required at a home improvement store, you're wrong. If interaction with regular clients isn't happening, those people will cease to be regular clients. I've been a regular customer of a certain coffee shop for months now. Not once has a manager taken the time to get to know me or why I'm sitting in their facility hours at a time...many days per week. If not for other regulars that meet there too, I'd jump ship in a heartbeat. This place even asks for your name...and they ask me, every time because they have no acknowledgment that I'm supporting their brand and their profits. Remember it's not just my coffee purchases that matter...it's every meeting I have there, every family lunch, client lunch, and gift card that I buy for others that factors into the equation.
Does this investment in the right people affect short term profitability? Probably. Is it the right thing to do for the long term. Certainly. I'd rather be my "customer's darling" than Wall Street's darling any day.
Some of you will recall a detailed customer service rant about an experience my family and I had at the couple month old Red Robin here in West Des Moines called The Power of One Bad Experience. I'd like to share with you what's happened since then.
Now that's fantastic. Bravo Red Robin! Let's break this down in simple economic terms...devoid of emotion:
I would highly recommend that you visit this establishment and please ask for Juan. Tell him that you read Doug Mitchell's blog experience and are now certain that Red Robin gets it! You made a big deposit in the Red Robin brand today Juan and Kristina.
I wish that Bankers Trust would have had a chance to read my post here before my buddy Drew McLellan posted his piece on what a $115 dollar "duh fee" charged to a loyal client can do for your brand image! Bankers surely would have understood the economic "lifetime value" of a client...right?
Do you think that Red Robin and Bankers Trust are a bit more interested in what blogs can do to support your branding? Doing a Google search on Red Robin customer service yields 4th place for me on my original rant. I'm just ahead of a very nice announcement touting Red Robin's use of Six Sigma through partnership with GE Capital to improve milk shake quality. I didn't try for that or expect it...but it's happening. I hope this post ranks even higher.
After a year of sitting on my desk, the Mitchgroup web cam II is up and running. Now I will likely leave the stationary home office cam in place and move the other around to different spots. I know some of you actually DO check back often because when the cams are down...I get emails!
I've also reduced the size of video window so both will fit nicely on one page. It should also help with loading speed and video quality.
It took another support call with DLINK that went very well. Good job DLINK. It helped that I had the same router brand as the cameras.
Caveat Lector:
I am beside myself today as I type this entry so forgive any disconnections, ravings, flourishes, or lobbing of verbal putridity.
My wife and I have been loyal Red Robin fans (NASD: RRGB) for over 10 years. In fact my wife was an Assistant Manager at a many Red Robin restaurants back in CA before we had kids. We went to the approximately 3 month old Red Robin in West Des Moines, Iowa last night to celebrate my daughter's second birthday with a grilled cheese and ice cream Sundae. We continue to patronize Red Robin, even though since opening, the folks there have been unable to get a simple order correct. After sitting down and waiting for 10 minutes without a server approaching us...someone came over and apologized. Things were looking up. We gave him our "free burger coupon" and he took our drink orders. About 3 minutes later, he came back and said, "I need to get you drink orders" (pointing to my wife and I)...which we'd just given. Uh oh.
Over the past few months, we've given them 6 chances to execute the following:
California Chicken Burger, with Pepper Jack Cheese (vs. the swiss it comes with), cut in half, and on a plate (versus the baskets typically used for burgers/chicken sandwiches). Does this sound like an intense request that strains the very core of the "chefs" in the back room? Incomprehensible for a server to execute? It gets worse.
To date, it has never arrived on a plate. Never. 6 times the sandwich has arrived in a basket. Sometimes cut in half, sometimes split into two baskets, sometimes with the proper cheese. The last time I was there with the family...I commented to the manager what has happened...just casually. I was told that "Yes, there is a button the screen for "ON A PLATE" but that somehow I guess the waiters just weren't entering this properly. For our trouble (and we didn't expect this)..the manager comped something on our ticket. This was a generous move and we handled this with the casual "We want you to be better approach" and expected nothing for it. Nice move.
Fast forward to last night, my wife's order arrived ON A PLATE (huge victory)...but the sandwich was plain...all of the vegetable condiments were on the side...and there were no sauces on the sandwich at all. Where did the server get this instruction? We have no clue. The waiter in NO WAY offered to take the sandwich back, accept responsibility, etc. He waited there as my wife asked how this could have happened. He took a laissez faire attitude and after much protest and specific instructions from my wife that she get another correct order, he took the plate away. Mind you he never said he wasn't going to take it back, never made any kind of suggestions at all...rather he seemed to be waiting until my wife stopped talking to see if he'd have to do anything.
Please, if a discussion is had around this letter, don't resort to "That was the customer's perception of what was happening," approach. It was the perception of what was happening by two reasonable, educated, caring, parents that have had plenty of experience in service and sales.
We ordered fruit for the kids instead of fries. The fries arrived...the fruit didn't. We ordered another round of fruit since my daughter dropped a piece...it NEVER arrived. We told the waiter specifically that it was my daughter's birthday and he acknowledged that he'd bring her the little sundae and come sing. That NEVER happened. Our bill arrived, no coupon used. There was nothing comped, no additional sorries, no managers coming by, no attempt to assuage our passionate desire to come back again if someone would just take the time to understand that we have a serious problem with their behavior and performance. We were effectively begging you to keep us as customers at this point...but no one listened.
My wife confronted the waiter and had obviously reached her breaking point with this inability to get things right. I sat back and listened to her and watched the waiter's response. He barely acknowledged that there was a problem...before he launched his counter attacks (wrong move in the customer service business folks). He started interrupting about how busy it was, how he had typed it in correctly but that he didn't know, "What those guys in the kitchen are doing and why they can't seem to understand something so clear." When my wife (knowing the basic Red Robin ordering/cooking/delivery process) said, "I know that at least 5 people probably see this order and could check it for accuracy before it arrives to the customer wrong." He said, "You know...I've got two managers in the back cooking right now...and they can't even get things right." During one of the sessions of venting these frustrations..the waiter interrupted and stated, "You know I have to get these kids milk over here," and walked away. Attempting to blame, redirect, and otherwise push off issues to your management (who you're implying are incompetent) is not a good approach.
When we left, we asked the two young girls and a server who were chatting and filling balloons for the manager's name the store's phone number, they had to look in a cell phone for the number and could only provide the manager's first name. They seemed a bit annoyed with the request and though no one was entering the restaurant, they continued to man the front post instead of assist with the damage on the restaurant floor. Maybe that's all they can do. Maybe that's all they're allowed to do...but to the somewhat educated observer...it appears that whomever was doing or not doing the managing wasn't deploying labor properly.
There were at least 2 tables around us that were expressing non-verbal anger cues about wait times, getting up to get their own ketchup bottles, etc. I'm guessing that a cook or two called in sick but at the end of the day, this was the WORST experience I've had at a restaurant as far back as I can remember. As a business traveler and frequent restaurant eater, this situation was beyond the pale of acceptable customer service behaviors.
I'll borrow the Red Robin Core Values to contrast my post mortem analysis (literally because my relationship with them is 99.9% dead at this point) and that which should be driving every behavior and decision each partner/manager/waiter/host makes.
Our Core Values
HONOR Unbridled caring for the Team, Guest and Company.
Besmirching your managers and treating us poorly provides no honor. The company's honor is now tainted.
INTEGRITY Doing the right thing!
There were at least 10 key moments when someone could have done the right thing. I saw what looked to be a few managers in the kitchen...but not on the floor addressing this issue.
SEEKING KNOWLEDGE Seek first to understand, then to be understood.
In all of our "pre-relationship damaging" visits...no one sought out the knowledge or cared to educated others as to how orders can be made to show up on plates. We sought to understand why it was a problem and whether it was servers not listening, the "system" not having the ability to indicate "on a plate", the kitchen not reading what the servers order said.
HAVING FUN Make the ordinary extraordinary and the mundane fun.
The only thing extraordinary was the distress we felt from this visit.
I'm going to send this blog post to the Red Robin comment email address at the corporate level, the local store via regular mail (I'm sure they'll get the e-copy forwarded quickly), and to the CEO of Red Robin via regular mail in case there's a buffer between the corporate email and the executive office.
Instead of an unbridled act last night...the Red Robin horse bucked us right out of the door. It wouldn't have taken much to turn this tale of woe into a tale of excellence. Are you familiar with blogs Red Robin? You probably are now.
Tom Peters posted today on an ABC News special that highlighted "Outsourced Surgery" and how a company called PlanetHospital handles the logistics and arrangements for surgeries that...for whatever reason, couldn't be done here in the US (cost to much, not covered, lack of insurance, etc.).
What a fantastic example of the inefficiency of medicine these days...but encouraging to know that this is an option. The piece described how a woman flew 30 hours to have a 30 minute surgery at 1/3 the cost. Unreal.
I am just hoping that when you call to describe your situation and set up the surgery...that the call center agents are NOT outsourced.
Last week, I posted on a Mediacom Cable VIP program customer service experience that went from bad to good....while pointing out some serious marketing program flaws that I assumed larger companies like Mediacom had the smarts to avoid.
Here's an update since my phone service was out for a day until I reset my router last night.
1. I called the VIP phone number that was given in the marketing documentation: 1-877-304-7466. It now identifies as "The VIP customer service line".
2. The website for VIP's http://www.mediacomcable.com/VIP is working now.
I'm not sure if my post had anything to do with these victories...but at the end of the day...my big beefs have been resolved. Power to the people.
It seems like I'm attracting customer service incidents these days. I'm a walking trouble ticket apparently. I'm really not trying, but as an advocate, watch dog, reporter, blogger, dad, concerned netizen, value conscious consumer and evangelist...I must do my duty.
A few days ago, I received a very impactful direct mail piece from my cable company Mediacom. This piece was shiny opalescent light blue and had the words "Open to explore your VIP benefits". I'm hugely in favor of being treated well by them since I get my TV, Phone, and Internet service from them...resulting in a monthly bill upward of $120. I shrieked like a school girl and ripped the envelope open with eager anticipation. Then I read this....see below. Read the sentence marked with an arrow at least 2x and get yourself in the state that you get in when you're given something pretty darn cool..absolutely FREE!
I was about to actually PAY FOR THE UPGRADE to the higher bandwidth about a month ago...now it was being handed to me as a VIP! I was told back then, "It would be $59.99/mo (versus the $29.99/mo I am paying now) and that my equipment had to be upgraded along with an installation fee. (I have a VOIP Aeris telephony modem)....Now all costs were to be waived...oh joy!
I decided right away to visit the special web site that had been created just for me! http://www.mediacomcable.com/VIP
Wow, my very own special place. Notice that there's an 800 number just for me too. I figured the website would likely answer all of my questions and allow me to upgrade at will (after all, cable companies are big into "ON DEMAND"). I typed in the URL and found this:
Not good. I tried again and again...and at the time of this posting, the website still doesn't work.
Next I called the 800 number. It's nice to have your own "hot line" and I let the website issue slide. When I dialed in, there was nothing special about the menus or the options. It was simply (so it seems) a generic 877 number created to track response to the direct mail piece.
Fine. So I reach a human. He was very kind and I explained my new VIP status and asked for my free upgrade. He had no idea what I was talking about. After 5 minutes of explanation, he put me on hold for about 5 minutes (not feeling much like a VIP now). He came back on the line and proceeded to explain that actually, what automatic free upgrade means is that my price is going up to $59.99/mo and that Mediacom is only waiving the "fees to upgrade". When asked what's involved, he said he said he simply "changes a setting in his software" and my speed is upgraded automatically....love those "installation fees". Even though I've cropped the letter in this post...there are NO fine print sections and no small * sections explaining that free is actually quite expensive. For once, I really thought I had scored big. After reading my letter verbatim and having the rep politely say that he checked with 2 supervisors and 2 managers and that I was wrong and he was correct...I informed him that I would not be taking my "free upgrade" today. (He did refund a pay per view movie that I had purchased quickly and efficiently that had awkward pauses in the audio recording on the DVR).
After two days of stewing in my own juices and discussing this offer over and over again with my lovely wife, she said, "The way I read it, you don't even have to DO ANYTHING!" rather this upgrade should just happen. After another 10 reads...I concurred!
I called back my VIP hotline again and a nice woman answered the phone. (A+ for politeness). This time I took a new approach. Instead of being verbose
