Equal time

On the flip-side of the real-life customer service experience, it is only right to describe the good, since yesterday was all about the not-so-good. And by good, I mean, delightfully and surprisingly wonderful.

I am inspired by a woman named Carolyn who was a former colleague and friend. Unfortunately we lost touch many years ago, but I have always remembered her stories. She was an astute manager and adhered to several effective techniques for managing her staff in a productive way. One of her techniques focused on dedicating more time to communicating about good things than bad. Some members of her team had a tendency to walk into her office with complaints. While she wanted to offer an ear to true problems, she did not want to create an open-door policy for idly airing grievances. One of her policies was that the person sitting across her desk could verbalize a negative observation about the workplace only after giving two positive observations.

So here is my equal airtime, ala Carolyn’s method. I just reversed the order.

First place goes to CVS. Their automated customer service line gives me a call approximately 10 days before my prescription runs out and by pressing a few buttons on my telephone keypad, I’ve just submitted an easy-easy refill request. I am the type of person that forgets to call until I’m out of medicine, so this proactive customer service benefit is astonishingly simple, but truly appreciated! I don’t even mind that it’s an automated system calling and not a human.

Second place goes to the friendly staff members at BBVA-Compass Bank and Amegy Bank. They must have some sort of banking competition going on, because I noticed after recent visits to both (in the lobby) that a staff member of each bank made it a point to offer a personal, cheerful greeting, complete with eye contact and a genuine smile. It was such a nice feeling and I will probably make it a point to go inside the bank next time I’m there rather than the drive-through.

Overdue

True confession time. I’m a fugitive. Well, not quite yet. Truth is I have not yet been discovered for the scoundrel that I am. And if any Texas law enforcement officers should come knocking on my door after reading this tell-all confession, I will surely try to hide behind my dog, Jackie. Who is 14. And can barely stand up.

The back story: between the time that I was closing the real estate transaction on my old house and moving into this new house, I was living in a state of suspension. My belongings were packed up, but I did not have access to them. Day to day life proceeded, but I was just not grounded. Time was swishing by, almost on fast forward. By the time that we moved at the end of October, I had lived in this manner for about three months. The habits of managing some of the things in my own life had ceased, slipping unnoticed through the cracks. Things like updating the address on my automobile registration.

I was expecting a letter in the mail to renew my license plate. But of course it didn’t come. The sticker on my window says 11-09. That would be overdue. In December, I thought I might have a little spare time to drop by the appropriate government office to figure out what I needed to do about my tiny oversight. But, turned out that spare time was just a figment of my overactive imagination.

Yesterday I was studying that little sticker in my window as I drove to work. I’m hyper nervous that some eagle-eye big-brother radar instrument will spot me and I’ll be facing a fine the size of the state of Rhode Island. Which I can nary afford.

Then it dawned on me. That sticker is for my car inspection, not the license. Easy to remedy. Immediately. Tomorrow. Lunch hour, if not sooner.

Guilty as charged, of plain ordinary stupidity.

The frugal consumer: admirable or merely annoying?

While I do not watch television much (honest statement), when I do, it seems that I pay slightly more attention to the commercials than the programming. It might have something to do with my weak attention span…who knows.

I noticed an advertisement by the fast-food empire, McDonald’s, that features a young couple. The male half of the couple is ultra-frugal and over the span of 10 seconds or so he demonstrates to his understanding, but more common-sense wife, that he is contributing to the household economy through his frugal endeavors. One of these endeavors involves a large homemade contraption to squeeze the last droplet of toothpaste out of the tube. The wife, on the other hand, takes frugal matters into her own hands by simply picking up lunch at McDonald’s. Happy ending, fade to jingle.

I have seen the commercial twice and the first time did not realize that it was a McDonald’s commercial because I was so consumed by absorbing the husband’s economical creativity. He is indeed a man after my own heart. I am a frugal person myself. Genetically programmed that way -- thank you very much daddy.

But clearly, this commercial is no-so-gently poking fun at the frugal people of the world as evidenced by its depiction of one of the husband’s “getting-my-money’s-worth” projects gone badly awry.

Now, I can totally relate to getting the last droplet of any product out of its bottle. I realize that I may be setting myself up for ridicule, but this is my true confession. I routinely swish water in the bottom of shampoo bottles to get the last of the shampoo before the bottle goes into the recycling bin. In my estimation, I get 4 additional full lathers. I swish water in the bottom of the laundry detergent bottles to make use of the last of that product, producing one or two basins full of soapy water for my delicate hand wash. I flatten toothpaste tubes with the back of my toothbrush to push the gel all the way to the top and don’t throw away the tube until it is beyond my ability to squeeze. It gives me an extra 5-6 toothpaste squeezes. Getting the last of the skin lotion out of the bottle is somewhat aggravating, but in my experience, there is about 2 weeks worth of product remaining after the first sign that the bottle is “empty” that I can coax out with gravity and a little shaking.

Cristy and I are on opposite poles of this spectrum. Actually, I’m at the extreme end of the spectrum and she’s somewhere in the middle. But she tolerates my frugal behavior, precisely like the understanding wife in the McDonald’s commercial. I wonder if my obsessive attention to economy is as ridiculous as the commercial makes it seem? It’s doubtful that I’ll change anytime soon.

Hypothesis on consumer behavior

How many opportunities do you have to make a mistake before the mistake adversely affects customer loyalty/retention? My hypothesis is that this number is getting smaller and smaller. Consumers, me included, have a reduced level of tolerance for mistakes, even perceived mistakes. This intolerance is attributable to both an abundant supply (purchase options) and attention to spending (perceived value of goods received).

Example 1: This morning I awoke early to take care of an errand. My morning ritual includes coffee and my coffee of choice is a flavor infused selection. Today, I opened a new package of Seattle’s Best hazelnut cream blend. However, I was disappointed to discover that the coffee was indeed not hazelnut infused at all. It was plain ground coffee. Did I brew it? Yes. Was this coffee substandard in any way? No. Did it taste bad? No. Did it meet my expectations? No, only because I wanted hazelnut instead of regular. Will I purchase Seattle’s Best products again? Maybe not.

What is the logic behind this decision? I am trying to be very objective about this. Coffee is not a luxury item; it is not exceedingly costly. I could go to the grocery store and make another coffee purchase right now if I felt that strongly about having hazelnut coffee on hand. However, my level of confidence in Seattle’s Best has diminished because I know that, at least once, there was a quality control error in their product packaging supply chain. I suspect that by now the quality control error has been remedied, but my overall personal experience with this brand has been affected. There is greater likelihood that the next time I select ground coffee it will be a brand other than Seattle’s Best.

Example 2: About three weeks ago Cristy and I dropped into PF Chang’s for an impromptu dinner on a weekday evening. The restaurant was not full and we were seated promptly. Our overall experience that evening was beyond disappointing. Our young server was impudent, aloof and possibly incompetent. We did not receive all of the food items we requested, even after a repeated request. Even though the food we did receive was excellent, there is almost no chance that we will return to this restaurant. Dining options are simply too plentiful and we would prefer to spend our consumer dollars in an establishment where we have previously received a favorable experience, both in terms of product and service rather than choose to extend another chance to an establishment where our experience was truly abysmal.

Example 3: Over the course of three years, I have established a consumer relationship with Montrose Car Care Center based on two factors – their location and the friendliness and sense of confidence I felt in the former manager’s general automotive knowledge. About 9 months ago, that manager departed. I was told his departure was related to the illness of a family member in another city. This seemed reasonable, so I continued to steer my automotive maintenance service needs to this business. However, after two subsequent misdiagnoses, later remedied at another establishment, my opinion regarding the range of services realistically available from this repair shop has narrowed significantly. I still take my automobile here for an occasional oil change, based solely on its convenient proximity to my office, but it is extremely unlikely that I would consider asking them to diagnose a (future) mechanical problem with my Volvo.

I may or may not be a good model for an average consumer. I do not have enough information to compare my own consumer behavior with the range of customers that purchase Seattle’s Best coffee, dine at PF Chang’s or select Montrose Car Care for automotive repair services. However, if my consumer behavior is representative of the broader population, the conclusion is that there is a direct and correlation between a single negative experience and loss of customer confidence, or worse, complete customer defection.

Novelty in advertising

Over the weekend, I noticed a television commercial by automaker BMW. It was brief, featured a video montage of an automobile creating a painting on a canvas the size of an ice hockey rink, and faded to white with a website address: http://www.expressionofjoy.com.

I have never seen an automobile create a painting of any size and I was intrigued by both the novelty of this campaign as well as the combination of movement and color in the painting itself. The website is equally gratifying, inviting visitors to linger over sections of the painting and explore the implanted video clips, each one providing additional clues to the methods employed in producing this amazing work of art and share in the collective excitement of those directly involved with the art project.

The manner in which my brain is wired causes me to give this campaign far more consideration than perhaps the average television viewer. Is the intent to sell cars to art lovers? I think not. I believe the intent is to engage audience fascination through an innovative multi-media communications concept that is bigger than the brand itself, and consequently, bestow credit to the collaborating partner (BMW) in terms of favorable opinion.

My sincere congratulations to the creative group that assembled the advertising campaign and developed the artistic project concept – I believe it was flawlessly executed. If I was in a position to select an automobile in the BMW competing class, I would definitely be favorably disposed toward BMW.