Archive for category: Miscellaneous

I hope you enjoyed your summer vacation. I thought I would share some experiences from my recent travels, which were both business and pleasure.

I definitely learned a few things about what it takes to accomplish superior service in a variety of travel-related businesses. More than once I asked myself: Is great service in tourism a dying concept?

Before we start, what makes a tourist destination attractive for you? Is it, for instance:

• the hotel,
• the food,
• the in-flight service,
• the spotless public toilets, or
• something else?

Please let me know in a comment what makes your vacation special every time. I have had numerous experiences that made me very happy:

1. Park Rangers: Exemplary tourist ambassadors at National and Provincial/State Parks in Canada and the US
2. Store clerks: Going out of their way to help a confused tourist get the right product at the best price.
3. Infrastructure: Second to none, i.e. clean and spacious, as well as free.

If you want to learn more about the best social media marketing strategy for a tourist destination, Iceland is a good example. Earned media aplenty, while word of mouth and influencer marketing all do their thing to increase the country’s popularity. Icelandair’s stopover program helps increase traffic and the ROI (return on investment) for tourist attractions.

All is well, right… but how do these things work on the ground?

1. Fake news = BAD

One thing that is bothering me is how airlines seem to try to make themselves look better than they actually are. On our check-in in Edmonton, Alberta, the sign showed that our plane had left punctually as scheduled. Just one small hitch – boarding had not yet even started.

Incidentally, when you check in online, why is it that some airlines, like Icelandair in Zurich, cannot manage to have a “baggage drop off only” lane. Instead they make you queue with all those who have done nothing online… I felt like an idiot for having done this work myself, what for?

A few weeks later on the way back to Europe, the sign in Keflavik showed the flight was boarding, but it took another 30 minutes before the process even started. Of course, no information was provided on what caused these delays; I’m pretty sure every customer felt unappreciated, like I did.

Then again, we’re just customers… why should the company care?

The plane has already left… NOT – since boarding has not even started…

From what I could see, KLM / Air France’s check-in for a flight to Amsterdam was done better. One good indicator was that they kept customers informed about what was happening. Although, I did wonder why a Dutch/French airline fails to announce things in Dutch, especially since more than half of the flight’s passengers spoke Dutch. There were French announcements, but not one passenger I saw appeared to be a French speaker…

Fact 1. The minutes of delay in European air traffic is projected to rise 53 percent in 2018 compared to 2017. For airlines faking timeliness, this means things will get much worse before they get better.
But while delays due to strikes by French air traffic controllers in 2018 are outside an airline’s sphere of influence, keeping one’s customers informed about delays with regular announcements is basic professional courtesy.

2. A little courtesy goes a long way

During our trip I discovered a few differences regarding politeness and efficiency of store clerks, such as:

• Netto (IS): Cashiers chew gum, don’t say hello, and when you need a refund because you got overcharged, you are in for a surprise. Not even the supervisor can do the math correctly with their smartphone – and starts serving other customers in the middle of the transaction…
• Coop, Migros (CH): Cashiers say hello, smile, and they are all courteous.
  At my neighborhood store, I was even asked how my vacation was when I shopped there after I got back.
• Real Canadian Superstore, No Frills, Walmart, etc. (CA): The cashier says hello, asks how you are… and is helpful (sometimes almost too much politeness for us visitors).

While being polite is not enough on its own, it is a great start to making my travels enjoyable or my store experience less frustrating.

Another thing I learned is that in Canada, everybody is helpful. In other words, park rangers, staff and so forth all try their best to make your journey enjoyable.

In Iceland one often had the feeling the person got up on the wrong side of the bed. The result was ill-tempered people doing the absolute minimum, while trying hard not to be too grumpy.

When we picked up our car at Blue Car Rental in Keflavik #bigfail, I was surprised how badly things were organised. You took a number to get service. Some workers at the counter were sitting, and seemed to be idly chatting in front of their computers. “Working,” they called it when I asked with a smile if they could help. In turn, we waited 30 minutes to get our car. Incidentally, this seems to happen every morning in the same time window of about two hours, due to many arrivals from North America.

Think it gets better when dropping off our car? Think again. They could have helped everyone by staffing three more stations to serve clients faster. Instead,  they chose to stay in the background, sipping their coffees and talking to each other… as we could see. I am sure it was a meeting and important, but can it not wait until after the (relatively short) rush?

All this can be done even if your facilities appear less slick and more down to earth. And, if it’s done with a smile during both pick-up and drop-off, as at Budget on 151 Street in Edmonton, your organization wins big with this customer. Even a less-than-perfectly-clean car (e.g., we found a toddler’s shoe under the front passenger seat) does nothing to change my level of satisfaction with your service. But in the case of Blue Car Rental #bigfail, it is just another indicator that things do not work properly. Being friendly makes my experience as a customer that much more enjoyable.

Fact 2. Smile! You could be a tourist attraction.
Blue Car Rental in Keflavik #bigfail — fails the test. Its claim is, “We offer quality service.” Really? Then, PROVE IT!
As hard as I tried, all I experienced was grumpy employees doing little more than the absolute minimum required, and managers that utterly failed at management. What a pain.

3. I have enough friends – honest

The Reynolds Alberta Museum is among many locations and sites we visited that invite you to get social. Everybody is asked to write a comment on TripAdvisor, a museum’s webpage, its blog or maybe their Facebook page.

I’M ON VACATIOOOOON! (see Billy Crystal in the movie City Slickers). I’m busy, and enjoying my privacy – 5 seconds of fame on Instagram is not on the schedule. Thus sharing my experience at your location with the world is not on my list of holiday must-dos.

Everybody wants to ‘get social’. Here’s an idea: instead of asking me for another useless Like, how about just enjoying my visit and actually being social with me in person as you provide excellent service?

In fact, I am not sure if the Reynolds Alberta Museum staff at the cash register really want me to tell people how unwelcome I felt… Telling people at 16:15 that the museum closes at 17:00 is one thing (thanks to our annual provincial pass, we did not pay to get in…). But closing the gift shop for the final count at 16:45 in order to leave right at 17:00 is a step too far. I guess you didn’t want my money.

Thank goodness the volunteer giving us a ride in a vintage convertible still took us around at 16:58. This and the great collection of old cars and motorcycles cancelled out the paid staff’s lack of motivation and courtesy to paying customers.

Fact 3. As most metrics regarding earned media and word of mouth or influencer marketing suggest, anyone can buy Likes and online traffic.
Asking for Likes or evaluations on all sorts of platforms is now so prevalent that it is a nuisance for customers, and it’s arguably not even that valuable in the real world.
Giving your best, one customer at a time, will result in the word-of-mouth marketing you desire. I PROMISE.

But our little apartment at Hofgarðar 5 170 Seltjarnarnes (Reykjavik) (booked via Booking.com) was superb (see Google Street View).

4. Knowledgeable people are invaluable

þingvellir (Thingvellir) National Park is surely a very important UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iceland. I got great info at the information desk from a park ranger. But while in the park itself, walking and hiking, there were no rangers to be seen anywhere.

þingvellir National Park: Great info at the information desk, but not while walking and hiking in the park.

Quite different was our experience after booking and paying for a guided tour with a park ranger at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. That person clearly loves her job, and knows plenty about the subject (see below).

Our guide was a cheerful, amusing person that loved to share her insights and engaged us, while using a nice dose of charm as she forced us to use our brain cells.

Being very knowledgeable AND good humoured makes the tour a pleasure for customers or visitors.

Fact 4. Having the resources to employ knowledgeable people that are proud of what they do is a must.
The pay-off with customers will make it well worth the expense for any park or museum.

5. Scaleable facilities are a good thing

International travel is a time-tested way for newly minted middle classes to enjoy their wealth. Popular tourist destination such as

• Iceland,
• Banff and Jasper (Canada),
• London (UK), and
• Zurich, Titlis, Interlaken, etc. (Switzerland),

will have to cope with rapidly growing numbers of visitors. Unless carefully anticipated and planned for, this growth can put a strain on a facility’s bathrooms, gift shops, and cafeterias.

With limited resources, including space (e.g. museum downtown), it is not easy to cope with the ever increasing visitor numbers. Facilities need to be expanded and that requires not only space, but also money.

Parks Canada tries to achieve this by charging visitors, and in turn, providing facilities that appear to me to be second to none.

Having to search far and wide for a bathroom is a pain. In North America, this is rarely a problem, even in national parks.

Fact 5. Only 4 percent of Chinese citizens have a passport, but demand is rising. Moreover, Boeing estimates Chinese airlines will need to hire 110,000 pilots between now and 2035 to handle expected growth.

By the way, Airbus estimates that 550,000 new pilots are needed worldwide within the next 20 years.
According to the International Society of Women Pilots, only 6.7 percent of pilots are female. Clearly, we need many more women to deal with this phenomenal growth, in large part driven by rapidly rising demand for pleasure travel.

It is obvious that these trends mean more visitors for most tourist attractions. Without some investment, the result will be dismal experiences for visitors and bad press for those destinations.

Plenty of parking, toilets and picnic tables is appreciated.

6. Charging to run a smooth operation

Tourists expect great service and facilities that can manage the onslaught of the masses. Moreover, helpful park rangers and knowledgeable people are expected.

But who will pay for all these things? In Iceland, visiting such sites is free. That is appreciated, but in turn, there is apparently not enough money to have support staff or public facilities that meet high quality standards.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump – another UNESCO World Heritage Site – is an example where tourists and locals alike pay to get in. The result is a great facility that offers much more than just a classic museum experience (see below).

UNESCO World Heritage Site Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump: History and cultural background aplenty as native dancers perform to a running commentary that explains to naive tourists why things are done a certain way… great!

Of course, one has to find ways to make these sites affordable for tourists and locals alike, besides school classes that don’t have to pay and get great “experience tours” with the help of park or museum staff.

Don’t misunderstand, Iceland is doing great, but to handle these masses of tourists, it needs to charge reasonable fees. No politician can expect his electorate to be happy to pay for tourists in order for them to enjoy beautiful scenery for free.

But charging people an arm and a leg for entering the privately operated Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik is not the right way to go. While tourists may be willing to cough up this exorbitant fee (about US$ 100 per person) in order to enjoy an experience that costs a fraction elsewhere in a public facility, most locals will never visit the venue. It cannot be considered okay that things are so expensive to exclude locals altogether – can it?

One viable option is to offer an annual pass, such as the one from Parks Canada or the province of Alberta (Experience Alberta History). These are just two examples that work. They are high enough in price to channel some real cash into these operations. For locals they are great as well, because they make visiting the sites highly affordable (i.e. unlimited access for a year).

Fact 6. The public purse has limited resources.
Charging tourists to access parks, historical sites and museums is a no-brainer.
These revenues cover some, if not most, of the costs incurred running these beautiful places. Most importantly, facilities can be upgraded based on visitor numbers. Satisfied customers do wonders for your reputation – also known as word-of-mouth marketing these days.

Conclusion: What is your opinion?

Increasingly, destinations are succeeding with social media marketing strategies, but as most metrics suggest, anyone can buy Likes and traffic (such as with our DrKPI.com tools). Is this really the best measure of the value of what is on offer for tourists? Somehow, the destinations seem to think so.

Maybe it’s Canada’s, Iceland’s or Calgary’s relationship with the lakes, mountains, and rivers that creates a particularly enviable summer scene for tourists to see. Or could it be the locals that make the visit more or less enjoyable?

The tourism industry offers plenty of jobs, but working conditions, such as working nights and / or weekends, and short-term contracts for high season only, mean this kind of work is not most youngsters’ first choice. Low pay and little to no fringe benefits further dampen the attractiveness of working in tourism. Could it be that this is why I see shops, restaurants, and services shutting down because operators can no longer find the necessary talent and skills?

The result is sometimes people who are neither happy with their work nor proud of what they do. Little surprise that this negatively affects performance. And while staff working for Icelandair, Ryanair or Delta Airlines may love their jobs, this does not mean their service levels give paying customers that impression.

Brewster, the US company providing services in Jasper and Banff (also Iceland) fills its vacancies with plenty of foreigners. In Canada, these seem to be mostly Australians with seasonal work permits, for many the best way to get into the country and work. So we had fun experiencing down under slang and humour wherever we went. Not a very local experience, though.

The work is so attractive that Canadians shun it… giving Australians and others a chance to get a Canadian work permit.

Moreover, having the driver (and everywhere else it seems as well) ask us to leave a great evaluation on TripAdvisor, Booking.com and so forth is getting on my nerves.

Leaving a thoughtful evaluation for each and every venue is time-consuming. I want to enjoy my vacation. Hence, stop asking me to work and evaluate your service, unless you are willing to face positive and less positive feedback with a smile, please.

Social media, earned media and influencer marketing tells us many things about the next vacation spot we intend to visit. Nevertheless, can you:

• Give an example of your last business or pleasure trip during which you got very good service?
• What annoys you the most when you go on a holiday?
• Any tips you can share on how I and my readers can make our next vacation even more enjoyable?

The author declares that he had no conflict of interest with respect to the content, authorship or publication of this blog entry (i.e. I neither got a freebie from any of the mentioned companies nor are they our clients to the best of my knowledge).

Fotos: Urs E. Gattiker

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In short: We thought we would give you a peek behind the scenes as we create a marketing video with one of our major clients.

Videos are becoming increasingly important as a method for communicating with your target audience. But it is not an easy process.

Just click on the hyperlinked points below to read more.

1. Does making a video make sense?
2. Clickaholics versus engagement artists
3. Is it worth the effort?
4. What is your opinion?

CEOs are busy people and usually have other things to do create a video. It also requires no distractions – easier said than done. No matter what, an interruption will happen, and you just need to deal with it.

Demonstrating the latest version of the LomMedical syringe.

1. Does making a video make sense?

Recently, we published 2018 marketing trends: Sharing economy grows, in which we pointed out that videos are popular, but this may differ a bit according to consumer group:

1. The ShaRenter generation (born 1999-2018, 0-19 years old in 2018) prefers renting over owning things (e.g., streaming with Spotify or watching videos via Netflix or YouTube) or even renting the necessary textbooks for college online (e.g., Cengage Learning for US $119.99 per semester).
2. Millennials (born 1981-1998) are 20 – 37 years old in 2018.
3. Gen Xers (born 1965-1980) are 38 – 53 years old in 2018.
4. Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are 54 – 73 years old in 2018.
5. The Silent Generation (born 1928-1945) are 74 – 90 years old in 2018.

Thumbnail for LomMedical retractable safety syringe.

Obviously, the ShaRenter and Millennial generations will love watching a video. They already stream their music, rent their favourite videos and have cut the cord to their cable company (i.e. they instead watch something like Netflix). They may also no longer have a fixed line telephone, but instead use their mobile phone.

But what about Gen Xers?

Changing the script, re-shooting a video sequence.

And what about the Baby Boomers, who are even older?

Will they watch a video? Sure, if it provides them with information that they care about.

We believe that as long as your video conveys important information to your target audience such as employees, customers and investors, it is worth the CEO’s time.

We always try to have a laugh or two while shooting a video.

2. Clickaholics versus engagement artists

Of course, since CEOs are busy people, they will want to know if it is worth their valuable time. As we all know, shooting a video takes quite a while and many retakes may be needed to get it right.

Of course, getting many eyeballs on your video could be one objective; everybody likes lots of views. However, while having many watch is desirable, the watchers need to represent one’s target audience. So if the video focuses on clients, we want them to watch.

In LomMedical’s case, the video is informational and its target audience is the company’s shareholders. In turn, if 70 percent of shareholders – about 500 people – watch the video, everything is peachy. However, if 200 of those are kids who thought the video would show them a new jingle, they will be disenchanted and click away after 15 seconds.

More views is of course wonderful, but they need to be from members of the audience we want to reach.

Here is the video (about 1 minute) that Patrizia made of our shoot.

The sequences in the clip above illustrate that we worked hard. Fortunately, we had a few good laughs with each other as well. The video has already garnered a few views and shareholders have provided positive feedback on the company blog.

Such engagement in the forms of viewer comments is, of course, very desirable. It shows that the content in the video represents added value for shareholders, LomMedical’s primary target audience for this endeavour.

3. Is it worth the effort?

Making a video is neither cheap as far as the CEO’s time is concerned, nor is the required equipment. The script also needs to be written and the shoot needs to be directed. Moreover, in addition to the camera expert, somebody needs to cut the video and edit it.

Some people do it all themselves, such as Swami Kumaresan, CEO at Databox. But such efforts do not come without cost. I know – I have tried in the past.

First I used screen capture software, then a camera with a tripod. Finally, I contacted our design editor and she did the best she could with my work.

These days, things are different. We have put together a professional team that knows what to do.

Urs E. Gattiker and Herbert Towning having fun making movies.

It is worth it… as the video – see below – shows.

4. What is your opinion

CEOs are busy people and usually have bigger fish to fry than taking more than half a day to shoot a video. Worse, the process requires 100 percent of his or her attention.

So, no text messaging, WhatsApp, phone calls, etc. That is not easy for most CEOs… Neither can people access the CEO in the room, though that can happen inadvertently. In our case we asked him to take a few pictures – which he did.

Regardless, interruptions will happen. Somebody rings, or wants two minutes of the CEO’s time while you are trying to finally get this video sequence right… nerve-wracking.

But what do you think?

• Do you know of a great CEO video that you want us to watch? Please leave a URL in the comments below!
• Do you manage to keep your CEO on-script, or…
• How do you decide the video gets your message across?

The author declares that some of the companies mentioned herein are clients of CyTRAP Labs or subscribers of DrKPI® services.

Below you can watch the complete and final version of the video we released on the LomMedical webpage.

In short, we all have wishes for 2017 (I wish for better customer service in my Christmas stocking). The bad news is, you better manage three challenges to improve your customer service.
The good news is, there’s some low hanging fruit: change quality control, improve procedures for handling client requests / questions, and use one little modification of your marketing team’s behaviour.
It’s that easy, trust me. We spell it out below.

Customer service is constantly gaining importance, and we need the right procedures to deal with a flood of inquiries. Online chat is often expected, and 24/7 service is the norm.

♥ Curious? Join 1,500+ other subscribers to this blog’s newsletter and read on!

We discussed how challenging this can be a fortnight ago in, Booking.com, Yeego: NH Hotel Group #epicfail. Now we present another case and we have some pointers on how customer service mishaps can be reduced in our and your organisation.

1. Mistakes happen: Let’s make fewer errors

We all make mistakes and that won’t change any time soon. Keeping the number reasonably low, however, is a great start to improving things.

For instance, avoid situations in which your service or advertising is confusing for your clients. In turn, they have to get clarification = more work for you. Worst is if they decide not to buy because asking is too cumbersome for them. Instead they choose a product that may not be as good as yours but seems better because the service is more easily accessible.

One example is below. If your Cyber Monday Week ad is incorrect, you will get people like me to inquire.

Answering customer inquiries that result from our mistakes may be the right thing to do… but avoiding the situation altogether would be better. In turn, we have to answer fewer emails from clients :-)

Vidar Brekke – CMO Highsoft explains 2016-12-06 in an email to DrKPI: “Highstock, Highcharts and Highmaps, … individually would amount to $2370. The savings are $1210, not $550, which is equals a savings of over 50 percent, not 65 percent. We made the necessary corrections on our site.”

The above email is wrong: a 65 percent discount means it should cost $829. The same error was still on the website December 1. I and many other newsletter subscribers got another email with the wrong pricing on December 1, 2016.

Take-away

Discounts are popular, but you have to get it right. Moreover, if a client points out the error and wants the product at the discount you stated, you should come though on your promise.

2. KISS – Keep it simple, stupid: Beware of scalability

In 2012 a Long Island student created a ruckus by going public with the fact that Steve Jobs refused to be helpful for her semester assignment. But he was of the opinion that helping students was not part of his job description.

From: Steve Jobs [address and header confirmed – CA]
To: Chelsea Isaacs
Subject: Re: Mr. Jobs – Student Journalist Concerned about Apple’s Media Relations Dept.

Our goals do not include helping you get a good grade. Sorry.
Sent from my iPhone

See more here: 2010-09-20 – The Guardian – Steve Jobs: not what you’d call helpful to a trainee journalist. At the time, I wrote the following in our previous blog called Commetrics:

Let us be clear: a CEO like Steve Jobs has better things to do than help a student write her paper for a university course. Of course, if this had happened with my company’s CEO, the student would have gotten an answer. But at most, we get one such request a month AND we enjoy giving an answer since it allows us to gain some more insight.

In our case study with Highsoft, I went to the trouble to write an email to Grethe Hjetland, Highsoft’s CEO. I pointed out this problem to her, suggesting she get it fixed quickly to avoid any backlash.

I got no answer for more than two days. So I went to the trouble to write to the Chief Marketing Officer.

For Ms Hjetland it might be useful to have a procedure in place for such cases. The procedure would spell out what is to happen when she is out of town.

One possibility is an assistant who checks your email every morning and does triage, deciding which emails the CEO will need to reply to herself. Emails in a second group the assistant forwards to those best qualified to reply. The last group of emails get replied to by the assistant (if a reply is needed), or are simply archived.

If done correctly, this limits the number of emails the CEO has to wade or muddle through every morning while on vacation or a business trip. If emails are passed on, however, the procedure needs to include a follow-up. For instance, I triage of emails myself. Some emails that I am not qualified to reply to are sent to those within the organisation.

However, five days after I pass on an email, I will check whether the person has sent a reply. Or I might just send a short note to the person who inquired, saying something like, “I hope you have gotten an answer from us regarding the question you sent me…”

Generally, my email gets a response from the client 99 percent of the time. Usually it states that they are pleased that I have followed up. Sometimes I also get information that helps me do my work better.

Take-away – your customer service must be up to standard

Like Steve Jobs taught us, a company’s goal may not include helping a student get a good grade, but surely we want to address issues raised by clients as quickly as possible. Of course, in our small organisation I can answer most incoming emails myself. In Grethe Hjetland’s case, in a large organisation this is not possible. Instead, she needs a procedure in place that helps her get rid of emails like mine, while still getting them answered.

I got an answer in a roundabout way (see below). Unfortunately, this meant I had to spend more time than necessary to get it resolved. Totally unnecessary if your customer service is up to snuff.

Traditional red Christmas stockings – what we wish for 2017 – better customer service
| Copyright: Family Business | Fotolia #94352650

3. Truth in advertising: Do not add insult to injury

Since 2005, Cyber Monday takes place the Monday after the US Thanksgiving holiday and following Black Friday. It has turned into a four-day weekend of pre-Christmas sales. These days, Cyber Monday is spreading its wings to various countries in Europe such as the UK. Even in Switzerland, some store chains like InterDiscount have specials on Cyber Monday.

This is probably the reason why Norwegian company Highsoft AS sent out a mailing to its subscribers with the offer shown above. The CMO and myself went back and forth, and he acknowledged and apologised for the error.

Remember, 65 percent of $2370 is $1541. Truthful advertising requires that the final sales price is therefore $829.

Around December 16, just about three weeks after I pointed out this error, the Chief Marketing Officer had passed on my last email reply to an associate. This new person wrote me the following email:

From: Katharina von Oltersdorff-Kalettka at highsoft.com
Subject: Re: Cyber Monday – Misleading Ad?
Date: 19 December 2016 at 08:28:24 GMT+1
To: Urs.Gattiker

Hi Urs,
thanks for getting in touch.
I am Katharina, one of the Global Account Managers at Highsoft.
I am more than happy to give you the (although no longer valid) price of $1160 for the Highcharts Suite. This is a package price that includes Premium Support. An option for purchasing it without the premium support is not available.
Let me know if you would still like to proceed and I can arrange for that.
Much thanks,

With regards,
Katharina von Oltersdorff-Kalettka
Global Account Manager
Highsoft AS

Remember, 65 percent of $2370 makes up $1541, which would give us a sales price of $829.

What does the above email suggest?

1. After several email exchanges, Vidar Brekke, Chief Marketing Officer of Highsoft decided to pass on the case to a co-worker. But how much information (i.e. all the email exchanges he had with me) did he pass on to her?
2. Ms von Oltersdorff-Kalketta either did not get a copy of the whole conversation I had with Vidar Brekke or she may not have read it properly. Nevertheless, it sounds like I should be grateful to get the 50 percent discount.

What adds insult to injury is that it should show and reflect the adverised 65 percent discount. Truth in advertising requires that you keep your promises. Does this not violate my trust? Mind you, this is a company that claims on its website:

We are trusted by… 72 of the 100 largest companies… of the Fortune Global 500.

Trust is great, including truthful advertising. From Highsoft I wish to get truthful marketing campaigns and a speedier customer service. Moreover, starting in 2017, I do not want to get the runaround anymore when I point out an error in advertising.

Take-away

As an entrepreneur I have learned that it is sometimes smarter and faster to get the job done yourself. In this case, I would have sent the last email stating the final price, i.e. $829 to customer. The associate would have gotten a carbon copy and would have processed the order. Then she would have sent a confirmation to me about the order, such as a pdf file. In turn, our accounting department could process the payment.

1. Apparently, CEO Grethe Hjetland does not have a procedure that takes care of such incoming email. But she requires one, considering the amount she must be getting, making it impossible to answer mine, and
2. CMO Vidar Brekke should always finish a job he starts. In this case it would have resulted in this potential client not getting more run arounds.

Highsoft AS provides a great product that the company continues to improve continuously. Hats off!

If it now could just do the same in its sales and marketing, this would be the best service the company could do for all its clients. Wouldn’t it? And customers’ word-of-mouth marketing will surely help improve brand awareness.

4. Have your say – join the conversation

Source: Steve Jobs and great customer service: 3 keys to success

What is your opinion?

• Do you remember the last time you had a company wriggle out of honouring its own advertising?
• What procedure do you have in place, if a customer or potential customer sends an email to any C Suite employee?
• What bugs do you hate the most when you need customer service?

The author declares that he had no conflict of interest with respect to the content, authorship or publication of this blog entry (i.e. I neither got a freebie from any of the mentioned companies nor are they our clients to the best of my knowledge).

By the way, we had a similar problem with a customer for our DrKPI software. I decided that it was our advertising error. Truthfulness in advertising is very important to me. Accordingly, the client who made us aware of the error got a freebie worth $1475. All others who paid or ordered before we changed the price, got a refund for the difference due to our error.

We felt that this was only fair, because we do not want to be accused of false or deceptive advertising.

I hope next year will bring us all better customer service. Happy Holidays
| Copyright: JenkoAtaman | Fotolia #125884035

Final remarks

In case you’re interested, while Highsoft AS has a blog, it does not allow for client engagement, such as the option of leaving a reader comment. This means fostering engagement and dialogue has been deactivated. Surprising and so much Web 1.0.

Here’s the blog’s data as of today, and get more from DrKPI here.

Highchart Software’s Corporate Blog does not allow for reader comments
| so Web 1.0 instead of Web 2.0 | Copyright: DrKPI®