To the Extreme

Today before my clock hit 9 AM, I had the pleasure of experiencing the best and worst of the customer service wheel. As a result, I once again learned something new.

My day started with a trip to my local car dealer, Covert Cadillac, now I may have mentioned it before, but just in case I haven't it is worth restating. This place is truly 5 Star! They make every trip to get my car repaired enjoyable. Yes, I said enjoyable. They offer candy, popcorn, water, soda…whatever you want. Everyone in the place speaks to you with respect and good manners. They don't waste time, and this morning I was asked if I was in a hurry or not because they wanted to wash my car before they returned it. Now that is great, but the best part of it is they asked before assuming I had nothing better to do! I smiled the whole way to work. I thought about how I would probably buy my next car from them, and how I would make it a point to share how wonderful they are with as many people as possible.

When I got the work, I started my normal routine of checking emails, and returning phone calls. One of the things on my "to-do" list was to schedule a cleaning service that I had purchased on a Living Social deal. (I love all of these deal sites.)

Anyway, I called and was told:

Cleaner Way: "Are you a living social deal?"

Me: "Yes, I am."

Cleaner Way: "Ugh…can YOU call me back in 5 minutes?"

Me: "Sure, but is it ok for me to just wait on hold" (I knew I would forget to call back)

Cleaner Way: "I guess." (One minute passes)

Cleaner Way: "Ok, I can't clean for you until June 17th."

Me: "That sounds great."

Cleaner Way: "You know, I am not making any money off of these deals. They only give me half of the total. Where is your house?"

Me: "My address is...."

Cleaner Way: "That's going to be an extra $35 for gas. Do you tip?"

Me: "As a matter of fact I do tip for good work, but I don't understand why I am being charged an extra $35 for a house that is inside the limits of your service?"

Cleaner Way: "Because otherwise I won't make enough money."

Blah, Blah, Blah…

Me: "You know, I would recommend that you not do another Living Social
Deal because the primary purpose is to give new clients an opportunity to try
your service. And, I am going to be honest with you, based on this conversation;
it is unlikely that I will be doing business with yourcompany in the future."

Cleaner Way: "So, do you want me to put you down or not?"

Me: "I think, not!"

(Three seconds pass- I call Living Social, they refund my money, thanks Living Social!)
Now, I am confident that the first and last are conversations many of you have had. It's important to remember that all of these conversations do matter and they do have an impact on people's decisions to purchase or give.

So, here are some hard and fast rules for experience:
1. Delight your customers
2. Don't place your problems on your customers
3. Remember, a customer is deciding to give to you or do business with you ever time you interact with them, so consistency is KING!

Take-Away: Next time you have an interaction with one of your customer's choose to operate like Cadillac instead of like The Cleaner Way!

Humanity is Alive and Well

I tend to be an overly positive person. I like to see the good in all things and in all people. You need to know this to understand where this story is headed.

I have a rental home; typically vacation rentals, but I recently leased it to a single mother with two children who was having a terrible run of luck.

As the Holidays came, my family helped them with toys and clothes. I was very lenient with rents and waived many fees. I felt like she was truly working on getting her life back on track, and I wanted to help. When she decided to leave, she left the home in what can be described as nothing short of a nightmare. I had not collected a deposit, so I was disappointed and annoyed. When I spoke with her, she apologized repeatedly and promised to reimburse me for all of the additional cleaning costs. Everyone I know, told me I could kiss that money good-bye and that I would never hear from her again.

Last week she showed up on my doorstep with cash in hand. She wanted to deliver it in person so she could share how my generosity had helped change her life and restore her faith in humanity. The irony is that she had done the same for me. She is now in a great job, has a great home, and seems to be doing very well. She went on the tell me that she had planned to write a review and make recommendations for the house.

It just goes to show that generosity can drive more referrals for your business, and more importantly go a long way in restoring ones faith in humanity.

Take-away: Give with no expectation. The rewards will come full circle!

Using Video to Engage Customers

At this year's Association for Fundraising conference I sat in on a session "Building Websites to Enhance Donor Engagement" led by Feldmann and Sundar. It was a great session with many great tips. Some of them we have talked about here before, but all of them are worth repeating.

Here are my top three tips for engaging customers using video based on this session.

1. Keep it short. Videos added to your site should be no longer than 2 minutes. And, honestly I think they should be even shorter.
   
2. Post it on your site and YouTube. This doubles your opportunity to share and increases your search optimization.
   
3. End every video with a call to action.
   

   
    

Here is a great example; although it is a bit on the long side, the video does a great job of sharing the story in a simple, unique, and impactful way. Charity:Water share who they are, what they stand for, and how you can help!!! I love it!

Thanks AFP for a great session and thanks for turning me on to a new nonprofit with a great mission. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rphhfy4qCfc

Take-away: Give up your birthday for a better cause, and start using video to share your story. It clearly works.

Listen and act!

It is no secret and I have blogged about it many times. It is critical to listen to your customers/donors, but it is more critical to act on that feedback. I qualify that with a dose of reality. You can’t always do everything for everyone, but it is top priority to make a concerted effort.

This week my heart goes out to Convio, a competitor of Sage, which I do highly respect and have several friends who are a part of that organization. This week, they have seen what happens when you speak customer experience and don’t deliver it.

Convio_headache Convio_headache appreciate that @convio is listening to
customers. How about not ignoring what u hear?

In today’s society of fast information and consumer control, being an organization that focuses on the needs of those you serve will serve you well. Forgetting that will result in a twitter feed of your very own.

Take-away: Talk the talk; walk the walk!

You're Changing the World. Google Wants to Help.

Today Google announced new and free services for nonprofit organizations.

Over time, we’ve learned that many nonprofits require hands-on assistance to optimize the use of Google tools. So we’re also introducing the Google for Nonprofits Marketplace, which connects nonprofits with professional service providers who have agreed to offer their services for a free or discounted rate.

Google really is changing the world, and I for one am glad that they have decided to bring nonprofits along for the ride!

Take-away: If you are a nonprofit, check out this blog post https://sites.google.com/a/pressatgoogle.com/google-for-nonprofits/announcement-blogpost