Has this ever happened to you – you have a bad customer service experience and when you complain about it, the person you are dealing with doesn’t know how to respond to you, and finally asks, “so what do you want?” It has happened to me, and where it has worked to my advantage in the past, it is not something I want to happen to me.

When a company asks you what you want, they are in essence throwing their arms in the air and asking you for your mercy. I can only attribute this to one thing – employees are trained neither how to respond nor to sense when there is a customer service issue, and how to react to it. Throwing it back to you may seem like a natural reaction; you brought the issue to their attention, so you should have some resolution to it. Right? Well, not exactly, as you have been put on the spot and are probably in some disbelief at their query.

A Tale of 2 Sheratons

Two incidents of customer service issues come to mind, both involving Sheraton hotels. One was in Phoenix back in the early 1990’s when I was staying at the Sheraton Crescent for a month while on a consulting assignment. It was in December, and as this is a quiet time for the hotel, they were performing maintenance on the hotel. Though this was a while ago, I still recall plumbing issues, from water not being on for long periods of time to fire alarms going off as a result of the plumbing work. I liked the hotel, but these issues were a pain, so I called and spoke to a manager.

When I explained to him my issues and that I was basically on expense account, he offered me free meals and nights at the hotel. Um, didn’t I say I was there on business? When I repeated this, he proceeded to ask me what I wanted. As he said that, in the background the CFO of my client was handing out Phoenix Suns tickets to his staff. So I asked him how one could get Suns tickets. When I returned to the hotel that night, there were 2 front-row balcony tickets waiting for me, which was a treat for me and my manager.

Before moving to the Windy City my wife and I stayed at the Sheraton Chicago. As we were there for a few nights we had asked for housekeeping to empty the beverages from the refrigerator so we could use it, something they never did. The morning we checked out we heard a crash in the hallway and upon inspection there was a broken picture on the floor. Though housekeeping was in the halls, it was never picked up, even hours later when we checked out.

Upon checkout, the staff asked how our stay was, to which I apparently hesitated and said, “ok.” I say this as he right away asked if there was something wrong, and I told him about the above issues. He told me it was hotel policy not to empty out the fridge, but acknowledged we were probably not told that. He then proceeded to check us out, and when he handed us the bill, he noted he removed the charge for the movie and late-night snack in return for the issues we had. We never asked for anything, but he was proactive in addressing it.

What We Want Is Caring

I believe that people, upon raising an issue, want it to be acknowledged and some sign that they have a legitimate concern. Granted, there may be those trying to get something for nothing, but even in that case a sign of genuine caring should be offered as well. When it is not received, we are left with a bad feeling, and then fulfill the saying about telling 10 people we had bad service. Or today, we tweet about it or post it to Facebook.

Things happen. How we react to them hopefully will be the positive coming from the negative.

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The next likemind will be Friday, August 21, 2009 in dozens of cities around the world.

In Chicago, it will be at Argo Tea, 140 S Dearborn St. at the corner of Adams and Dearborn Streets in the Loop from 8:00 am to 10 am.

I call likemind a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines including Internet, advertising, art, social media, et. al. For more information on likemind, you can read this great article on likemind from the New York Times.

No RSVP is required. You are also welcome to join the likemind Chicago Facebook group.

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I am pleased to be included in the 2009 Good Brands Report published by trends research, innovation, and activation firm PSFK. The best description of the report comes from PSFK’s own description:

The Good Brands Report of 2009 is a celebration of leadership during this challenging year. Those who made it onto the list are businesses from which we should learn.

They are not just the well-known brands of the day, but also companies that lead by example in innovation, environmental consciousness, and social policy. We started our search for the Good Brands of 2009 by looking at the companies we were writing about on PSFK.com throughout this year. Then, we asked a panel of cross-industry global experts from the Purple List to tell us which of 40 common brands on PSFK were considered ‘Good’.

The report includes several global brands including Good Magazine, Amazon, Facebook and Virgin, the latter brand where my quote was used, as follows:

It reads, “When you see the Virgin name on something, you know it will be a pleasant experience.”

Though I have only been exposed to a small number of Virgin brands, namely its record label and music stores, my quote holds true when I think of it. The Virgin Music store in Paris is a must-see – it is huge and has every minutae of genre. Granted, that store will probably morph over time, but the 2 times I went were always a great shopping experience.

You can read the report below, as it is embedded as a Slideshare presentation, or click the link below to download it as a PDF.

Thanks to the folks at PSFK for not only creating the report, but for hosting the Purple List. Also of note, Piers Fawkes, one of the co-founders of PSFK, is also one of the co-founders of likemind!

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Allow me to share some advice I have learned over time – don’t eat at networking events.

Unless the event is specifically a breakfast, lunch or dinner, don’t eat at it. If not a formal meal, eating involves walking around with food while talking with people and probably enjoying some form of a beverage. Add to it business card exchanging, taking notes, and overall focus on the conversation in front of you, unless you are a member of Cirque du Soleil, you will certainly not be able to balance it all perfectly. As the purpose of the event is networking, you are surely not getting the return you could be from the event. Not to mention the cleaning bill from when you flip a chicken skewer onto your shirt.

I am not saying you should not have a drink at an event – alcoholic or not – as they serve a function, especially if you tend to talk a lot (like me) and your mouth is dry. When holding a drink, you still have a free hand to shake someone’s hand, pass a business card, etc. People will also be less likely to notice you without food rather than without a plate of food, as they may assume you already had something. If you spill a drink, it is less likely to show a stain – and to make it less so, wear something dark.

In order to pull this off, eat before you get to the event. Even if you bring with you a granola bar to eat just before the event, it should be enough to carry you through the time. Plus you’ll have the chance to check your teeth for stuck food particles before you go out and meet new people. Somewhere I recall someone, someplace talking about first impressions.

If anything, because you are hungry there’s an opportunity to grab a bite to eat afterwards, and ideally with someone you may want to get to know better from the event. As the event is drawing to a close, you can invite people out for a drink and appetizers. If they ask you why you are hungry, you can simply quote your new networking strategy!

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Regular readers of The Hot Iron know I have written a post or 2 (more like several) on unlocked mobile devices, or mobile phones as some know them as. Where I have tried to explain it, the following video does a great job explaining the benefits of an unlocked device. Watch the video below or view the video directly.

This video showcases the specific US network providers as not all of them offer a SIM card. This differs greatly from pretty much the rest of the world! Devices like the iPhone and many other models stamped with a carrier’s logo are locked to those networks, and there isn’t even the option to use a SIM card. This video is from Nokia, who sells mostly unlocked devices, though recently they have offered models locked to Verizon Wireless.

Of course, unlocked devices cost more. But their value is also greater as you have a better chance of reselling it as the market for it is greater. Some device manufacturers, like Apple, only want you to use them on a specific network, as they have made business deals with the network provider for exclusivity. Where that may work for them, it doesn’t work for the masses who want a particular device. The providers like locked devices as they probably see it a big part of their competitive advantage, which is a lot harder than providing excellent customer service!

This video is a great start to educating people, but it will time. In the meantime, I shy away from the iPhone. But note to Steve Jobs – I would be willing to pay a lot more than the highest price you currently charge for the iPhone to get one unlocked!

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