Archive for the 'word of mouth' Category

This is just a straight forward example of service recovery.

I ordered a black toner cartridge last week which was delivered as expected. Unfortunately they sent a blue one.

I emailed the company www.cartridgesave.co.uk and had a reply within 20 minutes from Danielle (who provided a direct email address - in my book, the right thing to do). “A black one will be on its way today and we’ll collect the blue one”. A bit of a  hassle returning the blue one I thought but their problem.

10 minutes later another email:

“Unfortunately we are unable to despatch the correct Remanufactured Samsung Black Toner Cartridge as stated in my previous email since this item is currently out of stock until the 20th May. So that we do not inconvenience you any further I will be despatching you today a Genuine Samsung Black Toner instead and Cartridge Save will cover the difference in cost. Additionally we would like you to keep the incorrect blue cartridge that you have received.”

Almost perfect recovery, except for the unnecessary first email that could have been avoided by checking stock first. Not bad for a low value consumer product. Here I am telling you all about it. That’s worth it isn’t it?

brilliant basics, customer experience, fast+simple, word of mouth | No Comments

first direct’s withdrawal of mortgages to new customers took the news by storm yesterday. It wasn’t a surprise. As we reported on the 11th of Feb blog entry, it was evident the product was selling “too well”.

 So how come it took til now to do something? Why did it have to reach crisis point? I wonder who’s getting what blame?

But they did get brave and do the right thing. Look after the existing customers and the ones who already applied and stop taking more business that couldn’t be handled properly.

Bravo!

Listening to customers it must have been evident it had to happen. I wonder why they didnt just up the rates a bit in February and take more business at a higher margin, avoiding the negative publicity and “first rock” factor?

It’s interesting that there’s now a BBC Today programme on Saturdays that’s designed to do exactly this. Pick up the stories from the customers before the journalists can.

What our customers are saying is in the public domain. Shouldn’t you be picking it up in your business first?

Talk to us about the “what our customers are saying” process

Uncategorized, WOCAS, first direct, listening, word of mouth | No Comments

Now out in New Jersey, east of New York by 40 odd miles or an hour and a half by train. What was once rolling countryside of woods and farms is now rolling countryside of woods and commuter mansions. A “lot” is at least 10 acres here by law, so you can imagine what the “estates” look like.

Somerset County is home of the Essex Fox Hunt and horses abound including the US Equestrian Team’s HQ over the road. The changing use of land is therefore traceable as open country changes to private plots.

Looking at a book written or rather produced by one of the Johnsons ( Johnson and Johnson darling ….its that kind of area) about hunting over the past century the passage of time is traceable by the age of houses, their density and the use of land. The dress code and the principles don’t seem to have moved on much though.

A good horse is still a good horse, but cars are something else. What’s evident is the move from the top cars being Mercedes to being Lexus ( is the plural Lexi?)

“Mom always had Mercedes ‘cos Dad had a dealership but they got rid of the good guys once he sold it. The best guy now has a Lexus dealership and so Mom bought one from him. Its great for her, she never has to go to the dealership - which is a boon cos she cant find anything. Mercedes service has gone down the pan anyway, but these guys are great”

You only have to look at the number of Lexussss on the road to see that good ol’ fashioned wordamouth works still despite changing scenery.

Lexus, Mercedes, word of mouth | No Comments