From the Observation Deck

I really love the month of September. For a long time now it’s kind of just sat there as an unsung month. It was never really a favorite probably because it signified the end of summer. And as a kid, I loooooved summer. I was a pool rat, a beach rat, a camp rat—you name it. Summer was loads of fun. I still love it but now that I don’t have to return to school I have more of an appreciation for September.

Why? Because the weather is gorgeous. Still sunny and warm but the humidity is gone. The beach gets a quieter, the cool TV shows start up again, and I begin to settle into to my flannel pants. My awesome, soft, comfortable flannel pants.

Unfortunately September also brings with it hurricanes. Earl visited our east coast shores last week and although it turned out to be nothing to those of us in Delaware, it sure resulted in some massive, ginormous waves. It also detoured a whale that was sighted just off our beach. Not by me of course because that would mean I would actually get to see a whale this summer.

Anyhoo. The girls and I (friends who came to visit) ventured out as far as the surf. We were rewarded for our bravery by getting knocked down—by the current, waves, and some dude who was in front of me. Some neighbors came up to us later asking when we were going back in. You see, they were going for a walk and wanted to make sure they caught the next show. Turns out we were entertaining the entire beach with our pratfalls and laughter. That’s okay; we made fun of other people, too. Hey, if you’re going to expose yourself, you have to be able to take a punch once in awhile.

Well, I’ll be back at the beach later in the month, but first a trip to rain-soaked Dallas for the International Dairy Show. I’m so excited to visit the flavorings booth, see the cooking demonstrations, and sample a few of the items at the ice cream and beverage bar. Yum! Happy September!

Yes, another customer service story. I can’t help it, I’m a marketer by trade and it’s frustrating to see a company go down the tubes because of poor delivery, service, products, appearance—you name it. I can write about how great a brand is, the benefits of using this product or attending this event—more so than its competitors, but if the front-line people can’t tie their shoes or treat customers like they were a minor annoyance that distracted them from idleness, it makes me sad and my superior promotional efforts go to waste.

I once worked with some colleagues on a project where we trained the staff to understand what a brand is, why it’s important, and how they tie into it. I think they were surprised at how important each and every one of them was to creating the organization’s brand. One of their favorite brands was Target. They liked the cleanliness of the store, the quality of the selection and products, and the fast and easy checkout lines. So the CEO, the VPs, and other higher-ups can create a vision and goals for the company, and develop a certain culture among the staff, but when it comes down to it, the janitor and the checkout clerks were the ones really creating the brand experience for the customer.

Next time you pick up a phone, write an email, stand behind a counter, or have any contact with a customer, remember what you say, how you say it, and how you do your job effects the brand.  

I will never go through Home Depot for a major home-improvement project again. Why? Because I have had two previous not-so-great experiences and now recently bought hardwood floors for my kitchen. The signs on the product information both in the store and online said delivery takes about seven days. After ordering the floors, I was told they wouldn’t be in for about six weeks. When they did come in I got a call to schedule a delivery with a window of nine hours on a Saturday. (Not acceptable.) I got a call the day before informing me that they had “lost” my floors. That’s right people, you read that right. On and on the misinformation and non-forthcoming communication went.  

Yesterday, I decided to call back to see (after three weeks) if they had found my floors. “Yes,” I was told. At this point I was at my last straw and asked to talk to the manager. I asked if they would give me a discount. (Mainly because after all the bad service, I was told they could deliver after 6 pm and now they were saying that wasn’t accurate and it would have to be a Saturday—my next free one being six weeks away.) He was not willing to do that so I told him I was five minutes away from cancelling the order and taking my business to Lowe’s.

Suddenly delivery was available for that evening! It took months of being nice and patient, getting bad service over and over again and having to threaten to cancel my order before any kind of effort was made to rectify the situation. I’m glad he finally found a solution and went outside and beyond their normal process to deliver my goods (which they charged me for two months ago), but not happy that they took NO initiative to satisfy a customer. Their database had inaccurate information, many of their staff could not speak English very well, they were telling me wrong information that I had to clarify and confirm with other staff members, and they did nothing to go the extra mile with a customer they were not servicing well. So they’ve lost my business and I’ll be driving the extra 10 minutes to Lowe’s now.

Don’t let me down Lowe’s, I’m counting on you!

Do you think this will get flagged by someone in some spy-like organization? Maybe I give myself too much credit—or self importance. Anyhow, I was thinking about torture after a little incident I experienced tonight. It’s one of those things I’m going to tell my co-workers about tomorrow because even though it’s embarrassing, it’s also funny and I can’t pass up sharing a laugh.

Over the years I’ve broken my arms four times, sprained my ankles, broken my toes, gotten stitches three times, had physical therapy on my shoulders, bruised my tailbone, tore cartilage in my rib cage, strained my knees, and … I’m sure there’s more but you get the idea. 

How did all that happen? Well here are some of the ways: skateboarding, roller skating, skiing, swimming, walking, driving, falling down the stairs, gardening, and watching a hockey game. What is that you say? I’m a klutz? Yes, I am. Except the hockey puck thing—that was not at all my fault.

The latest way I found to torture myself was a combination of cooking and eye care. Because I currently have an eye infection, I am taking my contacts out periodically. So, tonight after taking them out, I started cooking dinner. Some chili nachos to be precise. I spread some jalapeño peppers on the chips and then went to put my contacts back in. Trust me; I thoroughly washed my hands twice before picking up my contact and placing it on my eye. Here’s some advice for you. Jalapeño juice does not easily wash off. When I put the contact on my eye I felt an intense burning sensation. My already infected eye was now bright red and watering with jalapeño-induced agony.

So naturally I put the other contact in and went through it all again. Brilliant.

Next week the topic will be how not to kill yourself while typing.