I’ve been told that a child coming from a family where they are the only offspring are all about themselves since they tend to have lavished attention upon them.
The same reason I love sociology is the same reason I hate it. I dig the groupings to help understand where people are coming from, but I don’t dig the stereotypes.
At any rate, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. I just spent part of my morning running errands, all of which are complicated by the slow motion of business satisfying me, their potential customer.
I figure if these companies do x, then this will help them gain customer satisfaction, and thus improve their business. If that is not something they need to improve their margin, well fugg’em.
Kaufman Tire & Other Car Repair Shops (non-body work)
Take my cell# as well as my IM/ICQ/MSN screen name, and page me when my car:
– is being serviced
– is done being serviced
– if you have a question
– your closing, and where the keys are
I understand you can’t drop everything and serve me. The last you can do, however, is give a time estimate, otherwise, keep me informed. I plan my day around you.
After Hours Tux Rental
Either give me the tracking # so I can utilize the existing plethora of web services from FedEx/UPS out there to track it myself, or do the above informing me:
– when the truck has left the warehouse
– when the tux has arrived and at what store location
– when store hours are changing
– when there is a problem, inform me with contact information to resolve
*******
Please note none of the above solutions require anything beyond a human pressing a button for each event; even a monkey could operate the solutions. If either of you companies need help implementing such technology solutions, let me know; here’s a royal coupon for free consulting. I don’t have time for this bs, I and I know your other customers don’t either.
Word. You tell ’em.
Network-centric business operations that customers can connect to remotely and check on the status of their orders rock.
Several clients at my day job have implemented things like this for *their* clients (mainly via their websites). It’s good business all around.
Last week, my wife ordered pizza online and they had real-time pie-tracking via their website. Granted, it was a periodic refresh of a page done via Javascript, and a Flash-based XMLSocket solution would probably be sweeter but we certainly didn’t mind. I’m wondering why more companies aren’t doing the same.
Yeah man, fight the power. :-)
I don’t know about tux-rental shops, but I think it’s a written rule that auto repair shops are not supposed to call you for any of the given reasons, especially the 3rd option, questions and problems. If there’s a problem, they’re guraunteed to fix other things until you call and ask how it’s going. They then tell you’ve done X so far (costing $XX), and then proceed to tell you that your car is basically un-drivable, and that it needs X amount more work. Usually this happens around inspection time, or when you want something simple like tire rotation, and end up driving ol’ girl home about a week later with new brakes, exhaust and working wipers.
I would certainly appreciate if everyone of my service providers could take advantage of email and web at some level, or at the very least use the phone accordingly. At least my doctor’s office calls to remind me of appointments, and the delivery guy from our favorite chinese take-out calls from the corner, though it is so he doesn’t have to wait at the door for too long :)
Anyway, what I do hate is when, for example, I use the telephone to register some software, and after being asked to introduce my 20 digit serial number and other information from the phone keyboard by the computerized central, a representative asks me again for all the same information again to ‘complete the process’!