@Hertz: The Virtual Agent Lightens the Pain of Waiting

January 16, 2012

I’ll admit it; I hate waiting.

I try to be patient, yet I am spoiled by the immediacy of everything.

When the train gates fall and bring my car to a standstill, I sigh.

When all lines at the grocery store look like a LA freeway, smoke drifts out my ears.

Before you join the masses on the road, wouldn't it great if you didn't have to wait?

When the number at the deli counter is 14 and I am number 36, I silently groan.

The Hertz Rental Car place in Atlanta, Georgia was a busy place a few weeks ago.

As I strolled up to the counter, the line was interminable; tense business professionals attempted to pass the time stuck in their smartphones.

I glanced to the left and noticed a bank of open monitors.

Simultaneously, a friendly young lady invited me to meet a virtual agent by guiding to an open computer.

“It will be much shorter than waiting in this long line,” she said.

I was a bit skeptical that I appeared to be the first taker (sucker!), but I was intrigued to test-drive the process.

“What’s your name, sir,” the smiling Hertz representative asked.

“Dan,” I responded.

“Dan, I’d like you to meet Mary. Mary will take care of you this morning.”

As the friendly young lady stepped away from the monitor, the smiling Mary appeared on the screen and began to quickly, courteously, effortlessly find me an affordable vehicle for my stay in Atlanta. The entire process probably took 2 minutes less than a face-to-face exchange – that’s efficiency.

I was impressed by how Hertz made the ‘impersonal’ exchange via computer very personal. Think Skype with a smile.

If the metrics make sense, other service industries (airports, ticket counters, car service stations) should seriously consider virtual agents to alleviate longer lines, harried travelers.

I may still dislike waiting, yet Hertz serves up a smidgen of joy while you wait.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

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Posted by Dan Naden

Sea World presents a charming day…with a catch

January 4, 2012

I am surrounded by Cookie Monster, Elmo and Bert, as they dance to a catchy tune about letters and numbers. For a moment, I think about throwing caution to the wind and join in the two step. The furry creatures that taught me the ABCs are now paving the path for the next generation and I can’t really control myself.

The smiles on our children’s faces are as wide as Texas.

The live shows were a dazzling display of beauty and strength.

Recently, the family spent a spectacular day at Sea World San Antonio on a mild late summer day. The sun beat loud and proud on that day.

This treasured day, however, almost didn’t happen.

Our plan was simple:

-Open the doors to the park at 10am.

-Stay until exhaustion beat us down.

 The skies on that particular Saturday morning, however, were hostile. Drizzle and fog dampened all spirits. The previous night’s rain, thunder and lightning displays were legendary.

After a few hours of wishing, hoping, praying that the rain would stop, we caught a break.

The skies lightened just enough to let us into the park around noon.

Despite our late start, we were ambitious about our pursuit of trying every ride, coaster, game that was available at Sea World San Antonio. With the park featuring Halloween hours and events (until 10pm), we believed that we had plenty of time to ‘give it a go’.

We petted the sting rays, bobbed and weaved on the Shamu Express roller coaster, laughed on the merry-go-round, and marveled at the artistry and acrobatics of Azul. Azul was a major departure from your typical dolphin show. Talented professionals swam, dove, climbed, soared against a majestic backdrop of light, color, sound.  Unbelievable.

Even I tested his nerves on the jaw-dropping Steel Eel. As I made the slow, methodical incline prior to the ride’s steepest drop, I wondered, “Why am I doing this?” When it was over, I was ready to do it again!

Then, unexpectedly at 5pm, we heard this over the park’s loudspeaker:

“Attention please; because of inclement weather earlier in the day, the park will be closing at 6pm today. All Hallowscream activities are cancelled for tonight.”

The words: “What?”, “Huh?” could be heard reverberating around the park.

This was a surprise in the worst way.

I realize weather plays a significant role in the unpredictable schedules of most of these amusements parks, yet we wouldn’t have made the decision to enter the park around noon (at full price!) if we knew the day was only six hours long instead of ten hours. With the sky clearing, it didn’t cross our mind that the park would close early.

Most likely, we’ll return to Six Flags San Antonio for some stupendous fun. This bout of unfortunate, nearly unfathomable, news probably put a frown on the furry faces of Cookie Monster, Elmo and Bert as well as on the faces of the Austin visitors.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | advertising, Atmosphere. Customer Service, Communication, community, customer experience, Customer Service, knowing your customers, marketing to kids, Texas | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Blackberry’s customer service misfortunes

December 21, 2011

With my flight hours away, and my departure gate in sight, I decided to move off the main pathway of Atlanta’s airport and into one of its many retail stores.

Moving past smoothie factories, cheery sports bars and bustling departure gates, I ventured into a Blackberry store.

Blackberry's in-store experience was extremely underwhelming.

The young man glared at me as if I were the first visitor in hours. No greeting. No welcome. He stared straight ahead as if his job were torture.

Being a former Blackberry customer and ‘in the market’ for a new phone, I had an interest in the past, present and future on this once proud leader of mobile devices.

After browsing the many phones available in the store, I thought the staffer would inquire about my needs, yet the silence continued.

I took the first step and asked:

“Do you have any specials today?”
“No,” the worker responded, quickly retreating to his comfort of silence.

“Are all of the recent outages affecting Blackberry resolved.”
“Yes,” he muttered.

“Do you have any Sprint phones?”
He then pointed to a row of Sprint-enabled phones against the wall.

I tipped and tapped a few keyboards, touched some screens, read some feature descriptions and then it happened as I prepared to exit the store.

“Are there any questions I can answer for you?” the Blackberry representative asked meekly. Amazingly, he finally woke up to his role as customer advocate.

I turned and shook my head from side to side as I stepped back into the main artery of the airport.

Blackberry’s problems are much more fundamental and far-reaching than this dispirited exchange, yet this is clearly are a microcosm of this floundering mobile machine.

Years ago, Blackberry lost the touch of the customer. Apple brought products to market that inspired and energized the masses. Now, Blackberry’s doing its finest to ignore customers on their doorstep.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

3 Comments | advertising, Communication, Customer Service, experience, knowing your customers, marketing, merchandising, shopping, simplicity, Uncategorized, user experience | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

What One Restaurant Did to Guarantee Repeat Business

December 7, 2011

A typical day becomes extraordinary when a SURPRISE appears.

For restaurants, surprises are repeat business. If you can get someone to return to your location, you’re well on your way to survival ability. Restaurants might bring in a person one time via a Groupon, advertisement, word of mouth, yet can they ‘wow’ you enough to bring you back for a 2nd visit?

The stats of restaurant flops are astounding:

Will a restaurant 'wow' you enough to bring you back?

About one in four restaurants close or change ownership within their first year of business. Over three years, that number rises to three in five.

Personally, I’ll try most restaurants once. A friend may say: “Hey, you must try that new Mexican restaurant that just opened up down the street.”

If I don’t get a personal recommendation, I’ll sometimes succumb to a 2 for 1 Groupon offer at a steakhouse.

A warning for all restaurant owners: If something about the experience doesn’t dazzle, I won’t return – my money and time are too valuable to waste on the mediocre.

My family recently visited a breakfast place in San Antonio named, the Egg and I.

Like most new places we frequent, we were referred by a friend. The noise of radio, TV, billboards, newspaper, Web, F’book, Twitter becomes just a little noisy to remember anything.  The power of word of mouth marketing can’t be contained.

We stumbled into the Egg and I at a slow pace. The previous day’s excitement at the super-fun Sea World amusement park had us moving at a whisper.

The food: stupendous.

The service: timely.

The finish: something to remember.

We received the check from our server and then she handed us a red envelope.

Who doesn’t like receiving things in a red envelope?

I proceeded to start to tear open the envelope when our waitress said:

“Sir, please don’t open the envelope now. When you return to visit us here at The Egg and I, please hand the red envelope to your waitress and she’ll open it for you at your table. It’s a gift for you for returning to visit us here at the Egg and I. We thank you for your business.”

So what’s in the envelope? It’s pure marketing genius.

“Do you have what it takes to win?”

Free gift inside

Winning is all about discipline; do you have what it takes?
Can you contain yourself? Big time prizes are calling your name if you can wait to open this envelope.

I remember ticking the days off a calendar until Christmas morning. Now, years later, I experience a similar tension as I count the days until my next visit to The Egg and I. I can hear the sound of the envelope being torn open now. The waiting game until the prize is revealed.

Think deeply about what surprises you can bring to your business. It’s a no-brainer that you must deliver a spectacular experience, yet strive to create an event that your customers will remember: an event that will keep them scurrying back for more.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

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Posted by Dan Naden

Going Home Again

November 21, 2011

The bike path where I drove to McDonald’s is gone. Grass now covers what used to be a well-formed path where my old Schwinn rode. Pancakes always tasted better AFTER the paper route was done.

I still remember the names of some of the neighbors on the paper route: the Christmases (I was devastated when one of the Christmas daughters ran over my bike with her car while I diligently collected the bi-monthly dues.) Thankfully, the Christmas girls were all very cute. This made the crushed mass of tangled steel and metal a little easier to tolerate. Most importantly, they did buy me a new bike.

The printing press was the catalyst for many cherished early-morning memories.

The Vogelsangs’ husband was a real stickler for getting his paper right at 5:30am. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and powered my bike down the street to ensure his delivery was my first of the fresh morning. This is where I learned responsibility: barreling down the middle of Elm Street, snow drifts on either side in mid-January. Thankfully, for every ‘Vogelsang’, there was a ‘Jungert’; the Jungert family was always appreciate, welcoming and generous with tips!

The hometown streets where I sprinted and trained for many soccer seasons all look narrower now. Sometimes my brother was my companion; other times, I flew solo. He never really liked the endurance runs. My brother preferred the lunge, push, pull of weightlifting or the short burst from a sprint.

Now, as I jog past the soccer fields where I grew up many decades earlier, the turf, shrouded in fog, awaits the next generation of youngsters: the hive of children chasing after a white and black checkered ball. These children won’t be delivering papers in the early morning. That job was a duty from yesterday that shall never return. Now a man in an old car tosses the paper onto the driveway at 4:00am.

The lessons:

  • Never forget your roots
  • Make memories today that will last a lifetime
  • Tell stories

What is your business doing to remember its beginnings? Is there a story that needs to be told that will help you tell your message to your prospects? If properly done, these facts will be remembered more than the price and type of widget that you sell.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

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