The Lost Art of Customer Service

It's The Product Stupid

A great post from Michael Hyatt's blog From Where I Sit:

One of my favorite marketing gurus, David Ogilvy, once wrote, “Great marketing only makes a bad product fail faster.” How true.

I have argued for years that, “It’s the product, Stupid.” The secret to success in any business is to deliver a great, compelling product. No amount of marketing savvy, salesmanship, or operational excellence can overcome a weak product. This is especially true when it comes to publishing.

The purpose of marketing is to get a book launched—to prime the pump. But if people don’t want to read it and—more importantly—if they won’t recommend it to their friends, you’re hosed. You can’t spend enough money or be creative enough to overcome a lack of word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM).

Continue reading "It’s the Product, Stupid"

Keen Customer Service

Some of you may remember a rave I wrote a couple of years ago about my first pair of KEEN sandals.  Unfortunately they met a very sad end.  The following letter that I recently sent to Keen Footwear explains it all:

Keen Footwear Headquarters
926 NW 13^th Avenue, Suite 210
Portland, OR 97209

Attn: Customer Service

Dear KEEN Footwear,

I have a sad tale to share with you that I believe you may be able to provide a happy ending to.

I purchased my first pair of KEEN sandals right after they came out.  I wore them every day.  I wore them to work , to play, and even to a wedding.  I blogged about them.  I told my friends about them.  My friends started buying them.  I gave pairs to my friends.  I later added a pair of your clogs to my collection (I needed something a little more formal for weddings and work) and I purchased your hiking shoes the month they came out.  Needless to say I’m pretty keen about my KEENS. 

So, let me get to the sad part of the story.  Earlier this summer I was exploring a field of poison ivy in my sandals (you may be thinking this was not the smartest thing to do, and you’d be right).  As you can imagine I then suffered from a really bad poison ivy breakout.  It took me almost 2 months to recover.  But recover I did.  Several months later I went for a walk in my sandals and the next day I had another poison ivy break out on my right foot, right where the sandal strap lies.  I washed my keens thoroughly by hand and tried again a few weeks later.  Another outbreak of itching hell.  So, I washed my keens in the washing machine, twice.  Alas, they still seem to have enough of the poison ivy oil in them to give me a break out.  Unfortunately, each break out  lasts for over a week, so I’m loathe to try any more cleaning methods, even for my first pair of KEENS with all of their sentimental value.

I’m enclosing guilty pair of sandals in the box from the new pair of Ashland’s that I purchased today at REI.  Here’s my plea.  Would you consider replacing them for me?  I know they are more than two years old and I’m pretty sure that your warranty doesn’t cover poison ivy outbreaks, but I thought I might get some special treatment since I’m one of your best customers (I haven’t worn anything but KEENs for over 2 years).

Sincerely,

Jonathan Dale

P.S. I strongly suggest that you don’t try on the enclosed sandals unless you have a bottle of calamine handy.

P.P.S.  My mailing address is: Jonathan Dale, XXXXXXX, Woodland Park, CO 80863 and a wear size 9.5 to 10 depending on the KEEN model.

And what did I receive in the mail today?

Now that's customer service!!!