Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my friends and family. Thanks for reading, commenting and keeping me on my toes.

Show me, don't tell me

Southwest Airlines does a great job of using video to help their customers have a good experience with the company. Writing a blog to help the customer understand processes or procedures is a good thing. Showing someone how to a process or procedure works is even better. How could you use video to improve and enhance your customer's experience with your company? If you have any examples of companies using video to help their customers, please let me know.

OSU vs OU.. Go Pokes!!

Orange Power. Orange Power! Go Cowboys. The game is today at 2:30 Central time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family.

Kindle - The Electronic Reading device

I just came back from viewing Amazon's video demonstration of the Kindle, and electronic reading device that is blowing my mind. It looks like it would be simple to read, easy to download to and light enough to carry with you anywhere. Check it out at www.amazon.com/kindle

Age and Creativity

Drew McLellan posted a great message that has generated alot of thoughtful feedback regarding the concept of aging and creativity. Can we stay relevant and in touch with the younger markets as we get older?

I highly recommend checking it out at the Marketing Profs blog.

Trackback

The War

Did you get a chance to see the first installment of THE WAR on PBS last night. If not, you've got to tune in tonight and the next 4 nights for Ken Burns' latest documentary covering WWII. Must see TV.

A Fair(y) Use Tale

This is avery interesting take on one's perception of how copyright law works.

Be a service partner, not a service roach

Becky Carroll wrote a great piece over at the CUSTOMERS ROCK blog called "Its Cool to be a Geek". The article is about how to brand and market a service a ethereal as IT.

One of Becky's suggestions, and the one thing that caught my eye and made me read twice was the part about "tie results to business goals". It seems to me this is done so very little that anyone who adopts this strategy will definitely be the purple cow. Wouldn't it be cool if your vending machine vendor came to you and suggested you both sit down and go over reports such as "vending-machine down" time" products offered vs. products wanted by customers, etc. A program like this puts you on the customer's side of the table. It also provides you with the opportunity to show the customer what it is you are doing to improve your service and meet their needs.

One reason a marketing practicioner, service provider (or better yet, roach) might not want to include this sort of strategy is because they would not want their customer to know what was going on, which is the feeling I get from various service providers. They operate on the theory "What my customers don't know won't hurt them". If the light gets turned on, go run and hide. This might work for awhile, but over time, your customers will start to get the impression something is just not quite right. Then your competitor walks in, works with the already uneasy feeling your customer has about the service you are providing, and signs up your customer...much to your surprise.

Be transparent, be your customer's partner...show, reveal, suggest and recommend. Let them know about the problems you have found and the solutions you have implemented or suggest being implemented. Be the hero, not a back-door in-and-out, hope-no-one-sees-me type of vendor. If you operate in this fashion, don't be surprised if you get squashed like a bug.

Commenting while video plays

I just ran across a cool website called Viddler. It's free and you can upload your video for just friends and family to see as well as the whole world. One of the tight features is the ability to add comments and tags to the video while it's playing. Check it out at www.viddler.com. Let me know what you think.

customers are not stupid

"Our customers are stupid." "They don't know what they are talking about." "These people complain all the time."

Your customers send signals, messages, feedback all day long. But unless you have a healthy, mature concept of how to receive this information, you'll wind up sounding like the person in the first paragraph. And then your customers will walk away without telling you why.

I had the opportunity to go to a seminar not long ago. Afterward, I sent an email with my thoughts and critique of why I thought the seminar was a disappointment and offered some suggestions to help. Most would tell you not to bother, that marketers really don't care and won't listen. And they may be right. But in this case, not only did my email get answered, I received a phone call from the VP of Sales asking me if there was anything else I noticed or didn't like about the seminar. Then I received a letter following up the phone call. Now, this doesn't mean they are going to do anything with the critique I sent in, but chances are good if they have gone to this much work to follow-up, the next seminar is going to be better.

This company obviously had a mature and positive outlook regarding feedback. They didn't run scared and try to hide. They took the information, let the information tell a story and considered the consequences of not changing.

On the other hand, I sent almost the exact same critique 3 weeks ago to another company that co-sponsored the same seminar ($7 billion company) and have yet to hear a word. Yikes!

Your customers are talking...are you listening?

Feedback - Quality versus quantity

For most, including myself, writing is hard. And when it comes to writing a review or providing written feedback on a survey, most shy away.

If you are well-practiced in the art of writing, leave your feedback and let us all enjoy your writing. However, of you find it hard to put into words what you think or feel about a product or service, most sites and surveys make it easy and provide some sort a numbering system (1 = poor, 10 = excellent). But don't get lazy and check a row of boxes just to check a row of boxes. In this case, it would be better not to leave any feedback at all.

Whichever suits you best is fine. But do your best to leave good, honest feedback. Write to your heart's content or check the appropriate box that best answers the question being asked.

OK...enough on leaving feedback. Tomorrow we flip the coin and look at the other side of feedback...receiving.

How to leave good feedback

Giving feedback on a product or service may seem easy enough. However, if handled poorly, you can come off all wrong and send the wrong message.

First, be candid and frank with getting personal. If you liked the product, state what it is that you liked. If something about the service leaves you cold, write out what it is you think is missing (plumber stood too close to the door upon arrival and invaded personal space...mowing company came and left without any notification).

Second, be ready to sign your name or screen-name. Take responsibility for your comments and give the company the abiltiy to get in touch with you if they have further questions or need clarification. I know this may make a person feel uncomfortable, but at least you know they heard you and are making attempts to improve.

Third, keep a helpful tone; don't be mean spirited. A well thought-out comment will be readily received whereas a review written using harsh language and vague examples will be passed over and dismissed. To emphasize this point, let the company know you are sending the critique to help them improve. Your choice of words are crucial to getting your point across and having the recipient "hear" what you're trying to say.

Good feedback helps everyone and can help improve or reinforce the quality of products and services we buy in the future.

cre8Buzz

I want to take a minute and mention Antman's new Cre8ting Buzz network. This is a new community of people with a wide variety of interests. If you would like to be invited to join, please send me an email and I'll follow up with an invite.

...even more on Feedback

Ben McConnell at Church of the Customer Blog writes about the value websites create when they allow customers to leave reviews of their purchases.

...more on Feedback

From a marketing perspective, real & honest feedback is crucial.

After attending a conference not too long ago, I sent an email to the sponsoring company outlining what I thought were the highs and lows of the seminar. The feedback was open, honest and written in a helpful tone. Fortunately, someone from the company called, followed up and was genuinely appreciative of the information.

One thing that struck me, however, was a remark they made. They said that they rarely ever got thoughtful feedback from their seminar attendees, and if they did, all they ever got was EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT down the list of topics to grade. I find it hard to believe that in this age of immediate feedback, that people still find it unimportant to leave good honest feedback, even after spending alot of money.

If a company really wants to know what a customer thinks about their product or service, they'll be listening. I can't tell you who they are, but I do encourage you as a consumer to let your voice be heard.

We all benefit when customers leave helpful feedback. Whether it's a presentation you've attended, a product you have used or a service you've signed up for, let them know what you think. If you like what you bought, let the company know what you liked about the product. If you hate it, give specific examples of why you dislike the service so much.

Whatever you do, it's important to remember to refrain from hostile, personal attacks. Stick to the facts and let the reults speak for themselves.

Your recap of your experiences with a marketer's products and services matter.

For Heaven's Sake, Leave Candid Feedback

There's nothing like sitting through a great presentation. There's nothing worse than sitting through a bad one either.

Recently 5 of my colleagues and I came back from a day-long seminar that at best was a test of patience. There is plenty to say about this, but let me me stress one point...as a seminar attendee it is your duty to leave or send candid feedback so the seminar producers know what you think (backed up with solid examples) so future seminar attendees (that could be me) may benefit from your insight. This assumes that the receiver of the feedback will do anything about it. But if they have your best interest as well as their wallet, at heart, they will listen and make the necessary adjustments.

I like pointing people to slideshare.net when asked what a good presentation looks like. Or go to Guy Kawasaki's blogblog and find a wealth of information on public speaking.

work fills time

I agree with Tim Ferriss when he talkes about work taking up whatever time we give to complete the task. This was the basis for my question in the previous post. Read the 4-Hour Work Week when you get the chance. There's some thought provoking ideas in there that I'm sure you can use to help get more out of your day and more out of your life.

Enthusiasm = $$$

On a beautiful Sunday after church, my wife and I couldn't decide on what to eat for lunch. She wanted something fast, so she opted for McDonalds. I wanted something different, so I chose another fast-food store. After getting her filet o'fish, we headed for my store.
Once there, I got out, went inside and was hit with an overwhelming lack of enthusiasm. By the look on the line worker's faces, you would thinkg they were chained to the work stations. If the store had a soundtrack, I imagine it would sound like the Winkies chant in the witch's castle from the Wizard Of Oz..."O EE O, We OOoo".
Immediately I felt like I wanted to be anywhere but there. So, when my wife honked the horn, waving at me to let me know I had walked in without my wallet, I took the opportunity to walk out, get in the car and get the heck out of Dodge.

Wow! There was not excitement, no enthusiasm, no visual sign of anyone looking like they were having a good time or enjoying their job. There could be many reasons for this, I understand. But if you are going to be in business and want to make some money, please make it look as though I've made the right choice by showing some enthusiasm and evidence that I am not a burden to you.

Keeping these kind of people around not only costs you business, it could cost you all your business.

So straighten up, find something you enjoy doing and do it. And help me feel good about handing over my money.

Dropping Names at Arby's

I want to tip my hat to Mercedes at the Arby's in Tulsa (4th & Main) for providing a good customer service experience. What did she do? She noticed my name tag on my shirt from work and actually used it in her greeting. Very rare. I was so impressed I asked to speak to her manager so I could let her manager know what a great job she was doing.
When a person you are doing business with takes the time to find out your name and use it, yhou know you're dealing with someone who typically got a great attitude and a good eye for detail.
Good job Mercedes! Keep up the good work.

Creature Comforts Canceled

I found out this week that Creature Comforts was canceled from CBS. Darn. What an original show. Must have been a tad oblique for most.

Pay it Forward II

My second recommendation for Marketing blogs to read goes to ConverStations. Mark Sansone, the Conversation Conductor, writes a well-thought out and insightful blog regarding marketing from an Iowan's perspective.

Good Job, Mark. Keep up the good work.

You knew your dog could talk - Creature Comforts

Did you see Creature Comforts on CBS last night? Hi-frickin-larious! If you missed it, don't make the same mistake twice...http://www.creaturecomforts.tv/

LoopNote.com

Loop Note.com is the bomb, baby! Just got off the phone with Martin (yeah, they actually answer the phone) and had a great conversation about LoopNote and about how using LoopNote.com could help promote our company-sponsored baseball team, the United Linen Braves and our company sponsored baseball tournament.

This company has got it going on. Rant and rave. If you are looking for a service to help distribute information/updates from one-to-many, take a hard look at LoopNote.com. Registering was easy, the explanations easy to understand and setting up a page was a piece of cake.

It's easy to keep your friends and family in the loop...go to LoopNote.com.

See what we're doing at http://loopnote.com/ulbraves1. Let me know what you think.

using Twitter to promote baseball

I think I've finally figured out how to use Twitter to help promote a baseball tournament we 've got going in Bartlesville, OK The Tournament is called the United Linen Classic and it starts in June from 21-25! After studying many blogs on the subject of Twitter, we think we are in a postion to try it out and see what it can do to help generae interest and buzz around the tournament. Our plan is to post scores in real-time after each inning. The baseball guys will tell their girlfriends, the frineds will tell their friends, parents will be told, and on and on it goes. Hopefully. We'll see how many followers the ULBraves have after their first week on the road.

The key for us is to generate a sense of community around the boys in the ball club and allow followers to stay in touch with scores posted. And the followers of the ULBraves have the ability to connect to themselves, creating groupps within groups within the ULBraves group.

Or it could all be a big bust and we walk awasy without having spent a dime on the crazy little venture. That might make us feel better. But I really want it to work...I want hundereds of followers on my ULBraves homepage on Twitter. And I want people Twittering among each other,,,basically just having a good time following one of the finest baseball teams in northeast Oklahoma.

$3.15

Spent $3.15/gal today. First time in my life. That's it!

Finished

Finished it. Now it's on to Seth Godin's SMALL IS THE NEW BIG.

30 pages away

I'm 30 pages away from finishing the book WALT DISNEY by Neal Gabler. What a great book. Although I've been reading it since Christmas, I've taken my time to finish the 633 page book (not including the Notes, Appendix and Index)

nice little update

Just installed this nice little tool on the site called snap.com.
It displays links on your site so users can take a look at the link without leaving your site. It rocks.

MMs

I love this new M&M's commercial promoting their dark chocolate line!

Quit It!

Jim Collins' book GOOD TO GREAT teaches us how to create a stop-doing list, conserve energy for those things you're good at doing. Now Seth Godin has come out with a book called THE DIP, that suggests we should know when to quit and know when to keep pressing on when it seems like we should quit. At least that's what I think it's about...as far as I can tell.

It is very important for successful marketers to know when to stop doing certain things and when to keep moving forward with other things, knowing the pay-off in the long-term is well worth today's effort.

What should you quit doing? What should you keep doing?

Bald Eagle Cam

You can see anything these days! My wife and I check in on some Bald Eagles and their brood via the Bald Eagle Cam set up by the Sutton Avian Research Center. Check it out
http://www.suttoncenter.org/eaglecam.html

Funny Even if I Do Say So Myself

I love listening to the Restaurant Guys radio show via their podcast. On this particular episode, they read an email I sent to them and to hear them read it always make me laugh. To hear the show copy and paste the following link into your web browser:

http://www.restaurantguysradio.com/sle/rg/bin/aud/2006.07.31.01.johnson.mp3

I hope you get as big a kick out of the first part of their show as I did.

Award winning

There's something inside everyone to want to win. And some have a better idea of what winning is about more than others. But whether you are an Academy Award winner or just received a trophy for your little league baseball team, people love getting little statues. I have a trophy, the only trophy I've ever won, back from 1972 for participating in a Little League Baeball team in Waco, Tx. I still have the trophy. Hope that doesn't sound too pathetic. But I've kept it all these years and don't plan on putting it away anytime soon. The other day the trophy got knocked off it's perch and the base shattered. So now, even though the trophy will not have all the original parts, it's story continues to develop.

I like my trophy.

Last week the booth I designed for my company won Judge's Choice for 1 or more booths. The first time since 1972 to win something based on merit, skill, whatever you want to call it. I'm liking this taste called 'winning". I've got to make up for lost time and win somemore stuff.

Oklahoma Restaurant Assoc tradeshow

We had a great time at the Oklahoma Restaurant Assoc. tradeshow in Oklahoma City. Man, are those things work! If you would like to see some pictures, click on the following link http://www.flickr.com/photos/7908862@N06/show/

To see a video of our booth, click on the following link:

Holiday Inn Express is great

Called the Hilton Hotel in downtown OKC to make additional reservations to the one I had previously made because if a tradeshow I will be attending.

It took 2 phone calls and 5 people to put me through customer service hell. I wound up cancelling the original reservation I had and went with Holiday Inn Express. Charlotte was nice at Holiday Inn Express and remembered me from my last visit. Why did I try anyone else?

where I sit and how I sit

Ran across a post by Seth Godin today talking about great audiences and what makes a great audience. It's been my experience that when I go into a meeting or go to hear a speaker, what I get out of it depends on how I sit and where I sit. Sittin gup front, with my body language screaming to listen always gets me better results than sitting in the back, distracted and bored. I've heard some speakers refer to great audiences as "pulling" on the speaker to get more out of them. And I believe that's true.

Wonderbra Outdoor

During my morning marketing blog-reading ritual, I ran across this great post by Marketing Blog...http://www.marketingblog.eu/marketingblog/2007/03/excellent_wonde.html
This is hilarious. Check it out.

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is it right?

I going to tell on myself.

One of the nightmares marketers face is having somethting go to print, only to find out something is wrong i.e. the phone number listed is wrong or the website address is incorrect. Take a look at this ad I ran this last week in the local paper. I swear I looked at this ad a 100 times and never saw "it". Can you tell what "it" is?

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And the Winner Is...

The winner of the "BE THE FIRST TO POST TO MY BLOG" email message is:

Square (who posted first to the latest posting)

and James (who posted first to the blog in general)

Thanks to everyone for comments and suggestions on how to make this blog better. I appreciate it.

staying in touch

I have received emails from old friends who I have not heard from in a long time. It's always good to hear from old acquaintances and makes me feel good that they made the effort to say , "hi".

I believe that's what your customers are wanting to hear from you..."Hi, how are you doing...just wanted to see how you were doing, (and so forth) blah blah blah blah blah." I'm talking about sincerity here.

One of my colleagues the other day mentioned they had not seen or heard from one of their vendors for 2 years. Hows that for ego?

Here's one of the secrets to successful relationships in business or in your personal life...stay in touch.

p.s. A special "Howdy" to Jane Rains (Moskowitz) and Susan Sinn...thanks for keeping me in the know.

more illusion

I ran across an article by Seth Godin talking about the very think I was mentioning earlier.
Take a look and let me know what you think.

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/16628912

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Putting up with Bad Service Creates an Illusion

I saw a lady (we'll call her Boopsie) on the street the other day. She has a service business and I happen to know that one of her clients is not happy with the results they are getting from Boopsie.

Does Boopsie know about the clients concerns? My point is, unless a customer tells a vendor that they are unhappy with the service, how is the vendor to know what the problem is so they can fix it? If you don't make your vendor aware of a problem with their service and you let them continue to provide their service to your company, you are creating an illusion. The illusion you create hides the problem from the vendor. And unless the vendor knows about the problem, it will be hard for the service provider to makes changes to improve the situation.

So unless you want to be in the magic business where deception is your game, be upfront with your vendors/servic providers and respect the person enough to tell them the truth. Chances are the service you receive will improve and "POOF"...all your troubles disappear.

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Dillards Does It Again

Dillards in Bartlesville has it down. When you make a purchase and you use a credit card, they will use your name over and over. Good job Dillards!

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Dillards Wins Latest Name Game in Bartlesville

3 Cheers for Darla at Dillards. Last night, on a quest to buy some Godiva Chocolate for dessert, I flew out to Dillards, right before dinner, ran in, grabbed 2 bars of chocolate and handed them over to the first available attendant. Although picked at random, I hit the jackpot with Darla. Darla ran my credit card, noticed my name and used my name when thanking me for the business. A customer's name. Music to their ears.

I wish I could tell you this happens more time than not, but it doesn't. The last time someone noticed me and used my name was the OnCue experience. But Bartlesville is getting it...slowly but surely, Bartlesville is understanding the term "enlightened hospitality".

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At least it's real

Although Jet Blue is taking a beating for the incidents of people being on board waiting to take off for up to 8 hrs or longer, I'm tipping my hat to Jet Blue. Good job for taking the high road and cancelling flights rather than pretending to do something about it and continuing to book flights. From a customer service standpoint, it makes sense to take the hit up and cancel flights rather than tell people you can do something when you can't.

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Dud

My wife and I just got back from seeing GHOSTRIDER. Unless you want to waste and hour and 50 minutes of your life, I would recommend watching something else. The theater was packed and I noticed an unusual amount of bikers in the audience chomping at the bit to see Ghostrider's bike. I'm guessing alot of people thought this would be more of a "comics" type movie and therefore brought their kids along. But with all the intense images, there will be many shocked and startled parents wishing they had left the kids at home.
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Thanks for Checking.

I had lunch today with a friend who's more like a mentor and we had a nice chat about this and that. Other than appreciating the company, I have learned good follow-up skills from him. We meet once a month, and he's always first to call, see how things are going, and set a lunch appointment.

Loyalty and friendships are in such short supply these days. Everyone's just too busy to check in on a friend or go see how a loved one is doing.

By the way...the food and service at Szechuan is great.


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3

I had a disasterous marketing meeting this morning...brought on my my ego and stupidity. But I did learn from it and I would like to share these gems with you.

Number 1…Give them what they want.
offer up alternatives or “other” suggestions after initial question or objective has been answered.

Number 2…don’t get away from project management.
Break down and plan out how a marketing task is going to be accomplished. Give it significance.

Number 3…Life is short
Don’t waste the time of others or myself.

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MacAlister's Keeps it Coming

Not only did I receive an email from corporate offices gushing over what they felt was a negative customer experience, but I also got a handwritten, handwritten, handwritten letter from Alicia Tippett, General Manager along with vouchers good for 2 free lunches at McAlister's Deli...wanting a second chance. You bet they get a second chance. And I'll bet that when we walk in, these counter clerks are going to be high fiving and having a party in the kitchen. I am pumped to go and see what's going on. Whatever is going on, MacAlister's Deli is the lighthouse that shows all other restauants how to treat the Bartlesville public with enlightened hospitality. And everyone needs to read Danny Meyers book, SETTING THE TABLE.

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Good Job McAlister's Deli

My wife and I had lunch yesterday at the new McAlister's Deli on the south side of Bartlesville. Because we didn't have long for lunch, I called in our order ahead of time. Once we got there, the food was ready, paid for it with my debit card (order taker did not take the time to learn my name) and sat down to eat. Nameless

So far so so. After taking several bites, Celeste did not like the tast of her French dip sandwich. So we called a waitress over, told her the problem and she promptly sent us out another sandwich. It's nice to see a business trust what the customer is telling them and make it right.

3 out of 5 stars for McAlisters Deli.

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bAds part 2

So the Super Bowl is over, the Colts beat the Bears, the ads pretty much misfired and Prince didn't slip and fall in the rain during the halftime show.

I thought Prince did a good job actually. Probably one of the best half-time shows in a long time. What was up with that guitar?

The robot ad for GM has got to be the worst, most depresing commercial I have ever seen. What was GM's marketing dept. thinking about?!? Wow! Bet they had fun making that commercial.

The best commercial had to be Godaddy.com. Or the Coke commercial where the guy woalks around doing miraculous things and setting the world straight.

The most distastful ad has to be the Snickers commercial. OOOOOooooooooooo. Yuck. Now everytime I think of a Snickers bar, I think of two guys sucking on a turd. I'm sure that's the image the marketing people were looking for.

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Control What You Can

After reading chapter 10 of Danny Meyer's book SETTING THE TABLE, I learned how Mr. Meyers overcomes mistakes by writing a "great last chapter."

"Whatevver mistake happened, happened. And the person on the receiving end will naturally want to tell anyone who's interested all about it. That's to be expected. While we can't erase what happened, we do have the power to write on elast episode so that at least the story ends the way we want."

This reminds me of a mistake while dining at one of our favorite restaurants, the Wilmington Restaurant at Jarrett Farm, located between Bartlesville and Tulsa. The waiter reaching for my wife's wine glass, and my wife moving her hand from the table, bumped into each other and the wine was poured all over the front of my white shirt. It looked like I had been shot in the chest.

Admirably, the staff at Jarrett Farm offered to pay for the dry cleaning. That was nice. I also almost expected to get a call from a staff member of Jarrett Farm to see how our evening had been and if there was anything they could do to help get the shirt cleaned or find out if there was any problem with getting the shirt cleaned. Danny Meyer says the time frame for addressing mistakes is crucial. When something goes wrong, the manager on duty must make every attempt to follow up with the guest within 24 hours. I like that.

I would suggest the Wilmington Restaurant at Jarrett Farm take a page (p225 specifically) from Danny Meyer's book and add this thought process to their arsenal of skills when it comes to overcoming mistakes and creating an event that makes people want to talk about the cool outcome.

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Son of Rewarding Good Behavior

So, I went by the OnCue #40 store this Sunday, like any other Sunday and once again, the clerk (Charles) used my name again. AND, I noticed he said the gentleman's name who was in line in front of me. So it wasn't just me they were singling out.

It's all the small things. I keep thinking using people's names at the point of transaction is too trivial to be keying in on. But if it's so simple and easy, why don't any of the other places I do business with do the same thing.

I must admit, the wait staff at Weezies Cafe all do a good job of using my name.

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I'm going to go on record and predict that the winner of the Super Bowl will be the Chicago Bears. There...I said it.

Yea Annabel...Yeah Netflix!

I had a problem with my Netflix account. All of a sudden, only 3 of my 10 reviews that I had posted showed up. So I sent a message to Netflix asking them to help. I got a nice response and the problem has been resolved. The following is the reponse.

"Hello Scott,

Thank you for contacting Netflix.com customer support!

I'm sorry for any confusion regarding your reviews. I'll be happy to help you with this.

I looked into your account, and I was able to view all 10 of your reviews. You may read the reviews you have written by selecting "Your Reviews and Lists" on the Netflix site. Once this page is displayed you will be able to view the reviews you have written. If you click "Browse" then look over at the right sidebar, you'll see a header that says "Guides" then click on "Your Reviews and Lists".

I'm not sure what happened here, but everything appears to be resolved now. You might try signing out and then signing back into the site, to be sure that you are viewing the most recent version of the website.

To logout, click the "Sign Out" link displayed under your name in the drop down menu on the Browse page. You may also sign out by selecting "Sign Out" located next to your name on the Your Account page. Once you click on the phrase you will be logged out of your account.

I hope this clears things up for you, and that you'll continue to enjoy your membership!

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

Thanks,
Annabel
Netflix Customer Service

By the way, Mark at BoingBoing posted a horrible response from Lycos to a customer. You can read it hear. No Lycos for me thank you.

Once again, a stupid Apprentice wanna-be can't hit their own personal shutup button. Marissa deserves to go.

Square's Rules of Marketing

Square leaves funny comments on this blog from time to time. While speaking with Square the other day, he shared with me his personal 2 Rules of Marketing

1. "Get busy living, or get busy dying." A nice sentiment from Shawshank Redemption
2. No matter who you are talking to, whatever they are saying is the most important thing.

Thanks Square.

Outstanding in a crowd

Tremendous Trav knows how to stand out in a crowd and show his true colors.

...But What Does Hospitality Mean?

According to Danny Meyer, the restaurateur who wrote SETTING THE TABLE, "hospitality, which most distinguishes our restaurants - and ultimately any business - is the sum of all the thoughtful, caring, gracious things our staff does to make you feel we are on your side when you are dining with us."

And that's what it's all about.

What Does Customer Service Mean?

Customer Service = putting others first. It's that easy/hard.

Jeep® Waterfall

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Lame-O

The Apprentice. What was that all about? Why would someone just quit like Michelle did? There have been pleny of times when it looked like someone was going to be fired and someone pipes up in the board room and totally redirects Trumps ire. Regardless, you shouldn't quit and give up. she should have thought about whether or not she wanted to work for the Trump organization long before she got on the show. Anyone can review the last 5 seasons on DVD to get a good idea what they are getting into. (I can hear Ben quoting Churchill now)

Rewarding Good Behavior

Just went to buy my Sunday paper like I always do every Sunday afternoon, from the OnCue Express #40 down the street. What made this visit different from all the rest of the visits to this store or any other store in recent history is, the cashier...used my name. I presented my debit card, like I always do...and the cashier said, "Thanks Scott."

That's great! Good job! He shoots, he scores! Music to my ears. Unbelieveable. The Giants Win The Pennant! Ta Da! Thank you for noticing! I'm somebody!

I'll go back and see if it happens again. Any bets? Let me know if it happens to you.

More Animal News

Hunter Townsend, Ben's oldest son, took his first deer this season and what a deer it is! The 9-point scored 135.6 on the Boon and Crockett scale and weighed in at 210 lbs. Hunter shot this deer while hunting with his good buddy E.J. Harpole. I am very proud of Hunter's accomplishment.

Checkin in on Nala

We went in yesterday to get the stitches out of Nala's jaw. Two weeks ago she had been hit(?) byt a car or come in contact with some calamatous situation that broke her jaw. But Dr. Manely said she is doing fine, the jaw is staying in alignment nicely and that she should stay on soft foods for 4 more weeks. This picture kind of shows all the fur that had to be shaved off to work on the jaw line.

8 lives to go.

Pasta to Live For

My friend Robin Black turned me on to this recipe that is out of this world. It's called OLIVE GARDEN PASTA e FAGIOLI. We made it tonight and everyone raved about the thick rich tomato-y taste. I'm lovin' it.

Job Well Done!

Great job Joey and Matthew. Looks like one slip-free siewalk to me. And ahead of schedule(2:50pm)

Two boys, 4 tools and unlimited potential

Kids sit around in the house too much these days. So on this snowy day, I asked Matthew and his friend if they would clear the sidewalk ion front of the house. In exchange, they would get $5.00 each in iTunes to download songs. They were all over it (as you can see).

As I watch these two work, I'm thinking...they could make alot of money on a day like today just clearing sidewalks and driveways for people. Shouldn't we parents help the younger set understand how to be industrious and how to make money? Isn't it amazing that the schools teach everything but how to develop good relationships and how to make money?

Its so fun watching these kids work. You can tell they are trying to figure out how to get the job done, who's responsible for what, how to pace themselves, track progress and trying to understand what doing a good job really means.

While I'm at it, might as well teach them how to do just a little bit extra; the 1% more that's so rare these days.

Great job Matthew and Joey!

p.s. I'll post another photo at 4:00pm (deadline for project to be completed) and see how they did.

Anti-Butt Busters

As I have mentioned earlier, the town is covered in a chunk of ice. However, while others are slipping and falling their way through life, I am motivating around without the slightest chance of slipping...even with leather sole shoes...thanks to the awesome power of SHOE CHAINS. Dad invented these shoe chains many years ago. And even though he has passed on, his invention is still saving my butt.

Photos caught at just the right moment

Thought I would share more funny pictures...these are more about catching subjects at just the right moment(?) Thanks again Sigler.