Sushi and September

I can remember the first time I had sushi. It was at some cheap chinese food buffet in a town right next to mine. I was in eighth grade and had nothing near the palate I have now. My meal of choice was probably chicken fingers. Naturally, I was pretty squeamish at the thought of raw fish wrapped in seaweed, but I decided to give it a shot because it was slowly becoming the new phase. After eating the food I can remember instantly regretting it, and so began my dislike for sushi.

Lets rewind from this moment and go about 8 years prior. It was September and there I was, going back to school. From that moment, I'd associate September to this "back to school" feeling of helplessness and finality. My summer was over, and there I was, going back to this 8 hour day spent in a classroom. Much like sushi, September usually always struck a bad note with me.

College was where this all changed, though. No longer was I dreading the arrival of the fall. In fact, Fall became my favorite season and September? One of my favorite months. College was like my summer and summer, more like my winter. Although the sun went away (a few impromptu trips to Florida can incorporate the sun into anyone's fall/winter :)) I was with my friends, actually learning subjects that interested me, and being independent. Furthermore, I -LOVED- sushi!

How does someone take a complete 180 like that? I guess my appetite/appreciation for fine foods matured just like my desire to advance myself. Summer wasn't the "cool thing" anymore. Now, don't get me wrong, I still like summer just as much as the next guy; there's something to be said for staying in bed til 1pm, watching endless episodes of your favorite TV shows, swimming and playing video games all day, rinse and repeat... but that gets old.. quick.. well, not really QUICK but, after about 4 months or so.

August came along and I was still in my house, hanging with friends, playing video games, and the like. When suddenly I found myself staring at my calendar, counting down the days until September because I knew it was going to be different. I knew that I wouldn't let myself sit idly by during the month in which I'm used to working the hardest nor would I let myself be disheartened by anything that happens in my life in a month that has been dreaded by me at one point, and loved at another. I know both feelings, and I would much prefer the latter, and that's what its going to be.

And so I've decided that this September will resemble the Septembers of my recent past, filled with learning and experience and eagerness to get the most out of it and to be able to have fun doing it. Of course, knowing that I'm going to be spending two of my weekends this month at the beach, and 2 of the nights at the end of the month seeing U2 in concert really helps my outlook :) But I also know that things like that are necessary in a month and time with such uncertainty. I have things that I know will make my month better and it's up to me to make the other 23 days this month as great.

In other news, Jingle All The Way, one of my all-time favorite movies was on TBS a few days ago. I love that movie and to see it on in August had to have been a sign that I will get the TurboMan soon, I just need to persist. (In this example, the "TurboMan" is actually a full-time job)

Anyway, how do you feel about September? Is there anything in your life that, at one time or another, you dreaded? But now, you can't live without it?

Customer Service

Hey everyone. This is my first blog so I'm not sure how to start everything off. I primarily intend on talking about my views on marketing and things like that, basically to keep my mind active in this subject until I can find a job!

This first blog is going to be about customer service which, sadly, isn't taken nearly as seriously as it should be in today's super-competitive market. The term "legendary customer service" is a term that is now only associated with a few companies. Zappos, which was just acquired by Amazon, is a company that is usually synonymous with legendary customer service.

Zappos is known for having customer service worthy of emulating. For a company with such a common offering of products, they realized that they needed a unique selling proposition. They decided to make their customer service exceed that of all of their competition. This USP made them stand out in such a way that people would go out of their way to deal with them. Unfortunately, companies decided that the best way to compete with Zappos wasn't to emulate their customer service but to try to offer similar deals with prices and shipping.

An example of this would be Endless.com, a site opened by none other than Amazon to compete with Zappos. What did this site offer, you ask? Why, two things that are among Zappos' main USPs, free two-day shipping and free return shipping! Obviously, these two USPs were not enough to turn the fledgling shoe and apparel website into a formidable competitor for Zappos, even with Amazon's backing and deep pockets. So much so that, as most of you already know, Amazon just purchased Zappos for $847 million. I guess if you can't beat 'em... and your name is Jeff Bezos, buy 'em.

The good news is that not everyone has the money Amazon has. Not every business can just buy out its competition if they are not able to compete with them. So, this is going to force companies to compete!

If you can learn from Endless'/Amazon's mistake, not as many people seem to care about paying for shipping as they care about the service they receive. In other, more enlightening words, if you run a company and want to compete, you don't have to spend extra money on offering perks such as free shipping or free returns. You have to spend time finding quality people who can deliver the type of service that will make people go out of their way to deal with your business.

How often do you go somewhere and are absolutely "wow'ed" by the way you are treated? I'd like to guess not very often. 

How often do you go somewhere and are absolutely "wow'ed" by the way you are treated and then discover that you look forward to that treatment... and you go back?

The best part about this type of USP is that it doesn't cost you much money. You don't have to pay for your client's shipping and return costs. You don't have to offer a bunch of perks for return visits. All you need to do is find some dedicated employees who will do as much as they can to brighten their customers' day.

What is a dedicated employee, though? What type of actions can someone do that will endear a customer to a certain company or brand?

Think about the last time you went to a place that you go out of your way to go. What made you go there? My example is Starbucks, some baristas (Starbucks employees) go out of their way to remember you name and even your drink order! How cool would it be if you walked into Starbucks and immediately someone said "Hey John!" and got to work on your Chai Tea Latte. What about an employee who complimented you on your shirt? Or even an employee who told you about an upcoming sale to save you a couple of dollars?

There are many different things employees can do to make a difference. It doesn't require much effort, either. Employees, especially front line employees, need to realize how much of an effect they have on customers. Those employees represent the company, it is their responsibilities to ensure customers return again and again.

However, some companies fail to tell their front line employees (people that primarily deal with customers) just how integral of a part they play in representing the company. If companies started from the beginning, telling their employees how important of a role they play and how much of a difference they can make in the day of a customer simply by asking how their day is going, they would create much more passionate employees who will create loyal customers.

Passionate employees create loyal customers. Sounds simple doesn't it?

How does one find (or create..?) passionate employees? Well, that will just have to wait until my next blog!

I hope you enjoyed my first blog.

-Ryan