Whenever a T-shirt gets printed by CustomInk for a charity event, they send a donation. Done initially as a casual gesture by Lori Mayfield, a CustomInk order analyst, now she says, “We try to donate to every charity event that our customers hold close to their hearts.”

Giving Back to the Customer’s Cause

CustomInk wouldn’t feel right printing T-shirts for a charitable organization without giving back to their cause. With this one gesture, they let their customers know they back their efforts. What’s most important about this gesture is that CustomInk did not take this action as a marketing effort. It began as a personal expression by an order analyst who wanted to give back to companies who trusted CustomInk. In the end, like many other noble decisions, it returns to the sender. CustomInk’s genuine gesture to contribute to what their customers care about separates them from other T-shirt suppliers. It draws customers back to do business with a company that thinks this way.

Growing Business by Connecting with Customers

CustomInk has delivered more than 15 million shirts, with 98.9 percent of their customers saying they will purchase from them again. Though their donation to charity customers is small in amount (as little as $30), this gesture connects the company personally with what their customers care about. And it shows customers that their service is not just about getting and filling orders.

With this gesture, CustomInk figuratively sticks their hand out of the shipping box and warmly embraces customers. And customers embrace CustomInk in return. Says one: “I definitely was not expecting an email asking if CustomInk could give a donation to our organization. This makes me proud to have picked this company to do our printing for us.”

As you can see from the increase in CustomInk’s growth in donations, charities are rewarding CustomInk because they care. The percent of CustomInk’s charitable donations is directly related to the growth rate they are experiencing in charities flocking to them.

• What selfless acts tell your customers and employees about what matters to you on a personal level?
• How do you connect in that personal manner with your customers?

Want to learn about other tools to help you earn customers who drive the success and growth of your business? Pick up a copy of “I Love You More Than My Dog: Five Decisions That Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad.”

Customer tweets show customers were frustrated by website errors, faulty coupon codes, and other common customer struggles.

With these issues plaguing their online experience, “retailers are unwittingly driving customers away resulting in more than $44 billion in lost revenue over the course of a year,” said Geoff Galat, vice president of Worldwide Marketing for Tealeaf.

What I want to know is: How many merchants are LISTENING intently to this active feedback—to respond, reach out, and resolve these issues their customers are putting out there?  With online shopping in full swing this season, and with customers’ megaphones firmly implanted in their hands tweeting out their experiences, this season will show the difference between a company who just wants to sell stuff and one who wants to build relationships. (Previous Tealeaf research revealed that 51% of online shoppers said social media has influenced their online transactions.  And 74% of surveyed consumers said a negative online comment influences their likelihood to do business with a company.)

Has anyone out there tweeted about an experience and then heard back from a company to resolve their issue?  If you are a merchant, is “active listening” and responding to customer issues a skill and a practice you are putting to work?  It will show your true colors, and it will grow your business.

Founded in 2001 by John DeHart and Ken Sim, Nurse Next Door was born out of their personal experiences when their own caregiver search for their parents caused concern as they were repeatedly sent inappropriate candidates. Like many small businesses borne out of personal passion, Sim and DeHart’s business has grown rapidly. But as any fast-growing business knows, growing pains occur. So, they decided that, when mistakes happen, they will send a sincere and heartfelt apology, explaining what went wrong, how they’d resolve the situation, and humbly asking forgiveness.

$1,500 Spent on “Humble Pies” Saved $100,000 in Business

When they slip up, Nurse Next Door sends a freshly baked pie as part of their apology. Not any old pie—they send a HUMBLE PIE, with a note that says, “We are very humbled by our mistake and sincerely apologize for the poor service.” They depend on a few local bakers in Vancouver to supply the pies, the most notable of which is an outfit called Acme Humble Pie. Sim and DeHart say, “What’s wrong with eating a little humble pie?” (especially when a customer is at stake).

Decide to “Say Sorry”

Gail Watson, whose story we began with at the top of this blog, received one of those pies after Nurse Next Door missed her initial appointment. Though she was angry at first, the swift delivery of a heartfelt apology and the whimsy and humility of this simple gesture took the edge off. Watson remains a loyal customer today.

What started as a spontaneous gesture by one employee is now a regular part of how Nurse Next Door cares for customers’ wounds from the occasional service failure. DeHart estimates that yearly, Nurse Next Door spends about $1,500 on humble pies, but saves around $100,000 in sales. Nurse Next Door has grown to become British Columbia’s largest home health care company. “It’s more about keeping clients than a question of whose fault it is. The value of lost clients is very high,” DeHart says. “And satisfied customers share their experience with friends and family.”

Nurse Next Door thrived in its early years experiencing significant increase in client growth. It’s likely that their much-talked-about services fuel their growth … or do people just want a piece of that pie?

Go Try This

Evaluate How Well You Apologize

• How would you rate your ability to identify and acknowledge mistakes?
• How would your customers say we are doing?
• Do customers rave about your humility and recovery from mistakes?
• How do your decisions to recover from mistakes compare with this beloved company?
• Do your apologies earn you “beloved” status ?

Can You Decide to Say Sorry?

• What’s your version of “humble pie”?
• Are you open enough to consider that there are times when you’ll need one, and proactively go out there and find a baker to make them?
• What’s one way to earn back customer’s trust when you occasionally slip up?

In the article, “Chick Fil A’s Customer Experience Maximizes Marketing and Advertising,” LOOMIS Agency President Mike Sullivan explains how marketing based on genuine social interactions maximizes Chick-fil-A’s advertising. The focus of the article is on successful interconnectedness of marketing and human resources versus departments established as separate silos. Sullivan says, “Great products and smart advertising are potent marketing weapons, but the customer experience trumps all.”

Chick-fil-A, under Cathy’s leadership, has mastered the art of building a frontline meant to provide a superb customer experience. And when asked about the training program for these front-line folks, Cathy “acknowledged the tremendous energy the company puts into training and retaining employees,” but he said the key is to begin the process by selecting the right people in the first place. The company is extraordinarily selective when hiring. Instead of trying to train people to say “please” and “thank you,” Chick-fil-A hires people who already say “please” and “thank you.”

Decide to “Believe”

At Chick-fil-A, they decide to grow their company by believing in the integrity, ability and values of store operators and employees. They accomplish this by selecting only those people who they see as long-term partners. They want the folks they bring into their business today, to be part of the long-term story of Chick-fil-A.

To select employees for the long term, the company screens for the kinds of activities and relationships that candidates have sustained over a period of time. Not just in business, but in their personal life too. Understanding how someone grows and sustains their relationships gives Chick-fil-A a picture for how candidates will nurture and develop their future company relationships inside their stores, and with customers.

The impact of Chick-fil-A’s hiring practices is that store operator turnover is only 5 percent. Hiring for life may sound a bit extreme, but, for Chick-fil-A, this commitment is the secret behind its growth strategy. The sustainability of that chicken sandwich and store experience is dependent on operators who stay and grow their customer relationships and markets. So Chick-fil-A spends an extensive amount of time getting to know the values and habits of candidates so they can entrust their franchisees for life. This approach contributes to the stability of the operation of their stores and company growth. Chick-fil-A sales have almost quadrupled over the past decade, and there are now well over 1,500 outlets.

EXPLORE What it Means to Believe
Read and discuss these questions.

EVALUATE How We Believe
How would we rate our intent and ability to select employees based on values that are congruent with ours?

How would our employees say we are doing?

Do employees rave about how we help them grow in their career (and in their life) today?

How does our decisions for hiring partners compare with this beloved company?

Do our decisions for hiring partners earn us “beloved” status today?

Can we DECIDE to Believe?

What do we need to do differently to move toward earning the rave of customers and employees?

Let’s figure out one way to adjust our selection process to ensure we are bringing in partners who share our values.

In the 2010 Customer Service Champs, BusinessWeek took an in-depth look at the company USAA. They are a private company that offers auto and home insurance to a customer base of military members and their families. With $68.3 billion in assets, USAA has unrivaled staying power atop Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s annual Customer Service Champs ranking. Since the first list in 2007, no other company has come close to achieving USAA’s feat: a No. 1 or No. 2 spot for four years running.

Beloved and prosperous companies deliver service with care and empathy.

Customer empathy means understanding a customer’s needs and having the ability to interact with that customer in a personalized way. It’s the ability to imagine what it might be like to experience the life of a customer. It’s the ability to put one’s self in another’s shoes and walk a mile. And it’s an essential skill that should be at the heart of everyone’s service plan in the company, especially the frontline.

The companies that have made “the list” and companies that are thriving in this economy are there for good reason. Even in a sluggish economy, these companies continue to care for the customer, continue to empathize, and, for that reason, grow their business. As I discuss in my BusinessWeek article, Customer Service: Marketer vs. Merchant, “They have made deliberate decisions about how they would run their business, and they live out those decisions every day. The most important of those decisions is the one that determines that taking great care of their customers is the highest priority.”

At USAA, new hires eat like soldiers.

While new hires are not required to be from the military, they must understand the military.  So, new USAA employees wear the military helmet and feel the weight of the backpack and flak vest strapped to their backs. USAA serves new employees MREs (meals ready to eat) during orientation, so they can better identify with military life. They get to know the people behind the uniform by reading letters from soldiers and their families.

USAA was the first bank to allow iPhone deposits and among the first to let customers initiate an insurance claim using their phones from the scene of an accident. In 2008, they rolled out a service allowing customers to get text messages about their account balances. Later this year, they are planning mobile peer-to-peer payments, allowing customers to e-mail or text-message money to friends or family for immediate deposit. Also coming this year is a mobile car-buying service that lets customers snap an iPhone picture of a vehicle’s VIN number and instantly get back insurance quotes, loan terms and pre-negotiated loan rates. “They do all this really creative stuff that applies to guys and gals who are in Afghanistan,” says Karen Pauli, a research director at consulting firm TowerGroup. “There is nobody on this earth who understands their customer better than USAA.”

While nimble technology may be part of the formula for meeting its customer’s needs, USAA knows that an empathetic and caring workforce that understands the unique lives of their customer base is fundamental to their ongoing success. That means walking in their customers shoes.

In almost everything it does, USAA puts itself in the spit-shined shoes or combat boots of its highly mobile customers. Elizabeth D. Conklyn, EVP of People Services, says, “We want to cover the light moments, the heart-wrenching moments, what it’s like to be bored in the field.” (Excerpt taken from Jeanne Bliss’s “I Love You More than My Dog: Five Decisions for Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad.”)

By walking in the shoes of its customers, USAA breaks down the barrier that often exists between companies and customers.  As a result, USAA customers love and reward them with growth and validation. “No fewer than 87% of respondents to J.D. Power’s syndicated surveys say they will definitely buy from the company again, far higher than the average, which is just 36%. Its client retention rate? A near-perfect 97.8%.”

Decide to be real.

Companies that customers love work hard to make personal connections. They strive to ensure their “real” personality shines through in each interaction with the customer.

In the beloved and prosperous companies:

• Leaders blend who they are as people with how they lead.
• Business decisions combine purpose and passion.
• Leaders give employees behaviors to model and permission to be “real.”
• Relationships are between people who share the same values.

These attitudes and actions embody what is behind beloved and prosperous companies. The action of empathy, walking a mile in the shoes of your customers, allows you to connect, establish rapport and create a trusting relationship. Once the customer realizes that you are on their side, they are more willing to work with you to fix the problem, or will allow you the time to resolve the issue.  And they will stay with you and tell their friends about you.  They will grow your business.

Go Try This

Have you trained your staff to understand the unique perspective of the customers they will be working with? Do they understand the value you place on getting to know the customer’s lives and special circumstances?

On a big sheet of paper, trace the bottom of your shoe and label it, “My Customers’ Shoe: Five Things We Should Know about Our Customers.”

In teams of 2 to 4, write down the things you understand about your customers. What keeps them up at night?  What is a day in a life for them?  What do you know about their needs that help you serve them?

This activity will help your team identify the unique characteristics of the people they serve. It may also be an eye-opener if the teams are not able to identify 5 things about the customers. Taking the time to review the lists and develop training to allow employees to gain a deeper understanding of the customer perspective will ultimately grow the value of your business and grow the bottom line.

It’s not unusual for more and more people to watch their expenses given the tougher economic climate.  For some, it means literally counting and saving coins.

TD Bank thought about the hassles of coins and came up with a great idea to help their customers. They made the decision to be there for their customers—and non-customers—by installing fun to use Penny Arcades in their bank lobbies.  Loose coins go in, receipts pop out, and the bank cashier hands you the bills, adds the value to your account or deposits it in a quickly opened new account. And no fees! This company, beloved by their customers, did the hard work of recognizing a common customer issue and solved it.

The Results

The good news is that it’s paying off for both customers and the bank. TD Bank attracted 5 million customers and non-customers into the bank in one year to watch the Penny Arcade and experience the service, plus possibly become a customer. And because of non-customers using the Penny Arcade, demand for new accounts grew;  TD Bank also created a faster way to open a new account. Talk about a service magnet! It’s rare anyone goes into a bank where they don’t already have an account, but this magnet drew them in. The bank knew that besides making change, it would be making friends.

TD Bank changed the perception of managing coins, visiting bank lobbies and the whole banking experience. They made it fun and easy, and have earned the right to their customers’ continued business and positive word of mouth.

Beloved Companies Are There for Customers

Being there for customer fuels the prosperity engine of beloved companies. Beloved companies think and rethink how to conduct themselves, so they earn the right to their customers’ continued business.

You want to leave customers thinking:

• “Where else could I get this?”
• “Who else would have done this?”
• “I want to do this again.”

Being there for the customer means identifying a customer’s needs and creating solutions that can also satisfy underlying emotions. Coins are unavoidable. The collection of coins can be stressful or annoying, and dealing with banks on their terms is the norm we’ve all accepted. TD Bank turned this assumption upside down, acknowledged the stress, eliminated it, and took the banking experience to the next level, making loose change fun to deal with and even attracting new customers to their business as a result.

Try This

To prepare to brainstorm service magnet ideas for your company you may want to start by thinking about experiences that really attract you as a customer and bring you back and time and time again.

What companies and experiences have you told your friends about? What’s the magnet? These examples will give you a flavor for the exceptional moments that you want to create in your own business. Now think about your customer’ lives and how you can  be there and show you understand them and support what’s important to them.

Remember, your service magnet doesn’t have to fit exactly into your line of business. For example, Zane’s Cycles has a mini coffee shop in the back of their stores that attracts customers and noncustomers alike that share a passion for cycling.

If you know the answers to these issues, your ability to find someone to fit and enrich your culture is yards ahead of most.  It’s about being deliberate.

Leaders in beloved companies don’t worry about hiring a great employee and having him leave in three months. Instead they worry about hiring a bad employee and having him stay for three years.

In last year’s labor market, however, managers were grateful if they got any applicants for a job – let alone highly qualified applications. As of Sept. 2009, the employment rate was at 3%, meaning only 3% of new jobs open out there are new. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 2.7 million job openings on the last business day of January 2010. Job openings rose over the month to 2.1 percent, the highest the rate has been since February 2009. In these times, it’s tempting to fill a job with the first seemingly qualified applicant.

When this temptation hits, remember that studies show that the single greatest contributor to performance failure and job dissatisfaction is lack of fit with organizational culture. If someone doesn’t align with the company’s core beliefs and values, it will be very difficult for that person not only to develop effective relationships, but to deliver your “special blend of magic,” the personality stamp of your culture.

So here’s your challenge question from my book “I Love You More than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad.” It’s a question about clarity and how clear your decision guides your company in one direction or another when you make one of the most important decisions:  hiring.

To combat the issue of performance failure and job dissatisfaction, many companies survey reasons why new recruits leave in the first 90 days on the job. Most frequently reported are issues with an immediate leader and workplace culture not as expected.

A recent article in HR Magazine points out that more and more organizations are struggling to make good cultural judgments during their recruiting process. Cultural fit is not being assessed as thoroughly as skills and background. A decade ago, technical skills and experience were the core prerequisites for a successful candidate. But as business is changing and brand personality is emerging as a competitive advantage, cultural fit is being recognized as vital for sustaining success.

Time pressures and lack of dedicated processes are commonly cited reasons for not assessing cultural fit. While a number of methods, such as on-site visits, panel interviews, and trial work periods, are effective in determining culture fit, behavioral interviews are one of the the best tools for identifying candidates who have the right-fit characteristics. Behavioral interviews ask a candidate to pinpoint specific instances in which a particular behavior was exhibited in the past. But, the real question is not what to ask during an interview, but what to ask before the selection process even begins. Ensuring the right employee for your organization goes beyond job requirements and skill match. It comes down to the very essence of your organization and its culture: Will the candidate “fit the soul”?

Take it from a company who gets it. Internet clothing and shoe retailer Zappos.com reached over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2008. Its growth is powered by service and a whimsical culture. Zappos’s secret is attracting people to work for them who find it natural, to be “a little weird at times” — a core cultural value. It relies on a rigorous interview process, starting with a culture interview, followed by dialogue with folks throughout the company to find just the right people who will fit in and feel at home. And even once on board, Zappos continues its quest to make sure that there’s a match between candidate and company — offering new hires $2,000 to leave if they don’t fit the culture!

In good times and in bad, beloved companies that DECIDE WITH CLARITY OF PURPOSE understand the importance of selecting not only qualified employees, but employees who “fit.”

Where are you now?  Are you deliberate? Do you make hiring the most important decision?  Let’s talk this out!

Brilliant and so intriguing.

So, the psychologists planted wallets including pictures of  either a baby, a family, an elderly couple, or a dog throughout their city.

In total, 42% of the wallets were returned. But what is intriguing is that based on the contents, the rate of return varied:

• 88% of wallets with baby photos were returned.
• 54% of wallets with dog photos were returned.
• 48% of family photo portraits were returned.

So, what does this have to do with business?  Well, here it is: It’s about being human and knowing your customers and their lives.  What we can surmise from this experiment is that somehow the baby photos emotionally connect with people who stumble upon these wallets to return them to their owners. Maybe they imagine the baby or think about their own kids.

We need to figure out a way to get this same type of emotional reaction with our company executives and middle of the organization about our customers and their lives.  The rub is that we talk about customers as though they are widgets on a spreadsheet.

What about if instead, we identify 10-20 (it really doesn’t take a ton of profiles to do this) customers who leave our company every month.  Then create a profile on them. What’s important to them? What did they buy? What kind of business do they own or belong to?  Call them up and find out why they left, what they need, and what they wish they had gotten from you.  If you can, record those calls.  Then play them back.  Have their voices or the transcript of their calls scroll across your company computer screens.  In short, humanize customers.  Make people feel a connection to who they are as people.

Every month, do your own version of revealing the baby picture in the wallet.  Except reveal the lives of 10-20 customers your company drove out the door.

The companies that are beloved are passionately in pain about the fact that some of their actions are driving customers away.  They take the fact that customers leave them personally.  I’m convinced it’s that passionate inconsolable sense of loss that keeps these companies working so hard that they keep getting better and better … and more beloved and prosperous.

Let me know what you think, will you?  Does it make sense that we need to stop thinking of customers as “retention rates” and “churn” and start knowing about the people’s lives we disrupted and drove away with our lousy experiences?  Moving folks from talk to action, that’s the name of the game.

Let me know if you think this might help you.

Jeanne

For example, there are 47 pages of Google images for “customer experience.” We now have every conceivable type of chart, graph, hologram, diagram and process about customer experience. But what kind of experience are we all having trying to implement it?

A hard one. It’s hard to implement experience on top of an organization that:
a) Doesn’t know what customer experience means, but is beginning to take action on it
b) Is not  good at collaborating, but doesn’t address how they’ll learn to collaborate  (a requirement for delivering experiences customers will want to repeat)
c) Layers this work on top of everything else

The fact of the matter is that customer experience work is like diet and exercise.  We all want the outcome.  Most of us don’t put in the hard work to make it successful.

The only way that diet and exercise work is if we go into it with the right mindset and the right understanding of what we’re going to get into.  There will be sweat.  It will be work.  It will get bad before it gets better.

Diagnose where you are now on the process:

1. We have assembled many groups of people in the company to identify customer touch points?  Yes____ No ____
2. We have brought in customers to validate and course-correct our findings?  Yes ____ No ___
3. We have now held numerous sessions and people are starting to wonder what we are going to do with all this mapping?  Yes ___ No ___
4. We have identified and agreed upon with the organization – the end to end customer experience?  Yes ___ No ___
5. If you walked the halls of our company, and asked 10 people to define our customer experience, most would give the same description? Yes ___ No ___
6. We have identified the key touchpoints most important to customers and to customer growth? Yes ___ No ___

How far along are you in this process?  Review how wide you’ve made your experience project.  Are you trying to map every customer segment or scenario?  Is it getting overwhelming?  If it is, narrow the scope immediately.  Gain agreement on one segment or one part of the business.  Many times, this work is abandoned because it becomes overwhelming and starts to stall.  Move rapidly to the identification of the top 10-15 touchpoints that will have the most impact on the business.  Then stay focused there. Success in one area will earn the right to expand. And focus will drive collaboration.

Level-set your ability to collaborate:

1. There is agreement across the organization of our top 10-15 customer touchpoint priorities? Yes ___ No ___
2. We have identified the different operating areas that impact each key touchpoint?  Yes ___ No ___
3. We have agreed to map, define and identify all of the metrics that contribute to the current experience of these key touchpoints?   Yes ___ No ___
4. We are willing to align new teams of people working together to resolve/improve those key moments?  Yes ___ No ___
5. We have committed to assign new cross-company metrics to the delivery of those experiences?  Yes ___ No ____
6. We will reward these teams as a team when complaints are reduced for the priority issues? Yes ___ No ___
7. We commit to working together to resolve these issues and rebuild key touchpoint experiences?  Yes ___ No ___

This is the the real testing ground for the customer experience work.  If you are not willing to take the time to assemble cross functional teams to go through the processes that drive customer experience, you can’t get into the nitty-gritty of understanding operational metrics.  Reviewing, mapping, and being open to changing operational metrics to shared metrics required to deliver a unified experience will test your collaboration muscle.  This requires patience and an upfront agreement by leaders that they are willing to change what constitutes “score!” and what is on their score card.

Examine your communication: Are you bringing the organization along with the work?

1. We have connected the dots for the organization through communication on how each part of our operation impacts the experience? Yes ___ No ___
2. Everybody is still doing their own work.  We find this “interesting” but don’t know what to do with it.  Yes ___ No ___
3. We have made an inventory of all the projects going on around “customer”?  Yes ___ No ___
4. We have made a “stop doing” list of projects and investments? Yes ___ No ___
5. We have actually stopped doing projects and are rigorously managing this process?  Yes ___ No ___
6. We have created a roadmap which is being actively communicated as we progress?  Yes ___ No ___

Marketing back progress inside the organization and with customers is often the weakest link of executing this work.  In the absence of being updated, communicated with, and engaged, internal folks will view the meeting they were brought into as the latest flavor in customer focus.  In addition, if this work is something that is layered on without considering it’s prioritization and co-habitation with the other priorities that have come before it, it will be randomized or constantly in competition with everything else on the project list.  Finally, before you go any further, make a simple road map of the different parts of your customer experience journey and be dogged about showing that road map each and every time someone talks about the work.  One visual people continually reference and use to discuss actions, progress and challenges will give you the communication consistency required in these long term projects.
Where are YOU now?

Tylenol had that opportunity.  But they missed their moment.  Big time.

How a company reacts, removes the pain, and repairs the emotional connection shows the true colors of that organization more than almost any situation they might encounter.

The sadness most of us have in watching, experiencing and hearing about what has transpired in the events of the Toyota situation unfolding is that our expectations of this “great” automaker were not met in how they handled the situation.  Not even close.

All the opportunities were in place for Toyota to display the type of heroics that move a brand to cult status.  Toyota had all the components that Tylenol had to call on when they made the decisions and took the actions that continue to hold that brand up as the gold standard in customer apologies and catastrophe recovery.  As Tylenol had, Toyota had the following conditions in place upon which they could decide and act for their customers and employees:

1. Toyota has a large community presence, enabling personal, community-based outreach.

For example; in a 72 hour period, starting September 29,1982 when seven people died in the Chicagoland area after taking cyanide-laced capsules of Extra-Strength Tylenol, it took Johnson & Johnson twenty minutes to decide “How do we protect the people?”  With the golden rule strapped to their back, they set to work.  With bullhorns blaring, Chicago health and law-enforcement officials swarmed Chicago-area streets, warning everyone not to take Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules and to bring in suspicious bottles for testing.  Tylenol worked with local authorities, schools, even Boy Scout troops.  Children were sent home from school with notes, and transit system workers formed a continuous human megaphone, spreading the word.  Anticyanide kits were distributed to all paramedic units. Telephone drives run by the Boy Scouts and church and civic groups sent folks door-to-door to reach those who might have missed the warning.

What has been Toyota’s response in communities?  Some dealerships have been given stipends [of about $25,000 for the entire dealership] to underwrite giving out coffee and giving away some free gas credit cards.  But what about the missed opportunity to go beyond handing out coffee to customers who can drive in?  What has been done proactively in communities to allay the fear that Toyota consumers feel?  Here www.toyotarecall.org, consumers are helping each other to allay those fears.

2. Toyota knows the records of their customers and those who have been impacted, enabling them to reach out and personalize support.

Toyota’s communication has been within the “letter of the law” regarding recall communication, but does not go much farther than the standard letter and process to go in to get your car taken care of.  Think of how rich an opportunity Toyota missed here, where they could have worked with dealerships after the initial notification letters went out, to customize content based on customers’ lives and loyalty to the brand?

In addition to the consumers who are identifiable, what about owners of resale vehicles?  It does not appear that there has been thought or decisions made to consider and support the fear and worry that these owners are experiencing.

3. Toyota enjoys (enjoyed?) a  “halo effect” of customers who were pleased with their vehicles, enabling them to build on that respect and emotional connection.

These Toyota vehicles meant reliability for their drivers.  Peace-of-mind.  For their owners, this meant that Toyota needed to extend that peace-of-mind in how they empathized and supported the drivers of their vehicles.  The halo is tarnished.

4. Toyota has the communication infrastructure to have made their recovery a “wow” experience in terms of proactive, transparent information, process and support.

If Toyota’s decision making and actions had been driven by “How do we protect the people?” rather than “How do we protect our brand, and how do we mitigate our losses?” clearly what we have experienced and heard about would be different.  The intent and motivation guiding Toyota’s [early days of the recall] decisions were clearly not connected to our perception of the brand.  They certainly didn’t engender a human connection with the people behind the decisions.  Now, with pressure, Toyota is becoming more transparent; they are offering more assistance – but under pressure, under duress.

An apology when it is executed well is an important peace process between a customer and a company. It repairs the emotional connection.  It is swift, it is deliberate, and it makes the recipient feel that they have been listened to, honored and made whole again.  Five actions make up that peace process:

1. Delivering a swift response.

2. Showing humility and empathy for what the customer is experiencing

3. Accepting accountability.

4. Providing and honest explanation of what happened.

5. Immediately extending an olive branch – to right the situation and mend the relationship.

How would you grade Toyota’s performance in delivering this peace process in how they’ve handled the news of their vehicle performance, the recall, and the customer and dealership experiences?

New entrant into the coupon arena, Groupon.com , where local merchants offer coupons that are realized when enough people go on line to redeem them has saved its users $39,497,624 through using 910,776 “Groupons.”
The stereotyped coupon-cutters; mostly women prepping for their trip to the grocery store. Gone! And the stereotyped process: someone sitting at a kitchen table with the “circular” in one hand, and one of those humongous kitchen sheers cutting along the dotted lines. Gone! Gone too, is the taboo of looking for a good deal.
This USA Today article states that one-third of all internet shoppers in October used a coupon. This article suggests that a coupon strategy must now be a staple of merchants or they are at a “clear disadvantage” according to Loren Bendele, CEO of Savings.com.
It’s an interesting idea. I personally love the hunt of the coupon. But the question is this, if a “percent off” going forward is almost always available via the searchable coupon, what does that say to the consumer about the published pricing? Is everyday one of those fictional “white sales” where you get a sense that prices are falsely inflated so they can be periodically deflated for the great white sale deal?
Clearly shoppers need a break this holiday season. Let’s hope merchants are really giving them one. We all need a little “Miracle on 34th Street” goodness this season, where the merchant’s belief that doing the right thing for their customer is in the best interest of the business.
A very sobering line in that USA Today article I reference above is that living through these economic times has behavior-modified all of us as consumers in one manner or another. Our coupon hunting and cost cutting habits we are developing now could stay with us for the long-haul…just like those folks who lived through the depression. It will be interesting to see how merchants continue to adjust and modify their pricing and coupon support, even after this holiday season is over. My two cents: it will separate those who care with those who opportunistically cut because this ’tis the season.
What do you think?

What we’ve got going on right now are the worlds’ two biggest silos duking it out. What is hard to tell is who they’re fighting for. It seems in each side’s quest for being right, they’ve lost sight of their customer.
Beloved companies earn the right to their customers’ story, to being promoted in the marketplace and to their continued business by NEVER losing sight of their customers.
This doesn’t happen accidentally. These companies make purposeful decisions to weave customers into their lives. They know them as people, and understand their lives. At the fork in the road when they are making a decision, they know in which direction to steer them because they know their customers as people.
For example, at beloved company Trader Joe’s, the company obsessed and put off the decision to install scanning equipment because they didn’t want the “pinging” noise to get in the way of the chatty conversations their check out folks have with customers. Conversations that fuel product development, service and create a powerful connection with customers. It turns Trader Joe’s for their huge and loyal fans from a “grocery store” to my ONLY store.
USAA begins all new employee orientations by sending them “orders” like military folks would receive. During orientation new recruits wear the flak jacket worn out in the field. They eat the “MRE’s,” meals ready to eat, that the enlisted men and women eat. And they read letters from folks in the military and their families.
You’ve got to know your customers’ lives to serve their lives. Then stay focused on serving them in the directions you make to run your business. That’s how Trader Joe’s and USAA have become so beloved.
Where are you today?
Do you have a picture of your customers in your minds’ eye as you make decisions?

Via Rail, Canada’s national passenger rail network has shown its humanity, humility and remorse with how they are apologizing to customers for a recent two-day strike which paralyzed travel.
In this apology Paul Côté, President and Chief Executive Officer of VIA extends an olive branch, and an action that is commensurate with the pain they know their customers experienced. They are giving a 60% discount to ALL customers making reservations for trips between July 26, 2009 and December 14, 2009. Steve Del Bosco, Via’s Customer Officer said,”This is our way of expressing our gratitude for the support they [our customers]have shown us over the past week.”
What’s your reaction time in a customer crisis? Are there plans you can set in motion as soon as a crisis occurs?
Do you have a “customer recovery plan” that’s as rehearsed and ready to implement as you plan to recover from a systems failure?
Are You READY?
What is helping or hindering your ability to proactively be ready to recover customers?

As Tony explained to employees, this is a stock transfer deal. But what’s most important is the deal behind the deal; which is that Zappos remains who they are. They become better at the blocking and tackling and operational aspects of high volume pick, pack, ship operations, especially as they expand into product lines well beyond shoes. But the core values and the zaniness of Zappos will remain.
Glad to hear it. On this point I stick my neck out to say that I believe in both of these companies’ commitment. Here’s why:

1. They both began with a passionate focus on customers.
2. They both still have leaders on board who think, drink, eat customer happiness.
3. Bezos knows that messing with what Zappos has achieved in terms of emotional bonds with customers and employees is what they are buying. This is the currency of the brand. He knows not to mess with that. (check out the Bezos’ video)
4. Amazon saw a kindred spirit and asked it to bond with them. Tony characterizes it closer to a marriage/romance with his line above.
5. Congruence of values will be an important compass in steering decisions.

Thinking of the names Amazon and Zappos sitting in a tree to make each one better sounds okay to me. The potential is great.
Is my antennae up a little bit that Zappos will change? You bet. But do I see this as more positive than negative..a “glass half full” prospect? Yes. Right now, based on just who these companies are and how they’ve conducted themselves, I’d say at least three-quarters full.
What do all of you think? How did you feel when you read the news? I bet you had an emotional initial reaction…what was it and why?

Two recent activities in particular are brilliant. Yes, of course, for the actions, but most importantly for the intent and motivation that guide their decisions.
First; parent company PepsiCo’s commitment to sustainable growth, defined as Performance with Purpose. TrueNorth, their Frito-Lay divison’s 100% natural nut snacks is recognizing people who pursue their life’s passion. Their “True North.” In June, Nancy Miller was recognized for her passion in forming the Jimmy Miller Foundation, which hastens healing of individuals through the therapeutic power of the ocean through honoring the memory of their son whom they lost.
Second, this past month, I began to hear radio ads about how Frito-lay has begun adding more of their snack foods into the bags. A small gesture to help in the tough economy. More for your money. Sure, one could argue that eating chips isn’t earth shattering. Again, what’s important here is the intent and motivation behind this decision. The intent: to help families. The motivation: they have families too, they connect.
What Pepsi-co and this brand extension Frito-Lay accomplish is the personalization, they connect commerce with humanity. I am a huge fan of Indra Nooyi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, who, in the way that she leads enables and heralds this connection.
As a consumer, so often these types of efforts can frequently come off as plastic, or obviously cloying and artificial. What sets these efforts apart in how they come across and out of Frito-lay is what is behind their decisions. It’s the intent to help and the motivation that inspire these uncommon acts of kindness.
What do you think? Do these efforts sound genuine to you? Do they compel you to buy snack products from this company knowing that behind it is a beating heart considering the life of its customers?

The problem is, the way products are designed and redesigned needs an over-haul as well. In the case of this hospital gown, The Wall Street journal, in this article, outlines the ill-fated 2.5 year process that has done nothing but hit walls and stall. And the reason? Because what’s standing in the way of our personal dignity in healthcare is trying to be discovered by way of The Focus Group and corporate “funky task force.”
In this instance, six focus groups have convened at five hospitals in North Carolina and one in Massachusetts. Then….the team working on the gowns has gotten loads of input from people they call “stakeholders” – folks who make or sell the new gowns. “We thought that it would be a much easier problem to tackle,” says Prof. Traci Lamar, who has been leading the effort.
Besides over-complicating the solution, the customer gets lost along the way. Rather than going back to a good reason for the redesign (patient dignity and er, warmth), he who has the loudest voice, most money to lose in changing manufacturing to a new model or most objections to design wins. The end result: both companies and customers lose.
The Journal of Consumer Research says in its article “The Fire of Desire: A Multisited Inquiry in Consumer Passion” that “There is spreading consensus that much, if not all, consumption has been quite wrongly characterized as involving need fulfillment, utility maximization, and reasoned choices.” Think of services or experiences you’ve had that were astounding in how they impacted you. There is a desire to repeat those experiences … most likely not only because of the utility of what was delivered …. but for how you were related to and treated and for how you felt.
Let’s say a company is in the business of making plastic drinking cups for children. While on the surface this may sound like a trivial matter, it is not, as anyone with children knows. The right drinking cup can play a leading role in getting a child to sleep and making mealtime a relatively peaceful endeavor. Traditional customer focus groups bring a group of customers together and place two cups on the table. They ask the customers, “Which cup do you prefer?” The customer will then pick a cup. But that doesn’t mean either cup is the best cup for them. Maybe the customer needs a cup with a straw. But the company didn’t take the time to think about the customers’ life. In the absence of getting what was right, the customer picked what was available.
As consumers, we’re conditioned to accept what’s available. Beloved companies work hard every day to put a stop to that. They go beyond executing tasks. They’re in it to deliver an experience their customer’s desire. Even how they learn what customers yearn for sets them apart. In this instance, it is not the utility of buying a cup that compels the young mother to go shopping, it’s her desire to help her child’s development, or to get her to sleep, or to not have to wipe up the floor twenty times a day. The companies that go beyond meeting the obvious utility of needing a cup, as in this example, reach the underlying emotions and needs of their customers. They are the who build lasting bonds with their customers. They are the ones remembered with fondness long after their children are grown because for a period of time; they were an important part of their customers’ lives.
Beloved companies start with the customer instead of the cup. They yearn to understand the emotions of the young mom who is buying the cup to understand what solution she’d desire, not just settle for. They learn about her life and what she needs. And then build a solution from her point of view. Auto-pilot product development solutions are turned on their ear when customer needs, emotions and desires become the inspiration for product and service development. Within the beloved companies, their curiosity for understanding customer emotions in every interaction informs decision-making.
A simple way to remember this is; the everyday company is selling cups. The beloved company is supporting parenthood. They learn customers’ aspirations, needs and desires. And become a part of their life.
Is your business doing your version of selling cups…or supporting parenthood?
Let me know where you are today.

Some may call these sentiments a pipe dream. I prefer to think of them as hopeful. Based on the small glimmer I am now seeing at the end of a very long tunnel.
Like bears coming out of hibernation, for the first time in a very long time, shopping malls are filled with people. Yes, many are stretching their legs, buying cups of coffee not bags of clothes, but customers are venturing out. We’re all putting our proverbial toes in the water. If you need data to validate this cautious emergence of consumerism, some new data is indicating dare I say it, that there is some hope out there that has been measured…
The march consumer confidence index indicates that confidence was relatively unchanged in March. Hopeful, right? I say yes…we’re holding our own. We want to feel confident.
And Gallup’s Consumer Mood Index showed that consumers’ moods improved another ten points the week of March 23-29 from the week prior, March 16-22, which showed the greatest increase since September of 2008.
Is it just me, or do you see people crawling out from under their rocks? Am I a hopeful fool? Or do you see what I (think) I am seeing? Talk to me.

Here’s a rather disturbing article from the New York times talking about the habits of bloggers and how some habits are leading to their mortality. Yikes! I quote: “Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.”
This is essentially an article about pay by the piece blogging – people who are paid to blog. But it does make one consider one’s habits (especially as one sits continuously in front of one’s computer).

Inspired by the story of this guy at Dunkin Donuts who thwarted a robbery because he was worried how he might look on YouTube, I got to thinking….
How would corporate decisions change if a YouTube video was installed in every conference room? Would different decisions be made? Could YouTube change the world for customers?

As many news outlets have reported like this report from CBS, passenger Mandi Hamlin was given no choice but to painfully remove her nipple rings with a pliers before she could clear security.
Here’s the explanation that the TSA put forth on the TSA official website:
March 28, 2008
“TSA has reviewed the circumstances related to the screening of a passenger with body piercings that occurred recently in Lubbock, Texas. It appears that the Transportation Security Officers involved properly followed procedures in that incident. They rightly insisted that the alarm that was raised be resolved. TSA supports the thoroughness of the Officers involved as they were acting to protect the passengers and crews of the flights departing Lubbock that day.
TSA has reviewed the procedures themselves and agrees that they need to be changed. In the future TSA will inform passengers that they have the option to resolve the alarm through a visual inspection of the article in lieu of removing the item in question. TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself. We appreciate her raising awareness on this issue and we are changing the procedures to ensure that this does not happen again.”
And then there’s this statement from the TSA blog:
3.28.2008
TSA and Piercings
“Your questions and comments on the incident in Lubbock, Texas have not gone unnoticed. Yesterday, as soon as TSA became aware of the situation, people in our Security Operations office looked into it. They interviewed the four Security Officers who at one point or another, screened or spoke to the passenger – two men and two women (if a passenger requests private screening, they must get an officer of the same sex to screen them there). TSA has also been in touch with the passenger’s lawyer on several occasions.
The bottom line: the security officers followed the procedures for when someone alarms the metal detector and did nothing wrong. But, after looking at the procedure the officers followed, it was determined that the procedures should be modified. An official statement has been posted on our website here.”
What is Sorely Missing In Both of These Statements are Three Things:
1. An Apology
Both of these carefully worded statements go out of their to defend the actions of the TSA agents and the procedures. I could imagine the legal coaching that went into crafting these responses. This statement is as far as they would let themselves go in an apology: TSA acknowledges that our procedures caused difficulty for the passenger involved and regrets the situation in which she found herself. “Regrets the situation in which she found herself?” This feels way too much like the back-handed apologies I got from my brothers when I was growing up. You know, the ones where your mom was glaring and demanding that an apology be delivered…and what came out was something like, “Sorry you’re so stupid that I had to hit you!” All customers need to begin to warm up is a simple “we’re so sorry about this experience.”
2. A Human Touch
This situation involves a woman having to pry a piece of jewelry from her nipple. The TSA has said that the screening process was handled “properly.” But where is the “proper” way to maintain a person’s dignity while still enforcing the rules? Many reports have said that the male agents were snickering while she was struggling to remove the piercings. I’d ask them, if this was your wife or daughter, would you want them treated this way? And what of a touch of human kindness in these follow-up missives from the TSA? Does empathizing somehow imply guilt?
3. More Than a Vague Promise to Reform
Surely these new policies will have to go through multiple review committees and whatever happens to make changes to the current process. It is great that it was acknowledged that changes need to be made, but we need more than that. By when and by whom?
What do you think about this most recent incident? Did you have an emotional reaction to how Mandi Hamlin was treated? How would you grade the response and the unfolding aftermath of action by the TSA?

Recently, Zappos decided to stop advertising that every customer would get free overnight shipping of their orders; opting instead to surprise as many customers as they could with upgraded overnight shipping. They still give everyone free shipping; just not overnight in all cases.
Some have taken Zappos to task for that. But I actually praise them for their decision and explanation. Zappos says that they made the decision to not advertise or promise it, because they found that customers were happier when they were surprised by the upgrade. They acknowledge that they would probably get more customers if they continued to market free overnight shipping as opposed to surprising customers with it, but they want to be known as a customer service company, not a marketing company.
THAT’S a company that knows how to distinguish themselves with customers–all the way down to their (umm) soles. (Pun intended)

Shoes, hmm. Bag, how much might she spend? Hair, makeup …. another indication of how lucky (or unlucky) the salesperson who “got” you is. I am not kidding!
Now, frequently I don’t worry about the review, and throw on my jeans and trek to the mall and get in and get out. These are the times when shopping is most interesting …. because it’s almost like I’m invisible or have something strange growing out of my head. NO ONE approaches me.
But when I’m duded up, as I was today, people appear out of the woodwork to ask what I need, what I’m there to buy and how they might help me buy it. Why is there a connection between being put together and being treated well in retail?
For me, THIS is a true litmus test of the service orientation of the company and staff!
Now don’t make me feel bad and tell me I’m the only one this happens to!

The messaging in the most recent Visa commercials is about as subtle as being hit over the head with a baseball bat; use your check card or you slow down progress. The message: Woe is you if you try to use a check in a retail establishment! We’ve got a combination of fear and good old guilt at work here telling consumers that all things productive halt when you whip out your check-book.
Is this good for consumers?
Probably, in a world of convenience and efficiency management, there’s some merit to moving to the card system. I’m just not sure who wins more; consumers getting zippy service at check-out or Visa, who’s earning fees with every zip of that card. Zip-zip, what would Pavlov do?

Virgin America gets that. They’ve made their experience about making those four things better.
They begin with the chair, and the stuff to make sitting in it as good as possible. Even in coach. There’s 110-volt power, with two outlets in every set of three coach seats, along with USB connectors. The coach seats are comfy not lumpy, with cushy padding and leather coverings, and (drum roll) plenty of legroom. Next year Virgin will begin offering internet access via Ethernet in-cabin Wi-Fi. The touch-sensitive seat-back display screens can keep you busy for hours–ordering food and drinks or to text-chatting with other passengers. The inflight entertainment system includes pay-per-view movies, live satellite TV, and more than 3,000 music tracks. Yeah, they’re charging for items here.
But the difference is, they’re items customers want and have been wishing for.
Can someone say cha-ching?!

Starbucks is doing what a lot of companies don’t do when the customer experience starts to suffer — and that’s looking at the organization and what it’s focusing on. With success it’s easy to make growth be the end game, and companies often loose their roots at some point during this immense expansion period. Schultz saw this, and got back in to work to reign Starbucks back to its roots.
Schultz said, “The changes come after “a thorough organizational analysis which was, at times, very emotional and extremely stressful.” He added that the company has “not been organized in a manner that allowed us to have a laser focus on the customer.” Previously, the company was divided into the East and West regions. The change announced today creates four national divisions: Western/Pacific, Northwest/Mountain, Southeast/Plains and Northeast/Atlantic.
I have to admit that when I heard about the “Art of Espresso” three-hour training for U.S. store partners on February 26; i kept waiting for the rest of the plan. I was hoping that Starbucks wasn’t focusing this turn-around solely on the backs of the people making the brew.
With this announcement today, I see that they are not. Schultz says there’s more coming on March 19 at a company meeting, which will “outline five key strategic customer-facing initiatives that will continue to transform the customer experience.”
Starbucks has become so successful that it has almost become the “Kleenex” of coffee. But the experience has been diminishing drip by drip. I for one am hoping that Howard Schultz can turn it around – and get Starbucks back its “Mojo”.

Survey says!… that e-tailers scored an 83 on a scale of 100 compared to an overall rating of 71 for store operators. Here’s the article.
The fact of the matter is that the customer controls (for the most part) how the web experience goes for them. And, they’re more in control of their environment. Of course, some sites are easier to navigate than others…but the lack of inconsistency in personal service in the stores may be what makes the web experience feel better. In the stores, there are more variables and the customer expectations are higher. You’d expect a sales person to greet you and have an answer to a question. Sometimes you get that, and, well, sometimes you don’t. You’d expect the store layout to be easy to understand and even, an enjoyable experience. In the web experience, if the customer isn’t thrilled with what’s happening, the memory is erased with a click of the mouse. Those store experiences last much longer and from this research, seem to leave a more indelible mark on how the customer feels and rates the experience.
As a customer interacting with a brands’ web experience or in-store experience, which one leaves you feeling better and better served?

Here’s a photo, below. What do you think?
Milton Pedraza, chief executive of market-research firm The Luxury Institute, says it’s a lesson in creating cachet for a brand.
Really? I’m having a hard time with this. Evidently, there is an issue among the ultra-rich about having items that no one else has…and that’s the point of this bag. It’s not about the product, it’s about how many are out there and creating a rarified level of ownership of the product.
Chanel is evidently also in on this approach. They are coming out with a $260,150 bag in December made of white alligator skin and diamonds.
Is this really the best way to boost the iconography of a brand? Are these items considered to be pure artisan masterpieces where aging only increases their value and cache? Or is about the intoxication of the quest to own something that is limited, that few can own? Is this an important component to build or maintain a luxury brand?
In this path of brands creating this level of exclusivity and consumers desiring and spending at this level; has each somehow lost their way?
“Isn’t this a beautiful bag?” “Absolutely…wish I had one.”
“And aren’t the emperor’s new clothes just wonderful?” “Yes indeed.”

Here’s the nutso-cuckoo U-tube video of Justine Ezarik, who’s a graphic designer in Pittsburgh, opening up her 300-page bill!
AT&T sent her a detail of every text message and internet use. According to AT&T, this is the exception, not the rule. You can go online and opt into getting a summary bill or online bill.
But why make customers go through this in the first place?
Does anyone besides me think it funny that the company who’s marketing everything “thin and small” ends up with customers being billed in a form that’s big and boxy? Note to AT&T and other providers, think “i”bill.

I agree. With the world of automation, what was considered to be a move into the future has actually exhausted and annoyed customers. A voice that actually answers on the other end of the line rather than the disappointing drone of the automated system telling you what number to push to get to your next series of automated and pre-recorded answers is desired by most humans I know.
The question is, is it a great differentiator to boost NetFlix’s sales and customer loyalists?
Netflix is getting some heavy duty competiton these days from Blockbuster who has dusted off their old strategy and is now in the game to win. They had to come in from behind when Netflix swept away with many of their customers, but they have caught up and are pulling ahead. According to the New York Times:

By the first quarter this year, after years of outstripping Blockbuster in subscriber growth, Netflix added 480,000 new subscribers while Blockbuster signed up 780,000 new members. And in the second quarter of this year, Netflix, which prides itself on customer loyalty, lost 55,000 customers. Blockbuster added 525,000, bringing its total to 3.6 million..

Can Netflix regain their loyal base by adding back in service and making it easier to do business with them? They’re betting that they can. Blockbuster, on the other hand stays in the camp of “no service is the best service,” burying their 800 number, and sending people to the FAQ section of the web site.
Let the service wars begin! I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out!

I’m sure there is some other alternative between these two, but for the sake of debating the issue I’m staying with these two polar choices.
#1 Agressive Recalls and Increased Oversight
It appears from this latest Wall Street Journal article noted above and many other reports that this is the current course. Mattel’s Chief Executive Robert Eckert is following a strong path of communicating openly and honestly about the situation.
And in the video interview embedded in the link above, he lays out a three step plan which includes 1) Testing all supplies of paint, 2) Testing finished toys and 3) Increasing their random inspection volume. This is in addition to the immediate recalls that have been implemented to rid store shelves of already-produced culprit toys that could potentially harm children.
In his comments, Eckert can relate, he is quick to point out, having four children of his own.
But is this enough? Would he bring one of the toys affected, say a “Sarge” truck, into his home once this new process has begun?
With this new level and increased volume of toys being recalled and the massive media attention that has been occuring, even with this level of inspection, will parents be comfortable bringing these toys into their homes?
How does a manufacturer like Mattel find a way to dispel the growing fear and concern about the health hazards that their products might pose for their children? Is it enough to inspect and test, or is it necessary to begin again?
#2 Stop, Retool and Rebuild
With the busiest shopping time of the year just around the corner and toymakers ramping up product, retooling new products can’ happen in time to make the season. But what would happen for Mattel, let’s say if they decided to wipe the “affected” toys off their shelves for this holiday season as a signal to parents about their commitment to kids’ safety?
Would this single action divert spending to other Mattel lines? Or would lost sales on those items be replaced with other Mattel products made by grateful parents who gravitate to a company who would so magnanimously made a decision on the behalf of children everywhere?
Mattel, at this point in time, is expressing confidence that Christmas sales won’t be affected by this current situation and recalls.
But my question is, even with Mattel’s commitment to review the lead paint and resolve the issue related to magnets, won’t this still be in the back of parent’s minds? Parents are scared. In this account from Ali Lund’s perspective, as a fearful parent, she is constantly checking serial numbers and has her pediatrician’s phone number on speed-dial. She says, “I want to trust that it’s isolated. But I worry about toys from China.”
Is there some form of option #2 that is right for children, right for parents and in the long-term right for Mattel?
I continue to harken back to the Tylenol situation and how they immediately withdrew all forms of their product from their shelves when they had their scare. They took a bold and dramatic move that they didn’t have to. It cost them alot in the short term. But they earned their way back into the marketplace and along the way into the hearts of customers because of their noble actions.
Food for thought: Isn’t this dramatic level of commitment to kids’ lives perhaps something to consider?