Brand Love Hate

Netflix Hears You - and Actually Replies!

I don't even use Netflix profiles, but today's e-mail to customers is the right way to handle user feedback:

We Are Keeping Netflix Profiles

Dear Jason,

You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are.

We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.

-Your friends at Netflix

Always better to ask users before a change like this, but Netflix handled it well.

Client Service is Branding

Every interaction with a customer or potential customer is a brand experience. Regardless of what your advertisements say - if you even have any - it's via real interactions with you and your company that people's opinions of the organization will be shaped. My current clients range from major job boards and Fortune 100 employers to small staffing firms and individual recruiters, so when I hear, "Thanks for taking the time to work with someone like me," I know that I've done my job and made the most of that branding opportunity.

Conversely, every missed connection, every neglected e-mail, every customer blown off as "not important enough" is a ding in that person's perception of not just me but my entire company. Working with the "impossible" client - while often hard as hell - is not a joke. It's an opportunity to break through with a detractor and even convert a negative brand perception to the positive.

Word-of-mouth marketing (big surprise) is not exclusively positive. At a recent trade show, I watched two recruiters from a huge company walk away from a vendor's booth shaking their heads and essentially laughing at the presenter. What do you think they told their team upon returning to the office? No matter how great that company's product may be, or how slick its sell sheets are, it took a brand hit that day. Those two ladies cared about how they were treated for those three minutes - that was the brand experience - and nothing else.

A Clean Dell PC

It seems rare to read a positive blog post about someone's new Dell PC, but Ed Bott at ZDNet has one regarding Dell's decreased level of "crapware" on its computers. Last year, I purchased a Dell Dimension 3100 PC for work and experienced the nightmare that was Dell crapware, with AOL being the most pervasive application, along with assorted music and photo management software. That process degraded the new computer experience as well as my opinion of Dell, while just being generally frustrating.

But as Bott documents, Dell has changed its ways. With a new Dell Dimension E521 in the office to set up, I found no AOL and not much to uninstall or configure. The only third-party applications I had to worry about were Google Desktop and Norton Internet Security, and the latter could have been excluded in the configuration process during purchase. I agree with Bott that AVG is a good, free alternative.

For the new PC, setup was fast rather than frustrating. A good change and conversion by Dell. It's nice to see a company (other than Apple anyway) recognize that a computer belongs to its new owner, not to advertisers.

Facility Branding and Recruitment

Last year I interviewed at a local firm that had a horrible office, or so I thought. It was a recruitment advertising company so I expected a nice lobby with marketing materials to peruse while I waited and great client work on the walls. Instead I was greeted with locked doors, no receptionist and a plain, tiny space. During the interview, I kept thinking that I couldn't believe this company was in this office, when I should have been thinking about the position. The job itself was actually an excellent opportunity, but I had to wonder if I would want to go there every day. The facility was affecting my perception of the company and the firm's recruiting efforts.

But during the interview, my contact converted that negative experience by openly recognizing that the office was horrible. He said it was temporary space being used while the firm completed its new office space on another floor. At the end of our conversation, we went to see that space and I was blown away - there were bright, half-wall cubicles, cool open meeting spaces, stellar video editing studios and other facility brand elements I would expect from that kind of company. It was a complete contrast to where we had just been. After I left, I was relieved that I had seen the new office because I felt I could focus on the opportunity without worrying about the place.

Lexus Managing Recall with iPod Freebies?

Via digg, it appears that Lexus is trying to manage customer disappointment from a recall by sending them free iPod Nanos. According to a blog post and ClubLexus forum thread, customers forced to wait to take delivery of their new cars because of the recall are receiving 2 GB Apple iPod Nanos plus the cable to connect it to their Lexus stereo systems. Sounds like a great conversion to me, although some comments on the Web question whether a Lexus owner cares about a free iPod. My answer - it's the impact of Lexus showing it cares about its customers that matters, more so than the freebie itself. Heck, I liked my Volkswagen air freshener freebie.

Model for Crisis Communication

The recent problems (downtime, slow performance) with TypePad have been documented by bloggers who use the service (including me), but SixApart's reactions to the issues continue to be positive and strong in terms of taking care of customers.  I'm staying brand loyal after two great e-mails from the CEO, which I'm sharing here as PDFs:

• "A Message from our CEO"
• "Update on and compensation for TypePad's performance"

While I have been frustrated with the performance issues at times, I admire how SixApart has been handling the situation openly and with regular communication to us customers.

TypePad Conversion

According to Steve Rubel's Micro Persuasion, TypePad (which powers this here blog) had some technical difficulties that cost him and others some of their files.  But apparently Six Apart did the right thing to take care of its customers and converted that negative experience into one that TypePad users could handle without revolt.

JetBlue Flight 292 Incident

I fly JetBlue out of JFK when I can (to Florida and California to date), so I was pretty concerned about the incident this past week with JetBlue flight 292's landing gear.  What does something like that say about JetBlue maintenance, or the safety of its aircraft?

But then some of the details started to come out about how the pilot handled the situation, namely an audio recording (via Adam Curry) of him talking through the situation live.  This is great audio - the pilot's clear concern for the passengers is amazing - he knows LAX has the runways and life support needed to handle a dangerous landing.  After listening to the clip, I came away admiring his effort and feeling good that JetBlue has pilots like that flying its planes.

Then today on MediaPost (sorry, registration required), Shelly Palmer talked about how JetBlue took care of the passengers, putting them up in nice hotels and transporting them via limo.  In a tough and scary situation like that, JetBlue certainly could have done worse (it is considered a "low-fare" airline), but it took care of its customers and tried to convert a very negative experience into a more positive one.

None of this makes the flight 292 incident not scary or troubling, but it sounds like JetBlue did the right things to stop it from becoming even worse.  My perception for sure improved as I read and listened to the details of the day and the value JetBlue placed on its customers.

My Sears.com Experience

This past summer (yes, it's over already), I ordered a new air conditioner from Sears.com.  Now for the sake of transparency, I'll share that I have been Sears brand-loyal my whole life.  As a kid, my parents shopped there and I was taught that Craftsman tools were the only way to go.  I also worked there for five years in high school and college.  Lastly, I had bought this same air conditioner a few years before for another room in my apartment.  So this should have been an easy sale for Sears.

The order itself went great.  No issues, no errors, no privacy concerns.  Sears.com has a good e-commerce experience.  The air conditioner arrived a few days later, and that's when the problems began.  Upon assembling the AC, I noted that all of the mounting holes for screws were too small for the screws themselves, and not threaded to accept screws at all.  This made assembly really tough.

So I called Sears, first the service line, which led me to the Sears.com customer service line after I decided having a service technician come to the house and tell me what I already knew ("These screws don't fit in those holes, sir...") was probably not a good idea.  Upon talking to a customer service rep, I requested that they pick up the old AC and ship me out a new one.  And for my trouble (and just to set the stage, it was really hot), I was hopeful they would send the new AC via overnight shipping, even though the original one came to me via UPS Ground.

Sears said no.  First the customer service rep then his supervisor told me they could not and would not upgrade the shipping.  They agreed that a new AC was in order, that they would pick up the old one and ship out a new one, but they would not take on the additional shipping cost to make my Sears.com experience a positive one instead of a negative one.  I was astonished, especially when the supervisor told me:

"It's not worth the extra cost to have it arrive 2-3 days faster.  It's just not worth it."

Wow.  I even decided to put it in branding terms for her, saying:

"So it's not worth the cost of faster shipping for me to have a positive Sears brand experience rather than a negative one?  To tell my friends that they should shop at Sears.com rather than not?"

She reiterated that it simply was not worth it.  Unbelievable.  Sears had a clear opportunity at a conversion here, to turn my negative brand experience into a positive one, and they blew it.  Making the wrong move in a conversion opportunity is a major mistake, as it takes the word of mouth marketing power and makes it clearly negative rather than positive.  This post is evidence of that.

Regarding the air conditioner itself, I refused the UPS pickup of the old unit, and instead sat on my living room floor threading each of the screw holes on the AC with my trusty Craftsman drill.  So I suppose I'm still brand-loyal.

Conversions

I realized recently that when a consumer has a brand hate experience, the company often has the opportunity to "convert" that experience to a positive one, especially when customer service is involved.  For example, even after a negative brand experience, a strong customer service response or other positive reply from the company can keep someone brand loyal and maybe even avoid negative word of mouth marketing.  In my posts, I want to track where opportunities for conversion occurred, and whether the company successfully converted the experience from brand hate to brand love, or at least to "brand like."