SEO? PQO!
I have learned a lot about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) from SEO Book, but I still only know just enough to get myself in trouble. At any rate, I’ve been using the things I’ve learned in my latest web design job, and I think it’s going rather well. It will be a definite improvement over what they have, and I’m sure they’ll have no problems letting me watch their Google Analytics for a while to see how effective I’ve been.
But I didn’t apply any of my new fangled Optimization techniques yesterday at work, which was Insanity2, also to be forever known as The Worst Day This Month. (Not “The Worst Day Ever”, because nobody was fired or diagnosed with a terminal illness - those days have already been claimed.)
Yesterday, I had a project for one of my Associates. This person had made me aware of the project on Monday, went through the requirements on Tuesday, and then promptly left town. I was promised critical pieces of the project on Wednesday morning, but didn’t receive them. I sent proofs (a very important part of my job, in my opinion, because there is always something I don’t see because I am not a real estate agent, and I don’t have the 20+ years of experience as some of my Associates do), but did not receive back any approvals because where my Associate was, she could get online but not open PDF files. (Hmm.)
To make a long story short, I started my day early yesterday so I could get the 400 pieces of mail out in time to be delivered today. Around noon I finished the final two pieces, and sent them both to a printer which is also a copier in our office. But I sent the very large and slow to print postcard first, and then the larger quantity but easier to print letter.
That was my mistake. My postcard spent four hours holding up my queue, and there were four hours where nothing was stuffed, stamped, cut or mailed. At four o’clock I finally had to give up on the hope that any minute now the postcards would be ready to go, and clear the queue (by which I mean turn off the copier by yanking the cord).
I spent the next two hours frantically redesigning, cutting, labeling, stamping, and folding, and the postcards that had urgently time-sensitive material made it out on time. The letters did not, however they will make it out today, and still be delivered before they expire. I used my BROKEN button, stayed late, and we got it done.
But it shouldn’t have come to that. I learned through this experience that when it looks like it’s going to take more than thirty minutes, it’s time to redesign. Just cut it off before hours are wasted that could have been productive. Like the arm that gets stuck in a bear trap when you have no water and no food, I should have just chewed the thing off and got back to the process of living - or in my case, folding, stuffing, labeling and stamping.
That was my little lesson in Printer Queue Optimization. Cut out the huge stuff, put the quick, but possibly less time sensitive information through first, and make the huge stuff smaller. I’m a designer - I can do that.
Filed under Marketing | Comment (1)Customer (non)Service
Down beneath it all, beneath all the marketing stuff I do all day, I am basically a Customer Service Representative. I work for a real estate office, and my job is to make our Associates happy, whether it’s editing a listing because they’re on a last-minute appointment, or creating a flyer, or finding a phone number.
My Associates are my Clients, and I am their Vendor, providing them a (much-needed, in some cases) service.
So when one of my Vendors screws up, it’s like fingernails on a blackboard.
I found this great looking business card company online (which will remain nameless until this gets sorted out), and I got very excited. They touted one-day printing, fast shipping, good paper, nice features, and best of all, great prices. So I requested a sample pack, but also immediately prepared my first two orders (business cards for myself and a coworker).
Then I waited. I’m still waiting. I ordered the samples on Friday, July 11th, and they still haven’t arrived. I requested samples from two other companies on Thursday and Friday of last week, and they arrived Monday and today. Business card samples always arrive quickly!
When I contacted their customer service department, I got a comment that they should have arrived by now, and that they’ll resubmit my request. Not the worst response, but I wish that the company was more on the ball with this. We’ll see how this pans out, and if it’s as great as I was hoping (I’m more skeptical, now), I’ll promote them a bit more.
I had another incident recently that made me wish that BROKEN buttons like the one Seth Godin talks about were more prevalent.
Putting in an order for business cards and presentation folders recently, I took advantage of a 15% off coupon, and a Friendly Referral Program that let my agents get 2000 business cards for the price of 1000. I called then a few days after the order to ensure all the business cards would come in the correct quantity, since the way to use that particular program consisted of pairing up names in a comment box. Not a coupon code, but a comment box.
Wasn’t I surprised when I was told I wasn’t going to get the Friendly Referral Program bonus because I’d used the 15% off coupon, and they clearly state that you can’t combine coupons.
Well, duh - had I needed to use their other coupon that delivered 1500 coupons for the price of 1000, I would have submitted separate orders.
It turns out the Friendly Referral Program is actually a coupon. Not a Program, but a coupon. Maybe it’s just me, but those are not the same.
Nobody called to let me know, they were just going to happily ship my 1000 (times eight) cards, and leave me mad as hell when the shipment arrived. When I called, everyone was pleasant, but it was a good four hours before it was resolved. I just wanted someone to say that sure, there was a problem, they would honor my coupons and make it more clear for the next person so this would not happen again, and nobody else would get potentially screwed as I did.
Instead, they just sounded complacent. “Oh, this happens so much we can’t bother making you really happy. As long as you’re not bothering us for anything else…”
I will definately think twice before recommending that particular company to my Associates the next time there is a need. What I really wonder is, “Do they even care?”
I get the distinct impression that neither company does, and that is not only distressing, but motivates me to make sure that all of my clients know that their satisfaction is first to me, and that when something gets screwed up like this, that I actually give a flying frog.
Filed under Business | Comment (0)
