Of Hard Drives, Hallelujah and Trust
Well, it’s finally done. My old hard drive is dead and I will shortly be giving it a funeral service. But, as they say, it’s an ill wind that blows no one any good.
Let me bring you up to speed.
As you may have followed, I had a bit of a meltdown last week, when my hard drive crashed. Having (stupidly) not backed up my data recently and being between laptops, I was ready to do anything – anything – to get my data back.
When the Geek Squad didn’t come up to snuff, I turned in desperation to Arthur Zilberman of LaptopMD, who was referred to me on Twitter by Janet Falk. Even though Arthur and I are not in the same physical location, I felt comfortable enough with him to ship my drive off to NYC, to see if he could retrieve what I needed.
I heard from him last night.
The bad news: my drive was in the 30-odd-percent of drives he receives that he can’t do anything for.
The good news: he works with a company in Canada that could probably – but no promises – retrieve my stuff.
The bad news: It would probably cost me $1k+ (factoring in customs, etc.).
The good news: This is less than what it would usually cost me, because of the connection we made through aforesaid Twitter.
(This is starting to sound like one of those bad news/good news jokes, isn’t it?).
Anyhoo, I told Arthur I’d think about it and get back to him today. Then I came home (I was teaching my summer class at Johns Hopkins when he called yesterday) and talked to my husband about it.
“What should I do?” I asked.
He sagely said, “If you can’t live without it, that’s a good price.”
Thanks, hun.
Having had a few days to calm down (and working on my beautiful shiny new MacBook Pro 15″, take that, Mr. PC), I realized that what I was freaking out most about was a particular document on the drive. Almost everything else could be retrieved since, at one point or another, I’d emailed it to someone… and all those emails are captured in my Gmail account.
And this morning, I found I had that document in my email.
Hallelujah!
(You gotta watch that video, btw, it’s hilarious.)
So I called Arthur this evening and told him I was going to pass. He was delighted for me, and I heaved a sigh of relief.
So, the good news: I’m (almost) back on track.
(I promise, there’s no bad news … at least, not now).
All this got me thinking, though.
I had such a bad experience with an organization that I have physically had dealings with, that I sent one of my most valuable possessions to someone I’ve never met, simply because he was referred to me by someone whom, again, I’ve never met, but whom I trust, because of her online reputation and dealings with me, limited as they have been.
In turn, I transferred that trust to Arthur, and his consistently reassuring and down-to-earth communication with me did nothing but bolster my trust in him.
And when I decided to go another way, he didn’t try to stop me; he was happy for me.
I’ve never met Arthur Zilberman. But I entrusted my digital life to him. And if ever I need someone to dig me out of a digital hole, Arthur will be the first person I call.
Can you say that for your company, brand, or PR agency?
In other words…
Image: Tony Mann, Creative Commons
Filed under Personal, Social Media, Twitter | Tags: arthur zilberman, customer service, got trust, hard drive crash, janet falk, laptopmd, Twitter | Comments (6)
My Virgin Trip on Virgin America
As I write this, I’m about two hours away from San Francisco en route to San Diego for PRSA09. I’m on Virgin America’s Flight 67, which is my first time traveling with the airline.
I’m sold… mostly.
I’ve heard quite a bit about the Virgin experience (mostly on Twitter), but you really have to fly it to get it. The minute you step on the plane, you enter this nightclub-like ambience … or if not a nightclub, then at least you get the feeling you’re stepping into the “cool kids’” zone. Their lighting is pinkish-neon and it stays that way throughout the flight. So there’s quite a bit of the “ooh” factor there.
Seats are very comfortable, particularly the neck rests built into the seats, because you can angle them up to about 40°, so you’ll pretty much be able to find a position that’s comfortable for you. Their approach to the standard safety video is very cool (slightly irreverent cartoons), and I actually watched the whole thing. Granted, it’s my first time.
I love the way you can order your entertainment & food/beverages directly from the touch screen. Very convenient. And they give you a gazillion different things to do, from watch movies, to listen to music/videos, to chat from your seat with other passengers, play games (there’s a dandy little handset thing you use to navigate through the entertainment menu, complete with keyboard), or chat from your seat with other passengers, either directly or via an in-flight chat room.
Different colored headsets (at $2, I’m pretty sure they’re cheaper than on many other airlines, and they’re cute). Clearly it caters to an audience that needs to be entertained all the time, but heck, seems to work.
Clearly the in-flight wi-fi. It’s VERY cool.
But what I’m most impressed with is how refreshingly different the in-flight attendants are. They’re smart, funny, polite (which is not at all common these days), considerate and really seem to enjoy what they’re doing. There’s a little girl (20 mo.) sitting in one of the seats across from me. She’s been screaming up a storm intermittently (I was able to distract her with the laptop for a bit, but not long enough, apparently).
One of the attendants came by and, with the child’s mother’s permission, scooped her up in her arms and walked her up and down a bit. Later, when the eighth (or was it ninth? I can’t remember) screaming fit commenced, she gently tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I wanted headphones.
Yup. You can pick your jaws up from off the ground now. (By the way, Bianca, the little girl, is now sleeping quietly on the floor in front of her seat, I’m keeping an eye on her while mom goes to the loo.)
What’s not that great?
I was under the impression that the wi-fi was free, so it was a little off-putting to find out it’s not. On the other hand, it’s the first time I’ve had wi-fi access 35,000+ miles feet (sorry, I got up very early today) up in the sky, so I’m just going to shut up about it. (But I think I’ll get to try it free when I head back to DC on November 10th, thanks to their Google promotion.)
I’m sitting in the main cabin (read cheap seats) and as I walked by first-class (or business class, whichever it is) it didn’t strike me as particularly ooh la la. Your standard business class on a continental trip. So if I were you, I’d save up (or build your points) and try it on one of Virgin’s transatlantic or international flights. That’s where I think the really cool stuff is.
I’m also not particularly impressed with the airline’s Twitter representative(s), since I’ve tried a couple of times to engage with them and have received either no, or a very late, response. Are they as non-responsive in other social networks and outposts? No clue. But they’re far behind folks like Comcast’s Frank Eliason or Express’ CMO, in my opinion.
But I was impressed with their phone support yesterday. As an aside, the guy I spoke to told me after flying Virgin, I wouldn’t want to fly any other airline ever again, and that’s pretty much how I feel right now… mostly.
Why “mostly”?
I say “mostly” because while I love all the “cool stuff” that Virgin’s bringing us, I’m not a brand loyalist so much as a price-watcher. The main reason I’m flying Virgin for this excursion was a promotion they were offering, which made their price comparable to or better than Southwest (another airline I’ve been pleasantly surprised by recently) or United (I have the most points and comparatively least-painful experience on United). Yes, it gives me a kick to be tweeting and Skyping from mid-air, but not that much of a kick that I would follow them blindly if another decent airline were offering a great deal.
Good Customer Experience is the Best PR
I’ve written before about how important customer service is to the perception of a brand or organization. Good customer service can be the best PR. As far as that goes, I give Virgin a 9 out of 10. And all other things being equal (which pretty much means price for me), that is what will bring me back to Virgin; if my customer experience is way better with them than any other airline, you bet they’ll get my business again.
So far, it has been.
What have your virgin experiences (on Virgin, or any other airlines) been like? How important is the in-flight experience to your flight purchasing decisions? What do you think about the link between customer service and PR? Do let me know by leaving a comment below.
Filed under Business, Public Relations | Tags: customer service, prsa09, virgin america | Comments (9)Customer Service: Taking PR From “Good” to “Great”
A couple of weeks ago, Zoë Siskos of Social Media Group asked me if I wanted to test-drive a new Ford Escape. Not being a journalist or a car/A-list blogger, I was flattered but curious, and my first reaction was: “Sure, but why?”
Zoë’s goal (ergo, her agency’s) for her client was to get “non-car oriented people in Ford cars to test them out.” Nothing else was required from me: no blog post, nothing. I wasn’t going to be paid for this, and the gas was on me, but insurance was taken care of.
Now, I’ve done my agency time and I know how the whole word-of-mouth thing is supposed to work. But I’ve met Zoë, like her, and one of our cars was due to go into the garage that week, so I thought: why not?
I’ve never had a particularly good perception of the brand, a view that I’m sure has been colored by my husband’s vivid memories of being regularly stranded, years ago, in England due to a Ford Escort that would reliably overheat. We’re a Toyota family, and we like it that way.
The Ford Experience
The entire experience was more pleasant than I thought it would be. The company that delivered the car was prompt and polite, worked with me on timing (because of a request I put in with Zoë), and for one week I was able to escape pet fuzz and bask in that new car smell. I loved the heated seats and, for a change, driving the kind of car road hogs tend to steer clear of.
As far as driving and all that important stuff goes, if you’re interested you should check out what real experts have to say, like the folks at Edmunds.com. Or maybe Robert Gibbs in the first 40 seconds of this video:
So much for my car review.
The Real Story Here
What really made an impression on me was when it came time for the car to be picked up. I happened to have a new business meeting that day and, while driving there, several warning lights in the instrument panel came on. Fortunately I wasn’t stranded on one of Virginia’s vast highways, but the car shut down almost as soon as I reached my destination. As soon as my meeting was over, I sent Zoë a frantic email. Determined to leave no stone unturned, I called her as well.
She didn’t bat an eyelid. She called the local contacts and made sure they got out to me as soon as they could to give me a ride home. (The test car did start up, but I wasn’t about to take a chance on it freezing up on me again.) She called me back to make sure they’d been in touch with me and that I was alright. Not just that day, but through the entire process, Zoë treated me as if I was SMG’s most valued customer.
Taking PR from Good to Great
That’s what takes PR from good to great. If you’re not treating your clients (and even if you work in house, you still have clients… they’re just your colleagues) like your most valued customers, they’re probably not going to remain your clients very long. That applies to any kind of outreach you take on in the course of your work; as Zoë did.
In my opinion, Zoë is not just a good PR person; she has the makings of a great one. Keep your eye on her.
And when I’m in the market for a new car, I’m pretty sure I will at least take a look at what Ford’s offering. No promises, but I’m just saying…
Filed under Communication, Public Relations
| Tags: customer service, ford escape, Public Relations, Social Media, social media group, zoe siskos |
Comments (5)
