My wife and I recently traveled to a destination six time zones away from our home.  The only choice we had for a direct flight in both directions was on United Airlines.  Southwest Airlines, our favorite and preferred carrier, does not fly to Hawaii.  We had a number of choices, but wanted to avoid the many challenges that can arise when connecting flights are involved.  We really had no other choice than the United option of Washington Dulles to Honolulu and back.

To be clear, the most important part of our trip was a safe round trip which we were blessed to experience; but the customer service on both flights was less than desirable.  Several flight attendants were plain rude.  Besides not being aware that the movie selections began running within 10 minutes of take off, I was told to consult the instructions in my seat pocket when I inquired about the proper use of the remote control for the entertainment system.  I'm guessing the last passenger stole my instructions as it was not to be found.  Instructions were furnished, though the attendant practically tossed the sheet in my face and then walked away.  She certainly never walked back to see if I had figured it out.  Lovely followup!

I had to wait two hours before I could watch a movie.  This may sound like a lame complaint, but I had hoped to watch several movies to help pass the 10 hours of day time travel when I would likely not be able to sleep.  Without being informed of the start of the first movies, that opportunity came and went.

What was most astonishing was the video I watched that highlighted United Airlines catering and how many meals are served each year on their thousands of flights.  The head chef is shown describing all the work that is involved from deciding what to serve to the preparation and actual service.  Why was this astonishing?  That food was not offered to any of us in coach class seating.  In fact, we were offered beverages but not a single snack or other food item on the entire 10 plus hour flight to Honolulu...except snack boxes for purchase.  Why in the world would any business brag about service that is not available to the customer?  That is just bizarre!

Fortunately, we were warned by friends to take our own food on the flight.  Still, it was hard to believe that any airline would not offer even a small package of pretzels or peanuts.  Southwest allows two checked bags per passenger and still provides snacks and drinks on every flight and many of their flights are under one hour.  United charges for everything.

I know the days of hot meals on a flight are gone without paying for higher class service.  It just seems like a flight of such long duration would be accompanied by something to eat.  Then again, why bother?  United will probably not see my wife and me again.  At least not until the day when we have no other choice!

I come from a health care background and understand the pressures that are unique to the offices of physicians, physical therapists and other health care providers.  I've experienced excellent service at a few offices, but mostly I've had mediocre experiences and often much worse.  Today, I took my son to a dental appointment.  The overall appointment turned out well, but it didn't start out that way.

Upon a timely arrival for a 10 am appointment, I noticed a sign on the door, as I was opening it, that was intended to redirect patients to a new entrance.  Already thru this door, I didn't turn around and proceeded to walk past part of the clinic and through the back side of the renovated waiting room to the receptionist area.  It was obvious I came the "wrong way".  Instead of being casual and friendly, the employee who greeted us had to reprimand me and explain what I had just done wrong even though she heard me state that I realized what I had done and what to do next time.  There are other methods to go about to establish the use of the new entrance than making people feel badly that they missed the sign.  Talk about a lovely "welcome to our newly renovated office" greeting.

I signed in and had a seat.  Fifteen minutes later I walked back to the desk to ask about our appointment time and the delay.  I was told the dentist was running 30 minutes behind.  No apology was offered until I mentioned that it would have been nice to know that when we first arrived.  I could have made a decision of whether or not to add 30 minutes to what was already to be a 60 minute appointment.  It was then that I received an apology.  I take my time, and that of other people, very seriously and as a precious commodity.  Wasting my time is an efficient way for me to look elsewhere for services, especially when the invasion is overlooked or dismissed.

My son was called back about three minutes later.  The dental assistant was very kind and the dentist took good care of my son.  The receptionist was a little kinder on our way out.

Here's the real problem with today's experience: the owners of this business are clinicians, dentists.  They have a great reputation for their clinical work; but they are not paying attention to a very important part of their business and that is the way the phones are answered and the way their greeters are greeting.  Considering my family brings three children to this dental practice and we travel 35 minutes from our home to do so, being unfriendly could be costly if we decide to find a dentist closer to home.

I was supposed to have a meeting this morning that could have taken up my entire morning.  It was postponed so I managed to get to my desk very promptly for a good start to the day.  I try to avoid email until I scratch a few items off my "To Do" list which I have already done.  Upon checking email, I saw a disturbing message from a vendor and immediately questioned why the message was sent in lieu of a personal phone call.

The vendor's "Stock Desk", aka inventory department, was informing me that an item I ordered is not available.  This situation arises almost daily in our business so it is not surprising.  The main concern is that this item is to be custom imprinted by our vendor and shipped tomorrow in order to meet our customer's event date. 

While the vendor can easily be forgiven for running low on inventory, it is not as easy to forgive when the message is sent via email which is not the best method to communicate urgent matters.  In fact, for me, it is a horrible method as I am often away from my desk for many hours during the day.  While away from my desk, we have three to five real live human beings who can answer the telephone and communicate necessary changes.  Waiting for me is often a colossal waste of time.

So today, it is fortunate that my meeting was postponed and I was able to make a quick adjustment with the vendor; but why is better judgement not used when communication needs to take place in a very timely manner?!  I totally get that many of us get our email on our telephones; however, we should neither be checking email while driving nor while in attending meetings.  Thus, for the sake of timely and clear communication, let's honor the legacy of Alexander Graham Bell.  Pick up the telephone the next time something urgent needs to be discussed.

My wife is flying to New Orleans in the near future with my oldest child so they can visit a few southern universities.  I am usually charged with taking care of the logistics for our family when we travel and their trip is no exception.  I have procrastinated booking a rental vehicle for them.  As I ran a few errands yesterday, I passed an Enterprise Rent-A-Car location and thought they could surely help me to check this task off my list.  I was wrong.


I was told by the sole representative at this car rental center that she could not reserve a vehicle from her Owings Mills, Maryland location if the car was needed in another city.  She told me the website I could use to make the reservation.  Not having a ton of attention span yesterday and having not been provided the website in writing, I didn't recall what she told me when I finally sat down last night at my computer.

Instead of "googling" Enterprise, I simply went on http://www.priceline.com/ and shopped for rental cars.  If I were the owner of Enterprise, I would be very unhappy that a customer, who was ready to provide payment one morning, ended up renting from AVIS the very same evening because the customer was sent away by an associate at Enterprise.  Losing business this way is absolutely senseless.

Having just read an e-newsletter from Sandler Training, an article "Pain-A Retrospective" very much resonated with me.  The article gives credit to David Sandler for introducing the concept that customer's make decisions to take action, based on the relationship of "pain" as a motivator.  "Pain represented the prospect's collective reasons to buy a product or service."

Let's face it, we all have some anxiety when we look at our daily and weekly "To Do" lists.  My "pain" with renting the car was based on being so busy I kept putting off the task as not yet being a priority; but it was quickly becoming a priority as my wife's trip is now just around the corner and she needs a rental car.  My "pain" has been worsening as I have had to admit on numerous occasions that I hadn't made the reservation.  I took on this task and was starting to look ridiculous when asked if I had finally taken care of the "car situation.".

Seeing that Enterprise office was a relief to me.  I was literally happy knowing I was about to check off an item on my list.  My pain was going away just walking up the path.  When I heard the woman's response that she couldn't help, I was astonished.  It was the same to me as telling one of my customers that the awards they ordered will be complete the day after the scheduled event.  Not helpful!! Not a pain reliever!!

David Sandler understood that if a salesperson can understand what pain his customer has, a solution to the pain would very likely lead to a sale.  We all need to look at the pain of customers and prospects and then give them the relief they want and deserve.  What shouldn't be a surprise is that you'll actually get paid for the solutions.  That's pain relief to the second power!

If you have an example of a "pain relief" experience, I'd appreciate it if you leave a comment or email me directly at Brian@CrownBaltimore.com

We hear it all the time.  Customer service is critical to the success of a business.  Every business owner has a desire to create happy customers; but without exceptional customer experiences, customers will not become loyalists.  And did anyone every tell marketing professionals to forget about how important the phone is?  Apparently most businesses do not get the fact that phone handling can make or break a customer experience.


Just yesterday, I needed to find out something quickly about two of my bank accounts I have with Bank of America.  I was driving and trying to multi-task so I called information to get the number of a branch that was in the vicinity of where I was heading.  I was given an "800" number.  The operator explained that was the only number available for that branch.

I was skeptical as the call went through and not surprised to get a recording with too many options.  One option was to speak to a branch associate so I began to feel somewhat positive but when I selected that option, another recording picked up after a few rings apologizing that a branch associate was not available to take my call and automatically forwarded me to the national customer service line.

That, in and of itself, would not have been so bad.  EXCEPT, the next recording would not allow me to get a live representative unless I could enter one of my bank account numbers which I did not have with me.  I could not believe that no option existed to bypass this requirement.  What idiot thought that requiring the entering of a bank account number would not frustrate customers who had questions while away from home and their banking information?!!  Does the average person carry around their bank account numbers with them?  I have a good memory but I don't remember all of my account numbers.

Obviously, I am not very happy with Bank of America.  My phone experience was made worse by having to drive to that closest branch and wait in line while only two tellers waited on 10 customers (nine in front of me).  Lovely interaction with a bank that will not be my bank for much longer.

Back to the all important phone.  We all have systems but how often are we questioning how we would feel if we were on the other end?  Consider how many rings, on average, it takes for your customers' calls to get answered.  What is your policy, if you even have one, for hold times.  How about a policy for calling customers back?

Do you ever "secret shop" your business by having anonymous people call your business and then provide feedback for the experience?  If you don't have telephone policies in place, don't make excuses that your business is mostly conducted via email.  Evaluate your current operation and implement immediate changes so your customer experiences will at least be positive in this important area.  It is most often the first experience a customer or prospect will have.

Interested in really developing "wow" interactions for your customers?  Check out the Interactions Group to become a true customer experience leader in your field.  For consulting help with process improvement and operational performance, the world leader is ENTINEX.

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Some industries more than others need wake-up calls to change their methods of conducting business if they do not want to end up in the cemetery of businesses that once thrived.  Those who don't pay attention to customers' desires and needs while considering the changes in technology and competition, will not be around for long.

A few days ago, a pilot friend invited me to take a flight to New Jersey (from Baltimore) to check out a small, private airport with a cafe' where we would eat lunch.  As a student pilot, he didn't have to ask twice as any excuse to fly is a good one.  While we taxied to our parking area upon landing at Flying W Airport in Medford, NJ, I noticed the airplane-shaped swimming pool off to the side (see photo below).  Really cool!

Turns out, the owner of the airport built a motel with this very custom swimming pool and adjacent pool bar and deck and beach volleyball court.  Along with a restaurant and pub, a separate Runway Cafe', Pilot Gift Shop and Flight School, this place is no boring landing strip in the middle of no where.  How different to be swimming, playing volleyball, eating lunch all while watching planes take off and land about 100 yards away!  Even a non aviation enthusiast would likely enjoy this experience.

I have to admit that when I look at my adorable dog Sparkle, or my precious three children, I often see dollar signs.  Not dollar signs in the sense of selling my little darlings, but in the sense of my customers and prospects making a connection with my business because of advertising that garners attention with Sparkle or my kids as the focal point of that advertising.  I've often joked that I happily exploit my children to help the family business. 

The truth is, I have fun developing marketing strategies that include Sparkle and/or my kids.  The majority of the world responds to cute pictures and video that include animals or children.  Customers who respond to such cutie-pies are my type of people.  And I want to entertain them a bit and hope they occasionally buy something from me along the way.




Here is an example of a video my daughter produced with her best friend.  I can't really say I was exploiting them as it was my daughter's idea.  She came up with the entire script herself and asked me for about 9 months to "tape" it.  We finally did.  While an amateur video, one has to admit it is cute. 

Soon I will begin to get selfish which is when "exploit" comes in (to use selfishly for one's own benefit).  I will promote the video to our customer base in hopes of increasing the "views" on YouTube.  We want to maximize the number of people who are exposed to these 37 seconds, who will smile, say nice things and think sweet thoughts about Crown Trophy.  Even if they don't buy any product right now, that's okay.  We don't give a gift and expect something in return.  Our goal is to strengthen our connections.

It's not quite Christmas, but I'm asking my clients about their marketing plans for six, nine and 12 months from now and I'm getting too many blank stares.  I don't know why this is shocking after over 12 years of helping people with rush orders for events that were ill-thought out.  I know the value of good planning and how much more effective marketing strategies are when planned well in advance so I can't help asking, hoping we can churn more success for those who look to my company as a resource.

I have a client in Covington, Louisianna who starts asking for ideas and pricing for promotional products every spring for an event they host every January.  By early fall, this company's marketing department knows what they will be ordering and actually places the orders.  No surprise, they have everything they need by November and early December, well in advance of their event.  No surprise, this company is making a profit!!  Unfortunately, many businesses fail to plan this well.

I posed the question about June marketing as it resonates with me since it is National Safety Month.  Each June, the National Safety Council does a good job of encouraging organizations to participate in educating the public in ways to prevent injuries and deaths.  Why should you care?

National Safety Month (NSM) is an opportunity for any business to reach out to their employees and customers to demonstrate compassion and a determination to make a difference in our communities.  The recognition of NSM and the topic of safety may have nothing to do with your business but helping others will only draw positive attention to your business when you reach out to help others remain healthy.  There are many methods of observing NSM and, to be most effective, implementing a marketing plan that will feature some safety theme will take planning.  Now is a great time to brainstorm and decide what to do.

Some businesses are obvious when it comes to planning a NSM event or campaign.  A pharmacy can include a magnet with safety information and a company logo in every prescription bag.  Colleges can distribute safe sex packages around their campuses or whistle keychains encouraging safety when navigating campuses at night and with reminders to use campus escort (police) services.  Security companies can provide flashlights with a brochure about the correlation between proper lighting and landscaping and home safety. 

I didn't intend for this post to be just about NSM.  My main point is planning ahead and connecting with a theme that can make a marketer's job easier.  If National Safety Month is not of interest to you, perhaps it will be National Barbecue Month (May) or National Ice Cream Month (July).  Include recipes and ideas that will be fun for your customers and an item with your logo that will be used for years to come (think grill cleaning brushes, meat thermometers, ice cream scoops).  National Cancer Survivors Day is also in June and can be a great time to distribute skin cancer prevention tips along with ultraviolet-resistant t-shirts and imprinted sunscreen containers.


If you have not done so already, start planning your 2013 strategies now.  Don't make excuses that we're knee-deep into the holidays and you'll start next year.  It might be too late.  I have to ask, what marketing strategies will you be implementing this coming June?

I remember the first time I was an exhibitor at a tradeshow about 22 years ago.  My boss instructed me on very little but was very clear on one point.  Don't sit down when conference attendees are anywhere in sight.  Sitting was the least welcoming sign and would not entice people to walk over to our booth where the "magic" happens.


Being an exhibitor is exhausting.  Hopefully, as an exhibitor, you are engaging attendees in conversations of substance and making appropriate notes regarding post-show followup.  Couple this with the many hours of standing around, and being on your A-game and we all know the body will ache for rest.  Regardless, the goal of being an exhibitor in the first place is to foster relationships with prospective customers and to make stronger connections with existing contacts.  That takes work.  A lot of work.

Recently, my daughter and I attended a college fair.  As a high school junior, this was her first exposure to seeking out a significant amount of information from schools.  One school in particular, University of Delaware, had a young alumnus who could not hide the passion he has for his alma mater.  He stood at his booth, pointed out facts in the brochures he provided and gave specifics to my daughter and me that would be important in the application process.  I am positive that we walked away more excited about U of D than we would otherwise have been.

Another school also stood out but for the opposite reasons.  We almost missed the "booth" as the table at this, not-to-be-named, university was empty.  No brochures or anything.  I happened to look up at the name of the school hanging high over the table and realized it was a school on our hit-list.  There was a man sitting behind the table when we approached.  He never stood up and explained his "man", who had all of the school's materials, didn't make it to the event.  He didn't even have a sheet of blank paper to collect inquiring students' information to send materials. 

I was baffled by this university representative and his inability to improvise.  I was most offended that he never stood which really did make us feel uncomfortable as we stood over him.  He was not the only representative sitting, but the other seated exhibitor was at least  enthusiastic and had good materials and information.

Preparation for a tradeshow is essential.  This includes planning weeks and months ahead to assure you have the correct booth items (banners, table cover, brochures, business cards, giveaways, etc.).  Having adequate rest, good nutrition and hydration before and during the event should not be taken lightly as some tradeshows are like marathons, especially when they occur over several days.

Things go wrong and attendees will be understanding so having a plan B is also critical.  At the very least, every exhibitor should have a back-up for collecting information for following-up with the people who showed interest.  Common courtesy, as in standing and looking at prospects face-to-face, will always go a long way helping to make any glitches appear less obvious.  Whether you have great displays and handouts or are lacking such items, when working as an exhibitor, be sure to stand and smile.