A psychic once told me that if I wasn’t doing what I was doing right now (professionally, that is I.E. not drinking beer, eating microwave popcorn and updating my blog at 11pm), that I’d “be a gardener”.
I didn’t ask her to tell me this, she just did.
As a courtesy, I didn’t ask her to tell me what I was actually “doing now”. But to be fair, she may have been onto something. The name EdenWeb has more than a little to do with gardening and more than a little to do with an underdeveloped interest in sustainable living.
Continue reading ‘The tipping point of septic tank blogs!’
Microsoft have just announced Beta V2 of their IE web browser. Details on their official site.
There is an emphasis on RSS feeds, tabbed browsing, improved print handling, search and of course, security, for end users while web designers and developers should notice improved handling and implementation of web standards.
First impressions just from the screenshots are (and this is purely aesthetic) that the new GUI (Graphical User Interface) is a little busy. But this is only a BETA.
There’s some nice design work going on over on the site too. Microsoft seem to have upped the stakes for their web design department. Nice work.
Great IE 7 blog too. Wonder who does their PR :O)
Internet marketing needs to learn lessons from already extablished bricks and mortar industries so they can draw upon decades of experience and not have to make unnecessary mistakes.
This email newsletter caught me eye this morning. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters and it’s great to see something come in that is pitched perfectly at their audience and has a creative theme applied to this message. I love the what they’ve done with the main banner (above). It’s creative, well executed, appeals to their audience and is refreshingly humorous.
But there’s one big problem…
Continue reading ‘Checking it out or checking out?’
EdenWeb met a client recently that expressed an interest in redevloping their web site. It’s a fairly large corporate web site and these guys are industry leaders with a name that is internationally recognised. In light of this, the focus of our efforts would not necessarily be to educate people that they exist, but rather, to get a better picture of the type of people that are using their site. When we have a more thorough understanding of the WHO (type of people using their site) and an expanded view of the WHY (what these people require from the web site) then we can end up with a web site that is
- easier to use
- meets user requirements more effectively
- increases the repeat visitors
etc etc
If we fail to get a better understanding of the type of visitors the site has and the requirements these users have then redeveloping the site would simply be an ‘event’ - an exercise that has happened for no real purpose. The client might end of with a nicer site but not necessarily a better site.
If you’re interested in reading more, then the guys at iQ Content have added great article called
How personas and scenarios can change your website for the better.
Happy reading.
The motorbike courrier that is due to call in 30 mins
Why won’t he give me a business card while he picks up a CD for my client?
Afterall - I didn’t call him, my client did. This means he is meeting me for the first time and i am a potential future client.
Logically, if this courrier travels across Dublin several times a day (assuming thats possible with Dublin traffic) then roughly 50% of his the people he is picking up or dropping off to are potential clients.
The french cafe in the village where I often eat lunch
Why don’t they ask me for my email address when I pay at the till?
If I were to get an email around 11am with a reminder of their excellent lunch dishes and maybe an offer of a free coffee every now and again I would happily trapse down for a bite more often.
If they serve lunch to approx X amount of office workers per day then thats a whole lot of emails and repeat business they could have.
Another example of great customer service.
Getty images have bought Stockbyte for $135m. Stockbyte are an Irish company founded in 1997 by Jerry Kennelly and are highly regarded in creative circles for the quality of their imagery.
Last June I took a half day and headed for a coffee in the village. Thinking that the world had probably done the same, I was suprised when my mobile rang and it was a very nice lady from Stockbyte calling me to thank me for my order and enquire if she could do anything else for me.
I was pleasantly suprised because
- I had only just purchased the image earlier in the week.
- It was the first time I’d bought from Stockbyte.
- In the past 6 years of buying stock photo for clients from 4 different agencies, they were the first company to call, say hi and check in.
- The image only cost about 100 Euros so it was hardly a big spend.
It was great nevertheless to get the call and the attention. Furthermore, when I got home I had this message in my mailbox
Hi Peter,
Thank you for taking my call today it was great to talk with you.
As I mentioned I will be your Account Manager for the future. Contact me at anytime if you wish to avail of our Free search service, we can usually send you on a lightbox within the hour.
My contact details are as follows:
S Kelleher
email:
Toll Free:
So, nice work from Gerry, Miss Kelleher and all the staff at Stockbyte!
I’m reading a great book at the moment by Fergal Quinn called Growing the Customer. Fergal is a pioneer in the field of customer care and made sweeping changes to how Superquinn operated based on his creed of always listening to his customers (and taking action on that, of course!). It’s a very simple yet overlooked aspect of any good relationship; the ability to listen.
As a result of this I have been doing more listening myself lately. Listening but also looking. Looking for great examples of customer care in my own every day life and also (perhaps as significantly) looking for bad customer service and learning from that too.
And so here’s a little story where I was fortunate enough to be on the recieving end of great customer care from a dublin outfit I have always been impressed with. It’s a slightly embarassing story too and will make me look like a right eejit. But in the interests of blogging and your own amusement I will proceed.
Continue reading ‘Customer service’
