Real. Customer. Service.

"There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." Sam Walton

Since I feel I spend most of my posts ranting against things I thought I’d give you (and me) a breather.

I recently got an iPhone. Yeah, I know, I’ve gone to the dark side but the truth is I’ve intended to get one for a while but I’m not an early adopter, as those who know me know. Probably because I’ve subjected so many during my career to early version crap. But my old Blackberry croaked and I thought that maybe it was now time.

The fact is after a couple of weeks I like it. I actually like it a lot.

Except for one thing, it won’t synch with my Outlook calendar and contacts and when you use your phone mainly for business that’s kind of a big deal.

So, not being a novice to technical issues I fired up Google and found all the sites and went through normal fix things. Turn this off, turn this on, spin around three times while chanting “Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs”. Nada.

So I went to what’s usually the last place to fix a problem…yep…the vendor site. I went to Apple support on the Apple site and tried all the recommended fixes, and of course none of them worked.

But while on the site I see a section that allows you to contact customer support. OK, they’re already ahead of Sirius Radio. Ever try to find a “Contact Us” button on Sirius? Go ahead, try. I dare you. Sirius is way into the Hotel California mentality of keeping customers.

This Apple section has two buttons. One that says “Call me now” and one that says “Schedule a call”. I had some serious office time in front of me so I hit “Call me now”, plugged in my landline number anticipating they’ll need my iPhone to be free….and the phone rings. I’m not talking 15 seconds, I’m saying I hit “Call me now” and the phone rang. After the obligatory “Naw, coincidence” I pick the phone up and get an automated attendant. OK, that’s impressive but I figure I’m still in for a 20 minute exercise of auto attendant hell until I get to speak slowly so the representative from IndiIriPakiUkraniStan can try to help me.. Nope, 20 seconds later a polite young man named Jason from Portland comes on the line and we proceed to troubleshoot the problem.

Wow, real customer service. It had been so long that it took me a while to process that this is the way it used to be (well, not the instant callback). You used to talk to people who would help you without going through agony and angst.

So, yes, I have become an Apple and iPhone convert. To all of you over the past couple of years, here you go. You were right, I was wrong. There. Happy?

Oh, by the way, he couldn’t fix the problem..

Let me play this one back

“Any fool can criticize - and most fools do.” Dale Carnegie

I had one of those interesting conversations with a patron of LBV the other night. It was his first time in and he brought his wife and another couple. As he was leaving he asked if we were going to be making any changes to the menu. I told him that we’re looking at making some modifications for the summer season.

He said that was good because he didn’t like anything on the menu.

Really? Nothing?

Not really he said, but his wife and friends liked everything they had.

But not you?

This is where he explained that he’s extremely picky and by his own admission doesn’t like much of anything.

And I’m supposed to change my menu around someone who doesn’t like anything?

Understand that although we don’t have a large kitchen our tapas-style plates, cheese flights and desserts are getting rave reviews. Kim did a masterful job of putting together great plates that are classy, tasty yet quick to prepare.

This is the classic Product Manager dilemma. How much time and attention do you give that person (company) who is never going to be satisfied? You don’t want to totally ignore them because sometimes great ideas come from those who are never happy. And, if you can satisfy the extremely picky then there’s a good chance that people with a broader palate (actual and metaphorical) will like it as well. However, the time spent trying to please the unappeasable takes you away from other probably more productive things.

Of course, with me the real urge is the stop the person mid-sentence, get everyone else’s attention and say, “OK, please loudly repeat what you just said word for word” and then ask everyone else. “OK, now tell me, what would you do with a suggestion like this”?

I suppose not.

Nod and smile, fellas, nod and smile.