Hydro Flask

I received the Picaroon's branded Hydro Flask Growler for Christmas this year. 

I've been extremely happy with the flask and it has performed as well as advertised. The sweet nectar-of-the-gods brew from Picaroons is kept appropriately cold (when left on the counter) or warm (when packed in a bag for a snowshoe adventure). I've actually been really surprised how well this thing insulates.

I was saddened to find, after my recent filling at the brew store, that the cap of the flask had broken. (see pic). Not a catastrophic break, and I could certainly have kept using it, but annoying none the less.

However, I remembered that the flask has a lifetime warranty.

Now, a lot of companies claim all kinds of warranties but I remembered this one specifically from when I got the flask since it had high claims. 

I submitted the warranty claim online in a simple web form. They didn't ask for any supporting evidence, I didn't need to call and talk to a support line, I don't need to send back my flask for analysis (they specifically don't want you to send it). 

Within 20 minutes I received a reply from the support line. I think it was actually a written response (given the typo), not an automated one. 

That is a quick turn around on a Friday evening!

I'll wait and see how quickly the cap is actually sent but so far I'm impressed by the responsiveness of this company. Their flasks aren't cheap but they are certainly high quality and if they back them up this well then I think they are well worth the price and deliver real value.

Cheers to the Hydro Flask folks for good service.

Nice touch Todoist

Customer engagement email from Todoist

In my never ending struggle to find better ways of prioritizing and scheduling my life I came upon Todoist. The product/service seems like a pretty good todo list and task organizing software. It has some nice bells and whistles and good cross platform support. Whether or not I actually keep using the product remains to be seen (I'll post my experience on www.afloat.ca at some point in the future).

What has immediately impressed me is their customer engagement strategy. While, their general marketing, social media presence and website design are nice, that's almost a given these days. Their personal touch is what impressed me.

Soon after shelling out a meager $30 for the year's service (seems too cheap to keep trying the limited trial) I received a nice personalized message from them. Yes, this is an automated message. I know that. But, it is well timed, well written and makes me feel important as a customer.

I need to find a good way to integrate this feeling into my own business.

Sunny days and good service

 

It was early in the morning on a Friday. Myself and two of my sailing mates were getting ready to depart for the trip down to Saint John. I was planning a cruise into the Bay of Fundy the next day. Unfortunately my boat had other plans. Around 100m off of the wharf I discovered that a large amount of water was coming into the boat. My exhaust system had let go.

This problem could have spelled the end of my weekend on the water. Although it did change my plans somewhat, thanks to a couple of helpful local companies I was back on the water the following day. 

Company #1 was Oromocto Plumbing & Heating. They were my supplier of all of the brass fittings that I needed to repair my boat. However, they didn't have the facilities to build the injection pipe that I also needed. The wonderful woman that worked at the store knew that they couldn't do the job but she insisted on calling every metal working company in Oromocto that might be able to help. She must have made a dozen calls before she happened on J&P Auto. She could have just as easily sent us off on our own but instead she went above and beyond. 

Company #2 was J & P Auto Repair. At 4:00pm, on a sunny Friday afternoon, I fully expected to be told that I would have to wait until Monday. Instead, these guys not only latched onto my project as a challenge but also stayed until 1/2 hour after closing to finish the job. They charged a very low price and did excellent work.  

Companies that provide this type of service deserve huge credit. Thanks to their efforts I was able to finish my repair and get back on the water the next day. 

Crap service

You know that you have good customer service when people rave about your service in an open forum.

I need a new head for my sailboat (that's a toilet for you land-lubbers out there). I won't get into the particulars of the why or the how, since that is the realm of my other blog, but suffice it to say that this is not an optional purchase. What is optional is my choice of replacements.

After a long and arduous research project (I tend to over analyze buying decisions) I decided to purchase a composting toilet rather than the standard store & pump-out variety. As with most products, there are a variety of vendors to choose from. They range from the inexpensive (around $500) to more elaborate and costly (around $3000). While there are definitely technical differences between them, they all accomplish the same [foul] task. 

So, how did I decide on a vendor? Google, of course. I read many reviews of these contraptions on forums and discussion groups. 

Out of my research came two obvious conclusions:

1. Everyone that has installed a composting toilet is happy with their decision. 
2. Everyone that dealt with the vendor Airhead Composting Toilets was exceedingly happy with their service.

You know that you have good customer service when people rave about their service experiences in an open forum. 

I can back up those claims by my dealings with Airhead. I had a few questions about installation space requirements and he was very prompt in responding, asked for clarifications before making a recommendation, and even offered to do a AutoCAD diagram of how it would look. 

The Airhead is more costly than their main competitor, which is similar in design by most accounts, but I am moving ahead with my Airhead purchase. I would rather buy from a vendor that has proven they have good service. 

Lesson of the day, if you are in the business of giving crap service, give good service and you will win the customers.

Question: How important is good service to your buying decisions? Comment below.

Local charity - Good causes and good marketing

People remember the good things that your business does. 

Giant Tiger #170 (Union St. Fredericton)

I was at a meeting last night and we were talking about buying food and supplies for an upcoming event. Someone at the table immediately piped up and said, "Giant Tiger will have all of that. Wayne is always good to us. Let's just go there."

Wayne Gallant is the manager of one of the Giant Tiger stores in Fredericton. (He also happens to be a close friend of mine and teammates in our adventure racing team, Team Bulletproof.)

One of the things that I find truly great about Giant Tiger (and specifically Wayne's store) is how much they give to the community. Hardly a week goes by where there isn't an announcement about a sponsorship or some other charity event that they are helping with.

For those of you not familiar, Giant Tiger (GT) is a Canadian discount store chain. Their specialty is rock bottom pricing. My expectation of a discount store, and it is probably common, would be that they need to keep costs to an absolute minimum and that things like community involvement would come a distant second. That doesn't seem to be the case with Giant Tiger. And it seems to be working for them.

Wayne has garnered a great deal of loyalty with the people that he supports. His support ranges from the IWK, Liberty Lane, local schools, Scouts and Girl Guides to a variety of sporting events like bike and running races. People who participate in these causes and events really appreciate his efforts and many pay it back in the form of loyalty to his store.

On the Giant Tiger website they state that they have "A progressive, value-oriented, no-nonsense approach to retailing." More companies should share these values. It pays off for the community and for the company. 

Paying for knowledge

Me: "Can you help me with a plumbing question?"

Sales guy: "You can ask me anything, I know it all."

I am a do-it-yourself kind of guy. There are not many projects around the house that I won't attempt. Our current project is a bathroom refit. This isn't a minor paint job but a full gutting and rebuild. part of this obviously includes a significant amount of plumbing. I am no plumbing expert!

I have learned over the years that, like most businesses, some building supply stores are cheap and some of them have good service and expertise. The two rarely meet. Unfortunately I was lured into one of the large box stores by their cheap prices. I needed a lot of supplies and figured that I could save a buck.  

Since I knew that I needed help on my current (PEX vs copper) plumbing question I went directly to the stores "service desk". There was a young man (boy?) at the counter chatting with his co-worker (potential girlfriend?). So I ask him, "Can you help me with a plumbing question?". His reply was, a smug, "You can ask me anything, I know it all." 

Now, that response should have been enough to clue me into the fact that he would be useless, but I humored him. It took approximately 10 minutes for him to fumble through a "solution" to my problem. In the end he didn't have one that gave me any confidence that he knew what he was talking about.

Rather than settle for his half baked solution I decided to venture over to Simms Home Hardware. I know from experience that they are not the cheapest in town but that isn't what I needed right now. I needed a solution. 

They didn't disappoint, it took the man all of 30 seconds to hand me the 5 pieces that I needed to complete my project. He was confident, knew his subject and understood my problem. That is what I needed.

This experience was a firm reminder of why the cheapest price is not necessarily the best solution. It is hard to pass on cheaper prices but good advice pays off every time. 

If you are in a business that is not trying to be the lowest price in town, have good service and you will have me as a customer.

"Closed" can be an opportunity

"They would have lost our revenue and might have lost our loyalty to a competitor.  That is not what happened."

Often times, while I am travelling to Charlottetown PEI, I visit my favorite local restaurant/brew pub Gahan House. The other night was no different.

A colleague and I planned to go for a bite to eat and some of their stellar beverages. When we got to the restaurant we were disappointed to learn that they were in-fact closed, due to a renovation.

It is common for restaurants (or at least the ones that survive long enough) to eventually need a face lift. Normally we would have been met with a simple "closed" sign and we would have moved on to another restaurant. They would have lost our revenue and might have lost our loyalty to a competitor.  That is not what happened.

Instead, Gahan's had a pleasant woman, a server a presume, standing in the doorway of the closed restaurant with a stack of coupons. Since the parent company (Murphy Group) owns another restaurant across the street, we were pointed to The Brickhouse and offered a coupon for a free pint of Gahan's beer that they keep on tap at the sister restaurant.

We ventured across the street where our server took some time to explain to us that the Gahan House would be open the following week, that they would be maintaining the same neighborhood pub feel and that it would only be an improvement on the admittedly great pub.

These simple actions had three important affects:

• It maintained loyalty to the Gahan beer brand and restaurant.
• It coaxed me into a sister property that I had never before visited.
• It created a positive introduction to the new property (free beer!)

The Brickhouse had an easy job from this point forward creating new (and maintaining old) brand loyalty. 

As a side note, the Vegetable Beggar's Purse was excellent, the sweet and salty chocolate cake was great, and the Gahan's Red was, as anticipated, perfect. 

Exceptional service. Really!

Most companies talk about providing exceptional service but few really deliver. What is exceptional service? It is going beyond normal, beyond good and hitting the next level. 

I am not a road warrior, by most standards, but I do a fair amount of travel in my role as Service Manager at Bulletproof Solutions. I travel several times a month, mostly to our offices around Atlantic Canada.

Several years ago I chose the Holiday Inn chain as my primary hotel chain when on the road. They have a good rewards program (Priority Club) and reasonable quality rooms at a reasonable price. I have had few bad experiences at Holiday Inns.

I stay regularly at the Holiday Inn in Charlottetown PE. They have always provided a great experience. They often give room upgrades, they leave candy on the pillow and usually give a complimentary bottle of beer or water on check-in. What more can you ask for? This is good service. Today, however, they went the extra mile.

Anybody who lives in a northern climate understands the pain of scraping a car window in the winter on a miserable day. It is one of those special tortures that we endure throughout the winter. After breakfast this morning I was surprised when going out to my car. It had already been scraped. All of the cars in the parking lot had been scraped or were in the process.

The Holiday Inn promotes a lot of their complimentary services. We come to expect them. This, however, was unexpected. Even though it was a small gesture it helped me to start my day with a smile. This is not a high-end hotel where you pay for amenities, it is a standard one that is going the extra mile. This is exceptional service.

The first thing I did when I got to the office this morning was to tell this story to my staff on our Service Desk. Every business can learn from this. This is what we should strive for.