they called me back...

yesterday a message was left on my cell phone from shawna at petersen pontiac...she was calling to let me know that she had talked with the service tech...this is a follow-up from a previous entry...

she said that the tech explained to her that there was less than a half a tank of fuel, (some will remember, that i told her i had a 1/3 of a tank) so that matches...

the service tech also suggested that maybe my fuel tank sensor was working poorly and providing me with an inaccurate reading...so that will have to be something i guess will need to be followed up on...

there was no explanation as to what happened to my fuel...the implication was that i was mistaken...

shawna communicated that she was sending me a free oil change voucher for my trouble...

i see a glimmer of hope as a result of two things, (although i'm not sure it's enough to change my current view of how the entire experience from very start went...) the two things are the fact that i actually did get a call back and that she is attempting based on what i'm sure is a limited capability trying to rectify things and lure me back for more work...

to be clear...i don't believe this is an amazing level of service rather a minimal level of service follow-up...there's still clarification required as to what exactly happened with my fuel but i'm not going to pursue that...

part of the reason companies get away with minimal service levels and service responses is because we as consumers continue to support these mediocre efforts...

after having talked with a few people who have had an opportunity to deal with pp, there were both positive and negative experiences...the (2) negative ones could have easily been avoided in the minds of the customers i had stumbled across, (hardly conclusive evidence i know)...still where there's smoke....maybe pp will change and get better, maybe they do care...i'm sure some over there do...

i'm going to let some time pass before i even consider the next step regarding pp, i'll consider going back but i may also take this opportunity to try another dealer...we'll see.

let's talk amazing...

in preparation for the really fun evening i had tonight at the edmonton chamber after business mixer i had to employ the skills of several hard working people...

i want to say thank-you to some amazing companies who did a lot of great work in a very short period of time and at a very reasonable price to make sure that fusedlogic and its brand was well represented.

Thank-you to lynn schroter, owner and ceo of direct digital imaging - sherwood park. 780-410-1772 directd@telus.net lynn put together my sign and coasters in record time and for a terrific price...lynn is a fun person and we always have a great laugh when we get together...these guys know the sign business, they're reliable and go out of their way for their customers...

Thank-you to loretta francis, sherwood print and copy in sherwood park. 780-417-3434 loretta@sherwoodprint.com loretta printed our postcards and Mandate. Amazing. booklets, she did this with great care and attention and very fast...these guys know what they're doing...for digital printing there's no one better.

Thank-you to kathy and chris at tyleen sportswear for the last minute embroidery of our mock-t's and jacket. kathy took the order on friday and delivered today right on time, they ensured that i was happy and that the job was done right...i'll make sure i go back and that they also get all of my client's business too...

Thank-you to jeff and animikii design services. jeff is a highly skilled designer who put together the layout for my sign and postcard. jeff is a great listener and a fast, accurate and creative designer, the value of working with such competency is huge...

Thank-you to all who visited the exhibit tonight, i'll be following up with each of you.

also, jamie from redshark, you've won a very special fusedlogic t-shirt as a result of tonights business card draw...i'll ensure you get it...

thanks everyone for the amazing service and for the great night of networking....

dealerships...

under the guise of strong customer service the car dealers that i've been in contact with rarely actually get it right, certainly their service has not been amazing.

take my most recent experience with petersen pontiac. my vehicle was brought to them and to their credit, they did a great job of getting my vehicle into the shop quickly...diagnosing the problem and then fixing the problem all in about 5 hours total time.

originally the service person informed me that pp was booking into next week (this was taking place last thursday.) so they did a great job in making my vehicle a priority.

here's where it all falls apart.

after showing up on time to pick up my vehicle, the paper work was not drawn up correctly...it had me paying for the $923.00 in repairs. those repairs by the way...replace a fuel pump and fuel filter....some will feel that this is acceptable pricing and those who do probably enjoy those bills...thank-goodness for warranty's that's all i can say when their shop rate is $112/hr

so i wait for an additional 25 minutes for my paperwork to be completed properly. i'm to cover the costs of the fuel filter...$100.49 for in reality a $10.00 dollar item installed in 20 minutes...

i then go to leave and see that my fuel gauge is showing empty or so near empty that i would never attempt to travel anywhere except directly to the closest gas station...the needle was on the red line...now when it was towed over there in the morning i had approximately a 1/3 of a tank...with my vehicle i've learned to watch the fuel carefully...and with the way my tank is, when it's low, it's a crap shoot on whether you make it to the gas station...even parking on an incline forces the fuel to settle so that it won't start...why i am saying this is to demonstrate that i NEVER let my tank get this low because of finding this out the hard way ONCE...

now many of you will already know that many fuel pumps are actually located inside the fuel tank and so in order to work on this part, they have to get inside that tank...so what do you do if the tank is full or in my case has 1/3 of a tank...well you have to drain part of the fuel...now pp says they would lose no more than a litre of fuel at most...except the evidence suggests otherwise.

here's where things get stupid...it becomes my word versus their word...i simply want the fuel in my tank replaced, not once did i suggest that anyone "stole" the fuel. this was simply part of the process and i only want an explanation and the fuel back...first if this was par for the course on a job like this then i should have been informed ahead of time that i was about to lose all my fuel and that they had no intention of putting it back as part of the process. or an explanation of the fact that in my case things went differently due to unforeseen circumstances and that they were at least apologetic...

neither happened...instead i was IMMEDIATELY made to feel as if i was looking to scam pp and get free fuel out of the deal...the service person at one point even said "how do you suggest i deal with this, take money out of my pocket so you can go buy gas?"

i told her "there was no need to make this personal"

i understand that there probably are a fair amount of people out there looking to take advantage of others...i'm just tired of people jumping to that conclusion first...it shows a mistrust for the customer and it never ends well...how about a "can do attitude instead of a can't do it because you must be lying and trying to scam us attitude."

the service person says to me, "do you want us to take a reading from the computer to see how much fuel was in the tank before we worked on it?"

i said, "absolutely, if you can do that then do it, that would be perfect."

so the service manager comes over with his computer and after punching a few buttons he says to me "it says here that your tank capacity is 89 litres and you currently have 13% of that capacity in your tank."

well, first of all i thought, thanks for wasting even more of my time...as that will do little to comfort me standing on the side of the road on the crest of a hill...if i make it that far...sure enough that almost happens...

also, my tank actually holds a hundred litres because i've put that in and when i went directly to fill up i put in 87 litres. so somewhere along the line their math doesn't make sense...not to mention that fact that manager boy missed the entire issue to begin with, most likely because his staff member didn't communicate properly.

so the end result was I was tired of being the honest guy who was being accused of making accusations when all i was doing was providing them with a chance to ensure that in some way i was completely satisfied with the experience...what are we talking about $25.00 in fuel? their service records would show that this was not my first visit...

and for all of you saying to yourself, yeah and if they gave away $25.00 worth of fuel to everyone, suggesting the cost of such a move would be prohibitive...

to which my response is...probably the best marketing dollars they could have spent...in fact, it should be a rule...no vehicle leaves with less than a 1/4 tank and evey vehicle is washed, looking and smelling clean before it leaves even for oil change customers...now the accountants will be up in arms and for all of you who allow an accountant to actually run your organization, your costs will almost certainly be in check and your customer experience will also suffer for it...

this idea is way more effective spending of marketing dollars than another cheesy radio jingle, discount car ad's and a marketing slogan that clearly isn't worth the ink in terms of actual experiences.

this is the difference between amazing buzz and run of the mill mediocre marketing...it sends a message "we're different, we amazing and we'll prove it with every action, evey time..."

NOT pp's approach i assure you. these guys did nothing but waste my time from the moment i got there to pick up my truck with no apology, in fact, the service person even suggested that the reason her paperwork wasn't in order was because i didn't use the rental car and that had to be removed...a partial truth and not the sole reason the paperwork was inaccurate...remember warranty work versus paying the huge amount? the fact that she also forgot to remove the rental car was just another example of her sleeping at the wheel...

during the last part of this discussion, i was surrounded, including the service person, saying..."i didn't say that!" it was duck and cover, protect our butts and make sure there were witnesses to the event...

not once during this entire situation was i made to feel as if i was important, or that they actually cared about making sure i was really happy...they didn't smile, their language and tone was accusatory and defensive...

i told the collective crowd "this is continuing to be a complete waste of my time." to which the service manager said, "well, we better let you get going then." and the service door went up immediately...

al petersen is the "dealer principle" and his marketing slogan is "al cut's the mustard everytime," on his mustard bottles throughout his building it says..."we're not completely satisfied until you're completely satisfied." well, that was not the approach i experienced in this case...al sits in his office upstairs and rarely spends time on the floor of his dealership, the reason i know this is that when you observe his staff it's evident that his marketing slogan is exactly that...a slogan that holds little in the way of influence on daily customer interaction and even though there's this blown-up version of a customer survey in the service area, i certainly wasn't offered one this time and actually i've never been offered one in my past experiences either...

(al, if you really want people to fill these out, make them available...)

one final note...the service person told me she would speak with the service tech who worked on my vehicle the next morning to find out what happened and call me with the results of that discussion because she felt bad for how she handled the situation and she didn't want things to end on a bad note...admirable...

i'll give you one guess as to whether i actually got that call...

deb barnes...

i wanted to say hello to deb barnes of chaos consultants out of spokane, wa. we didn't get a chance to chat when i was down there last week but hopefully the next time...

by the way, if you want get to know an amazingly powerful conference organizer, business person and generally all a round great mind...give deb a call...

cheers deb good luck with the television show....call me when you have a moment to breath.

i'm so upset....

i'm so upset with petersen pontiac right now i shouldn't write at the moment because i may not be completely objective...

so i'm going to sleep on it and i'll get back to you on this when i've allowed my anger to subside...

bottom line my customer experience at petersen left me feeling not only like i've been massively ripped off but....ok so this is where i stop...

remembering...9-11

i was standing in my office in st. albert, it was early in the morning...and someone in my office told us to turn on the tv to cnn...the north tower was already on fire...i couldn't believe it...

a colleague of mine was to have a meeting on the 9th flr of tower one at 9am that morning and he was running late...i knew he was there and phoned him on his cell phone,i couldn't reach him, so i called his office in ontario and spoke to another colleague...apparently, the colleague in ny was just coming out of the subway tunnel and said he could see the tower and all the smoke...he said he wasn't going any closer and that he couldn't get his ny business contact that he had the meeting with on the phone...

so he was standing on the street corner and the fella in ontario told me that he could hear the sirens on his end of the phone call...we exchanged comments about how unreal this was...our colleague now in ny said he was going to get out of there and commented that he didn't think he would be able to get back to ontario through buffalo that day....just then the second plane crashed into the second tower...apparently our colleague yelled and said there was just a large explosion...but from his vantage point he couldn't tell exactly what happened...and for some reason...his cell phone quit just then and my colleague tried but couldn't get through...all he got was his voice mail...

the next time i spoke with my colleague who experienced 9-11 in manhattan was when he home a day later....

there were many brave people that died that day...none of us should ever forget...

tim horton's...

tim horton's (t.h.) what is the lure behind this purveyor of coffee and donuts? is it the coffee slang you use to order with....double, double - referring to (2) cream, (2) sugar typically in the large sized cup? i started drinking the coffee without the sugar and only (1) cream, i can tell you my taste experience is far less interesting now... apparently it takes a tanker truck full of sugar for a decent taste, exaggeration? maybe.

ok, not the coffee...maybe the lure is the donuts, are they warm, typically not unless your timing is such as to get them straight out of the warming device from the back...are they fresh? Well in most cases my opinion is that they sure don't melt in your mouth like a really fresh donut does, there are other donut makers who really go out of their way to ensure this is not said about their product line, krispy kreme maybe one, although admittedly i have not had the level of experience with them due to location and frankly due to health reasons i don't actually eat donuts with any frequency, i'm more into ordering a bagel, crossaint or occaisonal muffin and i would give those items a pass, not exceptional but passing grade...not the coffee without sugar, not the donuts either....

it must be the smiling faces and warm welcome...that definitely used to be something i could say was a bit of a normal and consistent occurrence. not any longer. now just like a myriad of other retail, service driven companies, smiles and courtesies are more rare. certainly not the mantra at every level of customer touch point. being busy is no execuse not to smile, say sir, miss, and a have a fantastic day...either

not the coffee, not the donuts, not the smiling faces....then it has to be the fact that they are the fastest in town bar none....the short line-ups and when the line does get longer it has been properly anticipated by management and by design, the details of directing all foot or vehicle traffic has been addressed for maximum efficiency, there's evidence that someone from headquarters in oakville actually focused on the "customer experience" from every single aspect and in fact, that's all they do every single day...staffing is cranked up, processes have been adapted and improved so that every "t.h.'s coffee customer experience at every location is amazing.

all of which would be immediately evident because we as customers are in and out in a jiffy regardless of location, time of day or day of week...after all...it's only coffee, donuts, toasted bagels, soups and sandwiches right...not steak and lobster, other fast food businesses at least despite sub-par products are at least making it evident they want to be really fast...

i bet if we were to sit in a board meeting at t.h., the statement would be made that "here at t.h., it's the ceo's job to ensure each and ever t.h.'s coffee experience is a memorable one." not nearly far enough for me but it would certainly be a start...and this might be the case in reality if mr. paul house realized that his share price could be positively effected by making that his and the company's mandate. amazing.

am i being too harsh and expecting too much, many of you would say absolutely and my response would be WAKE UP! when did mediocrity become acceptable?

when did expecting a great cup of coffee, a fresh donut all delivered with a sense of urgency as if the person doing the work actually gave two hoots and polished off with a smile become too much to ask?

there's now two issues we're discussing here, our willingness to accept, in fact to pay t.h. (and others) over and over for mediocrity as the norm and the level of execution at tim horton's and who's responsibility it is to change it...of course i'm showcasing tim horton's but there is an infinite list of companies that fit this ill-fated category.

my theory on why the general public is willing to accept mediocrity will be saved for another time, today it's all about timmy's and their band of lack lustre processes, managers, franchisees and employees all wrapped up in a corporate culture that is more than starting to show signs of weakness and inconsistency...a product of success that mr. house and gang were ill prepared for.

seismic, cosmic change to mandate. amazing. time....

why?

choose your legacy mr. house...

i helped to take a successful privately-held company public and we opened lots of stores and blah, blah, blah......and i personally made a tremendous amount of money delivering a mediocre product and mediocre customer experience to millions of people. ---- your current cookie cutter career bio...and oh ya, we also felt good about ourselves because of our foundation too...

or

at t.h. -- we owned the entire coffee business, by first delivering "fair trade coffee only", second, my team and i were the catalyst that completely revolutionized the retail/service coffee industry by creating the most amazing, highest value, fastest and by far the friendliest coffee customer experience on the planet. i, personally was recognized for creating such a ground swell of intense pride within our organization among our team members for the job and our customers that we were recognized as the #1 employer on the planet by countless sources around the world the entire time i was ceo and for years beyond...not to mention that i ensured our foundation provided well over one million scholarships to those children in dire need, rather than fostering a quest for a better future by simply taking them camping (nobel effort to be sure), that wasn't enough for us, so... we actually delivered the tools for a better future...

give me a month with the top brass and i'll whip them into shape, have them so focused on the new mandate. amazing. their heads will spin...want to change things...simple turn every single manager's bonus structure and compensation including mr. house (ceo) into a straight commission based program dependant on the number of times a customer comments on how amazing the experience was at tim horton's...radical, you bet...want to hear whinning, this will sure showcase the slackers in your organization but fast...imagine the amount of creativity and energy now put into making sure we as customers are treated like...human beings, to be respected, pampered even (don't we deserve that?)...each and every time. the fact that this is so unusual is the competitive advantage...if customers are willing to waste time in long lines for the current experience imagine what would happen if this was to change?

oh oh, then mr. house would have to devise a new ground shattering super-efficient methodology for serving his coffee and goodies (paul, just call me and we'll head to see the folks at m.i.t.) ...i sense a market shift led by t.h....then again...no not really, remember who we're talking about here, the proof is in the pudding...if they were so concerned about us, even the simple things like a smile everytime, would be changing and improving today...

mr. house, you need to be an evangelist for mandate. amazing. if you're not up to the challenge for the good of your customers...and dare i say your shareholders...step aside, i'm sure the company can cross train you to be a technician else where within the organization on some level...harsh? yes! and that's what it takes sometimes to really make a difference and to commit to mandate. amazing. why waste your time on the planet being mediocre???

the on the ground, in the trenches culture at t.h. does not reflect strong service. why? they're a victim of their own success. open a t.h. and you're guaranteed a steady volume, regardless of where you are. so does one as the manager/franchisee really have to lose sleep about how many times a smile is cracked at the till? nope.

i look at my experience at t.h. as a learning experience, that's the only reason i continue to go there. they're a case study in how processes must adapt to growth, how managers must be constantly vigilant in analyzing the "customer experience." i'm willing to bet that those two words are not in the managers training manual...

t.h. has not evolved and in fact, i believe as successful as it is despite the above statements, it's actually losing money every single hour of every single day...the exact amount will fluctuate with each individual operation because there is the odd excellent manager/franchisee within the organization...

they're simply out-gunned and overwhelmed, the big headquarters of a now public company is too far in the clouds, does not have the perspective or creatively focused culture to realize or operationalize it...now as is typical worrying more about share price bounce than the customer experience. logically, i know they pay attention to some of these things...but it's a mediocre effort in my opinion...with their resources, they should have enough juice to be able to combat the long lines and substandard product issues.

t.h. - mandate. amazing. that should be their singular goal in life every day...take back control of the customer experience, instead it's being dictated by volume, outdated processes and a lack of a deep down, penetrating cultural essence that says we can't wait to make every coffee order an experience to behold...sound silly??? sure, if what you are wanting is a mediocre experience...if that's your goal in life...

as consumers, we put up with it, we get tired of demanding better, companies ignore us, we keep paying them to ignore us by buying their product/service. managers get tired of being diligent with their employees, holding them accountable for fear that they'll quit...guess what not only does mr. house have to be an evangelist for mandate. amazing. but so does each and every manager and each and every employee...a tough job, the skeptic would say an impossible job...only if you buy into that negativity...it is a choice you know???

let's help the t.h. managers out....try this, anyone with a computer/printer combo, that's probably nearly all of you...purchase a package of those do-it-yourself business cards and then print on them the following statement...


your service today -- lousy...take some pride in what you do, smile and show some respect...ultimately without customers...you'd be out on your ass.

on the back of the card...

by the way one of these cards will be given to your manager as well.....with your name on it.

or any similar type message you like. then once you've finished the transaction, and nothing has been spit in your breakfast, you can leave a card to smarten them up and let them know we do actually want better...accountability is what it's all about...

as far as t.h. goes...i believe that their hearts are generally in the right place and that they're good people, why else would i spend a large chunk of my sunday on them...

Jim Peplinski...

i was called out of the blue the other day by Lisa LeJeune, an account executive at Jim Peplinski's Leasemaster.

apparently, i was driving around sometime ago and she wrote down my business number off the side of my vehicle and cold called me. being the type to never pre-judge i agreed to meet her this morning for a coffee. what i found out was that she is a highly skilled and talented individual that used to work for the royal bank as a personal banker. she found that she didn't like the banks tactics as it related to encouraging customers to take advantage of added debt focused vehicles such as lines of credit, credit cards, overdrafts and so on even though it wasn't in the best interest of the customer' s financial future, only to be pressured from the big fish in the little pond for not having pushed these products harder. so, she did a very brave thing and took the leap, leaving her position on moral grounds after 6 years of investment (pun intended) and landed a new position with a solid company that in her words has a moral centre in the form of the ex-calgary flame's leasing organization and is very happy about her decision to move.

way to go lisa...thanks for your time today...keep on expanding your horizons on your terms...

excitment....

so as i assisted a dear friend employ some new technology in her business yesterday, i really enjoyed watching the excitment build. as the installation disks passed by one by one and the configuration of various new hardware pieces was completed, you could see the possibilites appear in her mind.

growing a business can sometimes be just that simple. employ new and simple technology such as flash drives, web-cams, and unique video composition software and a non-techie comes alive.

this is the moment i drive for in every project....light bulb switched on and burning brightly....