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June 2007 Archives
June 4, 2007
The best investment for your business
Think about the last few companies you've had to deal with (as a customer). Did any of them stand out? Good, bad, anything? If they did, I'll bet you anything that the defining factor was customer service.
I know I've blogged about this before. And so have many others before me. But it bears repeating. And I feel like telling a story.
I'm a Rogers customer. Mostly. I have their phone, their internet, and their cable. I've been with them less than a year, and prior to that, I'd always been a Bell guy. My roommate convinced me to get Rogers for our apartment this year, so I decided to give them a shot. The initial set-up was a little rough. Because I didn't have a credit card at the time, and thus no credit (hey, what do you expect from a student?), I had to be put on a pre-authorized billing plan. But hey, no biggie- saves me the trouble of having to pay it myself. So we get it all arranged, and wait for the installation.
Here's where we hit a snag. They hooked up the net and tv, but no phone. So I called them up (on my Bell cellphone), and it turns out I can't put a phone on a bank account for pre-authorized billing. Only credit card. The woman tells me it's their company policy. Now, this is where most conversations end. "It's our policy, sorry." "It's our policy, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." "Policy. You're SOL, friend." But instead, the CSR on the other end said, "I'll see what I can do."
Maybe a week later, my credit card arrives in the mail. I get it all set-up, I'm ready to go. I'm about to call Rogers, and they call me. The woman on the other end (same one, I might add), tells me that she's gone ahead and put my phone on the same account as the cable and internet. Great!
All is well for the next few months. Then one day, I get one of my bills, and they've double-billed me. Oh geez. I've heard horror stories of people having to argue with companies forever about this stuff. So I email them about it. The very same day, I get a reply: they made a mistake, and they'll take care of it. So a month later, I check my next bill and my bank account: not only did they remove the extra charge, they charged me less the next time around.
Nothing they did here was over the top or fantastically expensive. But it was a little extra care and effort. And what did they get? Likely a life-long customer, a very vocal proponent of their services, and a new cellphone customer once my Bell contract is up.
Looks like they just increased their return!
Until next time,
JW
Posted by JW on June 4, 2007 9:54 PM Permalink
June 22, 2007
First is foremost
I remember reading something on Copyblogger that said sometimes your intended audience isn't the audience you get. And it's often best to work with your actual readers, because they clearly found something of interest there. So I think I'll give this a try with the first topic I wrote about that generated some discussion.
In the webcomics world, as I said before, there is no shortage of material. For every genre, there is a seemingly endless list of comics to read. And within every genre, there are a couple comics that stand at the top; the ones that everyone know, the ones that get linked to all the time and have readers to spare. If you look closely at many of these strips, you'll find they satisfy one, if not both, of the following criteria:
1) Superior writing, and
2) Conceptual originality
I'll be focusing on #2, since this is the most common factor in determining success and popularity, all other things being equal*. What works in business works in webcomics. The first to market with a new idea gets a great head-start, and will come to have their name be nearly synonymous with what business they're in. Penny Arcade got into the crowded Video Game comic area early, and led the way. Questionable Content, while technically just a "slice of life" style comic, gets to tout the title of Hipster Rock comic. Nothing Nice to Say was the first punk comic. Dinosaur Comics, Shortpacked, Elf Only Inn, Vampirates...the list goes on. Comics that have an idea that hasn't been done before are far more likely to reach the top of the webcomic list. This is why many comics that are modelled after popular ones never quite seem to attain the same status as their inspiration.
My point is, I offer this advice to all newcomers: be original. Nobody's going to read a copy if they can get ahold of the original.
Until next time,
JW
* - By all things being equal, I am referring to such factors as friends in high places, past popularity on the internet, and being picked up by popular comics for a goodwill link.
