Jananas

I was at the airport last night bouncing around between cargo and customs, battling rush hour traffic the entire time. We managed to get everything done, but not without minor freak outs on my part.

I could kvetch about how terrible airports are and about how by the book customs agents are, but that isn’t really the point.

At some point in my freak out, Jason looked at me and told me that I didn’t need to be so huffy with the employee. He was right. But in that moment, when I frustrated and annoyed at the airport layout and pissed off that the employee answered my question about where specifically we were on the map he had just handed me with a verbal “you’re here” (duh – but where is ‘here’ on the map?)… In that moment, I didn’t care.

As a customer, I bear some responsibility for how any particular interaction occurs. I get that things go smoother if I’m nice. If I’m always nice though, what incentive does the other party have to step up their game, to fix problems, or to make things better? Its a two way street and if you happen to work in a job where there is a mis-match in information then being nice/more upfront may just be something that you should just do if you want to minimize frustration.

Jason also reminded me that a lot of why I was frustrated wasn’t the individual employees fault. Again, he was totally right.

It made me think about companies and decision making. That customer experience and interactions with employees start well in advance of a particular occurrence. In that moment, it wasn’t just me or the employee that were responsible for the interaction. The corporation needs to take responsibility as well. If your goal as a company is to improve engagement or customer satisfaction or reduce employee turnover, then you need to think about the bigger architecture.

Have you built your systems and processes and environment so that customers are receptive? Have you labelled doors well? Does your IVR direct calls quickly and clearly? Did the “you’re here” and the “you need to go there” parts well on the map so that they’re clear even when photocopied?

So much more can be accomplished if we take the time to think ahead. Forethought is today’s word of the day. How could you make your next big work project easier if you focus more on forethought and less on just getting it done?

Other lesson learned? I get way more stressed out and prone to anxiety when I haven’t eaten in the last few hours. We should probably just keep a bag of trail mix in the car for just such emergencies.

Accidentally breaking into an airport building after hours while there were cop cars outside didn’t do much to calm me down. Yup.

I’ve found myself saying “Its not my job” a lot lately. I hate it. I don’t want to be someone who says those words. I don’t want to be someone who believes those words.

I’ll go out of my way to help people who help themselves. Or when it really is a bind. But I resent getting squeezed because the system/culture/people don’t allow enough time or can’t make up their minds. Being the low man on the totem pole (from both a title and organization point of view), I’m the one who is supposed to drop everything to rush to get things done. There’s little consideration to prior plans or fluctuating stress levels or wasted time and effort.

“Its not my job” is another way of protecting myself – from deadlines that are unrealistic or bosses who ask you to do work that is demoralizing. Its a safe way to say ‘no’ and pushing back. The problem

Maybe its time to start having some courageous conversations instead. Its scary to take a stance and put yourself out there as the one who’s vocally not going along with the way things run. But I’d rather be the person who speaks out in an attempt to make things better than be the person who mutters and holds everything back.

Do you have a picture of who you are? What could you change today to help you be more like that picture?

I’ve been a President’s Choice MasterCard customer for a long time. I’ve been an e-Statement customer from pretty much the day they offered the service.

At the beginning of the month they changed their website (and my guess is likely their provider). Here’s what they did wrong.

1 – They didn’t send out a specific “hey we’re changing our systems so here’s what you need to know” email. Instead they tagged it onto the end of a notification I used to receive which let me know that my statement is available to view. Problem? Those are a reminder email, which means that most customers don’t read them. I got my notification and assumed that everything was status quo. You need to understand how customers use your system and behave and build accordingly.

2 – They didn’t import notification/alert preferences into the new system, so I never received the alert that reminds me that my payment is due. Ergo, my payment was late. Yeah, yeah, yeah I know – as a customer I have a responsibility to check and stay on top of things. However, when you train your customers to look when they receive a notification email that their payment is due and then you stop those emails without warning, what did you expect was going to happen?

3 – You didn’t port my account information over. I had an account on the old system, so why did I need to create an account on the new system? If you wanted me to update my password to meet your new/stronger criteria, then you could have just had me do that. Really, I consider this a standard part of any upgrade – as a business, you need to make sure that people are moved over. Think “seamless” and then act on it.

4 – Make sure to label fields well & specifically. For example, I had an account on the old system so I assumed that I needed to fill out the section that said “re-register / already enrolled”. Not exactly. It turns out that I needed to create a new account, entirely from scratch. I needed the “need to enroll” option. Again, how would I have known that?

5 – Example two for labeling fields correctly. They asked for the name on my card. Normally when I see that field on the interwebs I type in “Jana LastName”. The actual name on my card is something more like “Ms Jana LastName”. Small difference, but different nonetheless. Not necessarily a big deal except for the fact that I’ve never once had a transaction declined because my name doesn’t match which has trained me to think that the first way is fine. Lesson? If you want things to match specifically, give detailed examples. If there is a reasonable expectation that something different will work (especially based on typical transactions) then either a) accept the common variants, or b) let me know exactly what to do. Don’t just block the transaction and make me call your call centre.

6 – Don’t ask stupid security questions. These need to be uber, uber specific. Remember that I likely won’t come across these until six months, a year, or more down the road. If there is any wiggle room about my answer then I will get it wrong. Which means that I’ll have to call you – costing you money and pissing me off. Here is an example of one of the really stupid questions: “What is your pet’s name?” Which one? I have multiple pets. What happens if my pet dies between now and when I have to use this question?

This is bad execution.

I wish that companies understood that bad execution slowly erodes our trust that they are looking out for us, that they can do their job well, that we should trust them. Usability matters. Your customers’ expectations matter. Doing your job well matters.

I’ve been following the #rogers hashtag for a while now, partly because I’m curious what people are saying. Its blown up over the last week as people have responded about Rogers’ iPad pricing (mostly negative, see the massive comment thread over at Redboard) . I’m not going to discuss whether its good or not, as I don’t have the sort of inside knowledge to make that judgement call.

I don’t know where the mistake around the $20 sharing plan started or whose fault it really was. What I do know is that the people who bought first gen iPads are die hard Apple fans. And these customers believe in Apple (and likely believe that they can do no wrong). Compare them to Rogers, a teleco that customers love to hate.  When something goes wrong, the customers automatically blame Rogers (after all, they *always* mess up, make mistakes, are out to screw us!).

When you partner with a company, you need to think about how the customer views you both. When you are the company with the weaker reputation you need to make sure that you cover your ass and have all your ducks lined up before you launch. Because if something goes wrong, its your company that will take the blame regardless of where the issue originated.

You don’t want to lose the brand war with Apple because you weren’t prepared.

By day I’m a financial analyst. I’m the cog in the machine that puts together your business cases  so that you can get the go ahead to launch. Last week I worked on a program that involved DRM (or even more importantly, a move towards the lack thereof!!). I got to explain to my manager what DRM is and why many people aren’t big fans of it. I had to add a footnote explaining it, just in case senior management didn’t understand either. I took it directly out of wikipedia.

“Digital rights management (DRM) is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices. The term is used to describe any technology that inhibits uses of digital content not desired or intended by the content provider.”

I understand that definition. It made me think if other people would understand it. If people don’t really think about ownership rights when they buy a song or download an e-book, then they may not understand the implications that DRM has for them. If people aren’t deep into the tech world or the music world or cutting edge authors, then they may not have a frame of reference for what this means.

How else can I explain DRM? How else can I frame the problem? Can I use another metaphor, something with more relevance to everyday situations? Something that someone who isn’t technically minded (and might even be dismissive of those who are) would still get? It hit me last night.

Imagine that you’ve bought furniture for your house – couches, a dining room table and chairs, a bedroom set. Imagine that you’ve moved homes twice in the last 10 years. Tomorrow you’ve moving into your third house. Except that when you go to move in you get told that you can’t take you’re furniture with you because you were only allowed to use it in “two houses”. That’s what DRM is – it is restrictions on how you’re able to use something that you’ve bought.

Imagine a world where someone told you how many times you could move your furniture or how many times you could sit on your couch. That’s DRM.

How else could I explain this? What other metaphors might work to communicate this idea?