I just got an automated call on my cell phone from Rogers. The cheery recorded voice told me I got some new feature—free something calls, whatever, not the point—for the next few months for free.
Uh, Rogers. Just because I pay YOU for the use of your network, does not give YOU the right to call my cell phone with your automated blabber mouth marketing message. And the message had no way of opting out, I listened straight through to the end and there was no mention of pressing something to talk to a person or get off their call list.
Of course, one thing that’s interesting about my reaction to this—which, if I haven’t been clear enough, is to be tremendously put off—is that Telus did the same thing to me last year—they called my home number about a new promotion, and I remember having a totally different reaction.
That was for a few reasons: 1) They had a real person call me, 2) It was about two months after I’d signed up, when I was still interested in hearing from them, and 3) I didn’t have a crap relationship with them like I do with Rogers.
Rogers should figure out that I don’t like them, and leave me alone, because they’re not going to make me feel better about them without geniunely changing their underlying prinicples. If your customers don’t like you, for goodness sake, don’t REMIND them of that fact, Rogers!
“I’m not bitter about what happened to me as a child, and my mother was instrumental in keeping me from being so. ... She taught me to be grateful for my life regardless of what that entailed, and that’s directly related to the image of Christ on the cross and the example of sacrifice that he gave us. What she taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift. What’s the option? God doesn’t really give you another choice.”
After over a decade of user testing, it is clear that the way we search the web is similar to the way we would search our home for valuables as it was burning to the ground. Frantically.
“We must shift the focus of companies back to the customer and away from shareholder value ... The shift necessitates a fundamental change in our prevailing theory of the firm… The current theory holds that the singular goal of the corporation should be shareholder value maximization. Instead, companies should place customers at the center of the firm and focus on delighting them, while earning an acceptable return for shareholders.”
You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)