Comments by Lou Dubois Subscribe

sorry about that, Rachel. It looks like we're fixed now

April 27, 2011 View Comment

On Bridging the Marketing/Customer Care Divide - Thoughts from #C32011

Thanks for reading and for the comment, easiegmann. Your point on VRM and adding additional stakeholders is a great one, and obviously the sooner the better. If a company does it now, they can show they are thinking ahead. No reason not to get moving on that process.

February 14, 2011 View Comment

On Four Valuable Customer Service Lessons We Can Learn From the Airlines

All very good points here, Shep. I wonder though, particularly with your restaurant example, if it truly is different? I've been to plenty of dining establishments where they state a 30-minute wait, when in reality it could be 15-45. I guess my point is, there are a lot of uncontrollable factors in the length of that wait: for a restaurant, how full is the establishment, are the tables presently seated ordering dessert, are the servers waiting on too many tables? For airlines, it can be factors such as airport traffic (how many other planes are landing/taking off), gate availability, crew (if one person is running late, that makes a difference) and more. As consumers, we've come to expect full disclosure from most places of business when it comes to service, but I think some industries just may not be able to react as quickly as others. Just a thought. Good post, though.

January 12, 2011 View Comment

On The Dawn of the Social Consumer

Outstanding work here, Brian. The line that stuck with me most is that businesses must take social commerce "from online to offline to online again." As consumers, we are often defined by the brands we associate ourselves with, but moreover the brands we are ambassadors of. The more personal and two-sided that relationship comes, the more likely we are to advocate said brand.

November 3, 2010 View Comment

On Violent Agreement- Blogging is Customer Relations! SOCAP 2010 Insights

Good post, Daniel. Blogging can be great for customer relations, as long as you do it right. Alas, therein lies the problem.

October 22, 2010 View Comment

On United Parcel Service Gets Social Media & Customer Service

Good post here, Peter. UPS is certainly not the only shipping provider with customer service issues. FedEx has had its own problems, and the USPS is of course well-documented. Anyhow, it's good to see UPS taking the right steps to try to correct themselves, remain relevant and show care/concern via social channels. It's clear they have some work to do. What companies do you see doing it right and doing it better, both with high customer service scores and an active social presence?

September 14, 2010 View Comment

On The Secret's Out: Trader Joe’s Fans Take Business to the Next Level

Great post here, Margot. As a regular shopper at TJ's, I can attest that they focus on the customer experience (in addition to low prices and great products) better than almost any other grocery stores (Whole Foods is right there with them).

September 13, 2010 View Comment

On Stories of Customer Service Failure - Boltbus

Following up: I did end up hearing back from the customer service folks at Boltbus on Tuesday/Wednesday. They apologized for the driver getting lost, mentioned that their drivers are equipped with two-way radios for instances like this, and for some reason she didn't use it. Anyhow, their customer service folks were very helpful, it just took a bit for them to get back to me (which to your point, Jen, was a bit surprising to me).

August 27, 2010 View Comment

On 10 Ways Geolocation is Changing the World

One of the most complex issues facing marketers today, but I haven't seen many posts that touch on so many different services and how they are each individually changing the way that consumers and businesses can communicate. Great post here, Max. The biggest issue with geolocation for many remains privacy, but if folks can figure that out and/or get over the initial fear, there truly is a lot to gain from monitoring the channels.

July 27, 2010 View Comment