Feedback is normally such a touchy subject. Everyone wants it, but no one wants to do much about it.

A few weeks ago I bought a pair of headphones from best buy. I got a survey. Which is good because I was very frustrated at this store. So this weekend I sit down to take my survey. I answer the questions politely, and with great thought.

So today, less than 24 hours after taking the survey, I get a phone call. Not from some Customer service rep, but from the store manager. He wanted to talk specifically about my points in the survey. I’m shocked. I bought a $45 item, and the manager cares to hear about what I would do differently in his store. We had a great conversation about product placement, employee responsiveness, and product selection & price points.

I was impressed. And I have a new thought.

A feed back box is soo 1994.

But a website feedback form is easy, anonymous, and we may get some interesting thoughts and answers from people too shy to call or email. I have heard that 90% of unsatisfied people, will never complain. They quietly leave. So with this form, we are begging and pleading for opinions. Maybe we can get more than the 10% to let us know. Or Better yet, maybe we can get someone to comment before they leave, giving you a shot to make the change, and keep the customer or church goer.

So what do you think about a page & form on your website asking for peoples opinions. We could announce it & add it to the church bulletin. Let the people know to tell you what they like and what they dont. It could be a great way for your organization or church to stay connected to people, and change how they operate to best suit the very customers or congregation you are there to help.

By the way, this all started off as a personal email to my pastor. I’m glad he reads my blog.

For those of you who have red the book Purple Cow by Seth Godin, you know what I am talking about.

The other day my Wife and I went to a local Jack in the Box for a quick to go dinner. After taking my order, the cashier did something i did not expect. He asked for my name. I was shocked. Once my order was ready, there was a very casual, “Hey Matt, here is your order, can I do anything else for you” , and then a “thanks for coming in, have a great night matt”. Now this wasn’t a fill in the blank sentence read by an employee like a robot. The cashier sounded sincere.

Is this revolutionary, not particularly. But for a fast food chain, YES. I go to the local deli (on a pretty regular basis) and I dont get this kind of treatment.

So what next. Is there a place in your business, ministry, or organization where you can be as personal as possible? Can you great your regular customers or attendees by name?

Studies have shown customers who feel valued, and cared for, may be customers for life. If you loose sight of the people who make your organization what it is, they may wander off across the street to the place that can treat them the way the deserve.

I was pretty excited to hear about this. I think its a great Concept.
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So I am an internet junkie. I love cool internet toys.

Some of my new favorite things this month.

1. Pandora. An awesome internet radio of sorts. Plug in a band you like, and it finds and plays random music in a similar category of the band you like. A great way to find new bands or songs.

2. Google Reader. This isnt new, i just like it a lot. I live in google reader. I start my day by reading my subscribed RSS feeds.

3. Colour Lovers. A great site for finding new color schemes.

4. FaveUP. Great logos, print, and web work posted from around the world.

5. Squidoo. The brain child of Seth Godin. A great user generated content site. You can learn all kinds of things here.

thats it for now. I have actually been saving these for a while. I wanted to make sure I really like something before I share with the other 4 people who read this.

So last weekend Buger king started advertising their SimpsonsizeMe.com site. A little fun toy to promote the simpsons movie, and hamburgers, i guess. I still fail to see how this helps burger king other than brand awareness. (more…)

“Most organizations need a good reason to do something new.

All they need is a flimsy excuse to not do something for the first time.

And they often need a lawsuit to stop doing something they’re used to.”

Wow. So many large organizations suffer from this. How can I break the mold?

maybe someday I will actually use this blog. I’ll probably talk about business, marketing, design trends, new projects, current dilemmas, cool web finds, and other junk I am sure. But for now I’m just using this as my WP theme testing box. As we develop themes, we need to test them before final hand off.

so there you have it. I’ll make some big announcement when we actually blog.