Thursday, December 08, 2005

Anti copying software...

or anti customer software?

As you probably have heard by now that Sony BMG added a rootkit to their CD's that makes the users computer vulnerable to attack.

While the existence of such monitoring did not surprise me, what did was a comment by Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's president of global digital business division. He said during a interview with NPR the rootkit was no big deal - "Most people, I think, don't event know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

This reminds me of the old adage that what you don't know can't hurt you. I wonder where in the world Mr. Hesse has been, because his statement could not be further from the truth. The Sony BMG experience now contains an element of distrust (a poison pill for customer loyalty). In addition, his callous statement shows how they really feel about their customers and the reality of the new business world BMG faces. They are still living in the days of the past.

I often use the music industry example to demonstrate how poor customer experiences invite competitors from other industries to create products and services that make you irrelevant. Apple, the iPod, and iTunes did just that to the entire music industry and its distribution system.

Many lessons to learn about customer experience from a species on the verge of extinction...

Thursday, December 01, 2005

What is the old saying?

Never such a thing as a dumb question. Well, yesterday I stopped by a Wal*Mart store in SW Florida to pickup a sand bucket and toys for my two girls. I am working here on a project, and decided to have my family come down for a visit. Being from Minneapolis, MN a couple days in the sun will be great...

So, I wanted to get some toys for the beach. Well, the extremely unhelpful associate responded to my question with "why would we have those? That would be stupid. It’s out of season". Thus rejecting the old saying about a dumb question...

Now how did that change my shopping experience? Well, besides being belittled by this associate who probably thought he was just speaking common sense, it reminded me again about how far the big boxes have to go. With smiling greeters at the entry and exit doors, the associate who actually impacted my experience never bothered to learn anything about me - he was too engulfed in his point of view. By the way - he didn't smile, say hello, or goodbye.

So, where did I go? Well, I stopped at the Home Depot down the rode. Did they have the toys? No, but a helpful and creative associate suggested some paint buckets, garden tools, and even some kitchen utensils. And by the way, she smiled, said hello, wished us fun in the sun, and said goodbye. She got it... she cared about what my needs were - not what their wares were... A huge difference in the age of experience!

Anyone else had a remarkable experience in an un-expected venue?