Ravus Blog

Friday, December 01, 2006

Even More Radical


According to Michael Graham, Ann Coulter suggested that when US Airways kicked six Muslims off a plane for suspicious activity it was just a publicity stunt to deter Muslims from riding US Airways during the Christmas season (http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=169765&srvc=news). Without getting into any sort of ethical debate about what should have or haven't been done by the company, I would just like to state that, while some similarities may be drawn between my theory about Michael Richars and that of Coulter's, I believe her suggestion is too radical and illogical. I believe that businesses are in business to make money. There would be virtually no merit to detering Muslims from purchasing tickets from the company, unless the company truly believed that it could capture a larger non-Muslim market by doing so; however, this would not be the way to do it for a couple of reasons:



  • When someone buys an airline ticket, to my knowledge he or she is not able to find out what the ethnicity of his or her fellow passengers are. There is no graph that depicts the percentage of different religious affliations that will be flying on a plane. As far as I know, profiling of that sort is illegal.

  • Secondly, why would a company not want to sell to a certain group of people, especially one that is so large?

  • Finally, the nation has become so liberally minded and everyone is so careful to be politically correct that destroying this section of the market (the Muslim population) could deter others from buying tickets as well.

I just cannot follow the logic of her theory.


Radical Idea about Radical Marketing Tactics via Publicity



I'm sure many people have heard of the recent news about Michael Richards's use of racial slurs after being heckled at a comedy club. While I do not advocate what he did, I think it is the best thing he could have done for his career, simply because people have begun to talk about him. In fact in my opinion, I think the whole thing could have been staged. Although many people may say that he is just a racist (which may very well be the case), I believe that when certain coincidences are considered the whole thing was an elaborate publicity stunt.

Think back over the past couple of years. In fact, think back to after the series finale of Seinfeld. After that, have you heard anything great done by Michael Richards? Better yet, did you even know that Cosmo Kramer's name in real life was Michael Richards? More than likely the answer is no, unless you are a big Seinfeld fan. I consider myself a pretty big Seinfeld fan (nowhere near the point of anything close to obsession), and I did not know Kramer's real name {not Cosmo, I knew that, (Michael Richards)}. Recently after his racist remarks, everyone knows who Michael Richards is. Thanks to sites like youtube.com people have probably even seen and heard what he said. In case you haven't, take a look. Warning: the clip that this links to is very vulgar and is likely to severely offend or disturb you in some way (http://youtube.com/watch?v=U3RjiVcIlhY).

This is obviously very offensive and people have the tendency to overlook certain subtleties when something this becomes so public. They miss the bigger picture. Think about certain coincidences:



  • Someone happened to begin filming the incident the moment before Richards went in to his tirade. Sure, it could have been edited to make viewing for the public more convenient. But, where is the rest of the footage? Usually, all of the footage can be found somewhere on the internet. I have yet to find it.

  • Someone happened to be filming Michael Richards's stand-up. I have yet to hear that Michael Richards is a great stand-up comedian. Filming Michael Richards is like filming Pauly Shore or the guy who played Screech on Saved by the Bell, Dustin Diamond (both are stand up comics). No one wants to see it.

  • Immediately after using his first racial slur, a woman can be heard right near the camera exclaiming "Oh my God!" Sure, that is a likely reaction after hearing someone use what can best be described as profanity; however, consider the venue. For some reason, at a comedy club or show political correctness is dropped and everyone is fair game. If you do not believe me watch a little of Carlos Mencia's comedy. He is extremely offensive and is applauded for his work. I doubt that this woman, sitting so close to the camera, was astute enough to realize that what Richards was saying was said in an attempt to hurt. It would have been apparent after a few moments, but not right away. Rather, I posit that she was part of the plan. If you notice, everyone immediately becomes upset, in fact that's when I became upset, after she says it.

  • But, why do something so radical? Answer: Publicity! (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=michael%20richards&btnG=Google+Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn). Everyone and there grandmother is talking about Michael Richards. A wise man or woman once said, "There is no such thing as bad publicity." I do not know who said it the fact is that someone said it and they were right.

  • But, why the publicity now? Answer: Christmas. What's so special about the Christmas season. Nothing, aside from the fact that it is the busiest shopping season.

  • What does that have to do with Michael Richards? Answer: Seinfeld Season 7 which was the biggest thing that in which Richards was ever involved. In fact, the victim of Richards's tirade even alludes to that.

I'm not suggesting in any way that what Richards's did was a good thing to do or that I condone what was done; however, I just think the whole thing was a little too convenient and I believe people should open their eyes to better observe the world around them.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

It Seems I'm Not the Only One...

In this article (http://www.dispatch.com/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/09/20061109-B2-04.html), the author writes about the way idle conversation amongst employees can ruin the experience for the customer. I agree with the fact that this can be annoyance for the customer; however, I do feel that all personal conversations should be stopped.

From my own experience as an employee at a liquor store, I believe that some conversation can be entertaining for the customer as long as the customer is invited into the conversation. There have been many times when my fellow employees and I have been in a debate and we have asked for the opinion of the customer whether we knew him/her or not. Often times this can lead to a fifteen minute conversation with the customer. This can be beneficial to the company in that the customer will feel that he/she knows the people who work at a particular store. This will develop customer loyalty.

In essence, I do believe that it can be an annoyance to the customer when employees who should be focussed on the customer pay more attention to their own personal conversations; however, there are times when friendly banter is not only appropriate but also beneficial.

Monday, October 23, 2006

Another Customer Service Horror Story

I know that it has been a very long time since my last entry. You can chalk it up to either procrastination or a busy schedule, probably a combination of the two but more likely the former. Anyway, my professor recently called my post about my experience at Arby's "priceless,"(http://researchmethodsprowrite.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_researchmethodsprowrite_archive.html) and I thought it may be a good idea to relate another experience to the masses.

About two weeks after my terrible experience at Arby's, I was at another restaurant here in Fort Wayne called Yokohama. A lot of people may tell you that Asakusa is the better place to get sushi, but they are sadly mistaken. In my opinion, Yokohama is by far the best place to get sushi in Fort Wayne, at least until recently. If you bear with me, I will eventually get to a far worse experience then that of the legendary Arby's experience.

The week before the aforementioned Yokohama visit (with the horrible experience), I there because my friend and I had a mean desire for some good sushi. We arrived at 2:00, only to find that the restaurant had just closed. However, we were relieved to see that people were still entering the restaurant without immediately exiting. We assumed that this meant the restaurant must still be open.

We walked in and were immediately welcomed with open arms and smiles as is usual at Yokohama (an experience you will not have at Asakusa.) We asked if they were still open and the hostess told us that they were, in fact, still open. We then explained that we did not want to impose and if they were closing down we would be more than happy to visit on another date. The hostess told us that leaving was unnecessary, and invited us to sit down to which we gladly agreed.

We ordered our drinks and assumed everything would go as usual. After a moment or two, the waitress returned to inform us that the sushi bar was closed but we could still order from the menu, because the kitchen was still open. This perturbed my buddy, because we had come for sushi. We are pretty easy-going guys and although we were really craving sushi, we ordered from the kitchen. The waitress went to the kitchen only to return with more bad news. She told us that the kitchen was closed. We were upset, but said it was no big deal. We left feeling dejected that we did not get any sushi and ended up settling for a mediocre, at best, meal at Roly Poly. Some may think that I would be pretty upset by the fact that I was really pumped for sushi and did not get any; on the contrary, I took it pretty well, because I knew that I could always get some in the future. Plus, it was not the waitress's fault that the kitchen was closed. There may have been some miscommunication between the cook, manager, and/or waitress. I used to be a waiter, and I know how things can get.

I was of this opinion, until I visited Yokohama a week later. The craving that I had for sushi lasted through the week. So on Friday, I decided to revisit Yokohama. This time I decided that it would be a good idea to get there when I could be absolutely sure that the kitchen and, more importantly, sushi bar would be open. I arrived at Yokohama at approximately 12 p.m. I was aware that this was lunch hour, and as a result the restaurant would be busy. That was a chance I was willing to take. I don't think words can explain how much I wanted sushi.

I waited about ten minutes to get seated. During my wait a group of three women came into the restaurant. They assumed that because I was by myself I was waiting on take-out. When the hostess came out to seat the next group she asked, "Who's next?" The three women immediately rushed in front of me to claim that they were next to be seated; but before they had, I already had my hand raised, not like you would raise your hand in grade school to answer a question but more like you would make a slight gesture with your hand to make a bid at an auction. The hostess recognized this gesture and politely suggested I follow, "right this way." At this point, I was mildly annoyed at the arrogance that some people can have, meaning the three ladies who had assumed that I was getting take-out just because I was dining alone. I should note that the only reason that I knew they made this assumption was because as I was leaving the waiting area headed for my table, one of them verbalized this sentiment and the others agreed. Alone, this situation would do nothing more than slightly put me off, but given the following events you will see how it served as a catalyst for ultimately walking out of my favorite restaurant without paying. Furthermore, the previous episode that happened the week before served as gasoline used to put out the blazing fire that was my anger, but I am getting ahead of myself.

At this point in my story I have no fault with Yokohama. In fact their customer service has always been exemplary. This is the case with most authentic Japanese restaurants that have not yet been Americanized with rude service as a result of apathy toward the customer's experience. Yokohama was always my favorite Japanese restaurant in town because the experience always felt the most authentic. The owner even went as far as to bow while thanking you for coming when the meal was finished. This type of service is not unique to Yokohama because there are several Japanese restaurants I have been in throughout the country where the experience of superb customer service is the norm. But it must be said that type of service cannot be experienced anywhere else in Fort Wayne. That is why when I relate to you (my audience) the terrible experience that I did have, it came to me as such a shock that I took it personally.

Upon sitting down, the hostess served me iced water and asked me if I would like anything else to drink. I ordered green tea. I usually do this at Oriental restaurants because I have always made the assumption that this is what is customary and I did not want to look weird ordering something else. This habit started at a very early age. Since then, I have noticed that Asian Americans do drink other stuff besides tea and have realized the follies that can be made with generalizations, but I must say that this has resulted in a liking for green tea. Now when I go to an oriental restaurant and others see me drinking green tea I feel as if they think I am just trying to appear more interesting than I really am.

The hostess said she would be back with my green tea and a waitress would be to my table as soon as possible. Ten minutes passed. During which time I had finished my water, decided what I would have for lunch, noticed that the three rude women whom I had a run-in with at the beginning of my visit were placed at the table next to mine, and observed that the restaurant was severely understaffed. There was not an open table in the restaurant. From what I could tell, there was one waitress, a sushi chef, a hostess and a cook all with the task of serving roughly 100 people. I realized that I would be in it for the long hull if I wished to receive the sushi that I had been craving for a week straight. I can enjoy a meal by myself because I get a kick out of eavesdropping on other's conversations. The pleasant women that made acquaintance with at the front of the restaurant had a particularly interesting conversation about how many men they were currently seeing behind their husbands' backs. It's amazing how some people in a restaurant assume they are the only ones there and cannot be heard much like the individual who cannot be seen digging for nose gold because they are in the privacy of their car with clear windows.

After about ten minutes, the waitress came, apologized for my wait, and took my order. I said that the wait was not a problem, made my order along with soup and salad, told her I would have tea to drink because it had not yet come from my original order, and told her I was in no rush. From my experience as a server, I know that nice customers get preferential treatment. So, I always try to remain overly polite. She seemed happy that I was a customer with whom it would be easy to get along.

After this, she took the order of the three trustworthy ladies at the table next to mine all of whom said they did not wish to have the soup and salad that came with the meal. When the waitress left, the three women immediately began to gossip about her.

About another ten minutes went by (30 minutes since entering the door). At this point, I have yet to receive my tea (I asked for it 10 and 20 minutes ago.) I'm in relatively good spirits. The anticipation of sushi has made the wait worth it. I have kept telling my self that this is only going to make the food more enjoyable. Recently after noticing that 30 minutes have passed, I noticed that the waitress was coming my way with the soup and salad. I could not have been more ecstatic. The waitress made a fake toward my table followed by a spin that Olympic iceskaters would envy toward the table with the three women. She served all three the soup and salad which they had originally declined and asked them if they needed anything else. They complained that they had been there for an hour (30 minutes by my watch) without receiving their drinks; the waitress apologized and ran back to the kitchen for the drinks ignoring me. The three women proclaimed that they did not like the soup nor did like the dressing on the salad, but they decided that they would eat it anyway because they were hungry. I love the soup and the salad. My stomach ached.

Another 15 minutes passed (45 minutes for those keeping track.) The waitress finally came back with the women's drinks. I have yet to receive my tea. The women have taken about three bites each of the salad and/or soup, at which point they decided they had their fill. This salad and soup would be thrown away. The women ask the waitress when their food will come because they have already been there for an hour and a half (45 minutes by my watch). At this, the waitress apologizes and turns to bolt into the kitchen.

In a move of desperation I say,"Um, excuse me ma'am?"

She turns and gives her brief attention. I quickly say, "Could I get my tea, when you have a chance?"

Another 15 minutes go by (a full hour.) My tea comes. I explain to the waitress that I still have not received my soup and salad

A popular restaurant in Chicago, Illinois has spun this apathy of server's and has made a profitable and perhaps famous restaurant with a poor service theme (http://www.centerstage.net/restaurants/ed-debevics.htm). I love Ed DeBevic's and have been going there whenever I get the chance since I was five years old. I can remember the first time I went there a server yelled at me and told me I could not partake in the "World's Smallest Sundae" because I had not finished my three chili dogs. I started to cry, because I did not realize at the age of five that it was her job to be rude. Upon seeing me cry, she gave me a free sundae and shirt that said "Eat at Ed's." This settled my crying right away. When going to a place like Ed DeBevic's one can expect poor customer service, because that is the environment that they market. However when someone goes to an authentic Japanese restaurant like Yokohama, they expect the service to be more polite as is inherent within the Japanese culture.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Pretty Neat Article

After posting the article about the lack of customer service, I went to Google News and searched for "customer service." Upon doing so, I was inundated with articles about the importance of customer service. I found this one particularly interesting, because I am currently taking an ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems class here at IPFW. The professor always claims that the stuff we are talking about in class is becoming very important today in business. This article discusses the ERP system NetSuite which focuses on CRM (customer relationship management).

http://http://www.webpronews.com/expertarticles/expertarticles/wpn-62-20060925SuperiorCustomerServiceManagement.html

Monday, September 11, 2006

Arby's Meltdown when it Comes to Customer Service

I know that it has been a couple of weeks since my last post. This has to do with the fact that I have not yet nailed down a subject that I want to research. To me, the subject of business is so broad that I really would hate to commit myself to just one subject within the area. What if there is an issue on another topic that I would like to write on but it does not fall into the realm of business on which I am writing. I admit that I am probably just making excuses as to why I am not committing to a certain subject but that is not why I am writing today.

The topic I am writing does have some relevance to the previous post about Taco Bell's "Good to Go" campaign, although it is a stretch. It is a stretch, because the similarity between this post and the previous mentions fast food restaurants, nothing more. Also another link could be made could be made between the two in that both stem from a trip to Chicago.

This past weekend, I was on another trip to Chicago. I travel there frequently, because that is where my family lives. Unlike most trips, my fiancee did not accompany me; however, my two-year-old twins did. I picked them up from daycare and immediately left without going home to feed them. It was a risky move, but I figured that I could handle it. After all, I have been responsible for their care for the past two years. I just wanted to get on the road so that I did not hit Chicago at the wrong time (depending on when you get into Chicago, you could end up stuck in traffic for several hours.)

On Route 30, there are four convenient stops to make for food, restroom, etc. I know this, because I have made the trip countless times. The stops are Columbia City, Warsaw, Plymouth, or Wanatah. My goal was to make it as far as I could before the kids just had to eat. Somewhere between Warsaw and Plymouth the kids started getting cranky. So, I decided to stop in Plymouth.

In Plymouth, there are two fast food restaurants right off of 30, Wendy's or Arby's. I chose to go to Arby's. Upon entering Arby's and walking up to the counter, the man that took my order seemed like a nice enough guy. He was jovial and promptly took my order. He even went as far as to smile and say hello to my son and daughter. He asked me whether or not I would like my food for eat-in or take-out. I explained to him that I would like to eat-in, but I would like to make carrying my food as easy as possible.

Perhaps, here is the best place to do some explaining for reader's without kids, especially two-year-old twins. Two-year-olds have just recently mastered the craft of walking. They are now learning to run, and they love to practice it whenever possible. This is all fine and good when they are in a park or the backyard; however, they seem to have the belief that anywhere they can walk is a perfectly acceptable place to run even if it is an... oh let's just say... Arby's. Furthermore, the problem with two-year-old twins is that they never run in the same direction. Rather, they like to give their fathers a challenge. They run in completely opposite directions. It is upon the shoulders of the father to employ tactics to outwit his little but deceivingly clever children. To thwart my children's plan of escape, I usually hold there hands. For some reason, they have not yet figured out that if they just let go they are free to run. I pray that they will never come to this realization, but I know that these prayers will go unanswered and savor what little control I have over them.

Back to the story at hand. After making my order and request for an easy way to carry my food, the Arby's employee suggested a bag. I agreed that this would be the right course of action. My order finished, and a nice lady handed me my bag of food along with my three empty drinks. With a bag of food and three cups in one hand and twins holding the other (they walk side-by-side one holding my pointer finger and the other holding my pinky while I walk behind), I made the journey over to the ice/soda machine. Here is where it became tricky. In order to fill the drinks, I had to let go of my children's hands. I let them go and much to my surprise they stayed next to me while I filled the first two drinks. This was clearly done in order to instill in me a sense of trust. About half-way through filling the third cup with water, my children simultaneously bolted in opposite directions. It was as if it was all part of the plan from the very beginning. With cat-like reflexes, I snagged both of them by the collar grabbing my son first because he has much more speed than my daughter could ever imagine. If I had let my son go and grabbed my daughter he would have easily made it to the bathrooms which were a good fifty feet away. By grabbing my son, I had plenty of time to stop my daughter's plans of escape.
In all of the commotion, I forgot about the water in my hand. In reaching for my son, I had accidentally thrown the water on the ground. Much to my relief it had landed directly on top of a drain and had not made much of a mess.

Here is when the story becomes relates to some sort of business aspect. After grabbing my children and realizing I had dropped my water, I immediately heard, "Someone spilled a drink in the lobby." It was the once before jovial Arby's employee who had taken my order.

Someone immediately replied with a resounding, "Damnit! Shit!" Excuse the vulgarity but I used direct quotes to make a point.

I explained, "Yeah. It was me. Sorry, I spilled my water."

To which the disgruntled employee replied, "But I still have to clean it up."

From here, I would love to rant about everything that is wrong with this scenario, because I was obviously deeply perturbed enough to write about it for the purposes of a class. But, I cannot. Rather, I must make analytical view of everything that is wrong and what could have been done in this situation by both myself and the employees of Arby's. Obviously, it will be hard because the story is personal.

In the case of Arby's, there are some issues of legality. Arby's does have a duty of care to its customers. If someone were to slip and fall on the puddle of water, he/she could turn around and sue Arby's. So in the defense of the Arby's employee, he/she (cannot remember if the employee was male or female) did, in fact, "have to clean it up." However, the way in which the employee handled the situation was unprofessional. That kind of language should not have been used in front of the customers.

Whatever happened to a sense of customer service? Sure, it is of utmost importance in places where large amounts of money are typically spent in one visit. But, that does not mean it is any less important in a fast food restaurant, especially in Indiana which used to claim it was the State of "Hoosier Hospitality." Customer service should be of utmost importance to any business which is for profit. There is no way for the company to make money without customers.

According to Arby's policy (http://http://arbys.com/about/values.php), this employee did not handle the situation in an appropriate manner. The whole thing could have been avoided, if someone had taken the time to notice that I may need help and offered to carry my food to my table. I know it may sound like I am just complaining. But, is it really too much to ask?

Monday, August 28, 2006

A Place to Start and See Where it Takes Me

As per a requirement of a class in which I am currently enrolled, I have began this blog. I am relatively new to the whole concept of blogging. In actuality, I have no experience whatsoever. I have not even gone as far as to read a posting by another fellow blogger. Despite my inexperience with blogs, I must stay the course if I wish to receive a passing grade. So, back to the matter at hand. The purpose of the assignment is to create a blog that can be used for research purposes in the realm of business. I am charged with picking a subject, researching it, and ultimately posting my findings here on my blog page. This brings me to my next problem (aside from the inexperience.) I am not too sure as to what subject to choose. One idea that I considered has to do with the popular Taco Bell catch phrase used to promote the Crunchwrap Supreme, "Good to Go." Recently, I have began to notice that it has been a long time since I have seen a commercial in which someone does that little hand gesture and utters that the Crunchwrap Supreme is... that's right ..."Good to Go." A week or two ago, I found out why it was that I had not recently seen these commercials. On the way home from a weekend in Chicago, I saw a NutriGrain Bar ad. Much to my amazement, and to some extent bewilderment, at the bottom of the ad it claimed that the NutriGrain Bar was "Good to Go." Right after the the "o" in "Go" was the little "TM" that denotes that something was trade-marked, meaning that NutriGrain basically owns the phrase "Good to Go" and can collect royalties or sue another company for using that phrase if they so choose. I am neither an advocate for Taco Bell nor for NutriGrain; however, I would find fault with the Kellogg company if they knowingly stole and proceeded to obtain legal rights for the phrase. This is the starting point for my research blog. It may go anywhere from here.

Websites:
http://nutrigrain.com
http://tacobell.com