2 Percent Creativity

This is one of those good news, bad news stories. While on Christmas holidays we travelled to beautiful Victoria, BC, Canada. While doing some Boxing Week shopping, we went to a tea shop my sister had told us about. Well, from the moment I walked into this shop, I was struck by the incredible customer experience.

The Silk Road Tea Shop is located in the trendy downtown area of Victoria on the edges of Chinatown. Victoria’s Chinatown is only possibly rivalled by Vancouver and San Francisco’s for authenticity and size. As soon as we entered the Silk Road Tea Shop we were greeted by one of their friendly staff who offered us a sample of the feature tea of the day. She was both gracious and knowledgeable, explaining in just the right amount of detail, where the teas came from and their uniqueness.

The shop itself is very well done. Victoria’s downtown area has some great buildings that have retained the character of the British Victorian era. The shop’s interior, their branding and the experience created, is a 10 in any marketer’s books.

As we checked out with our purchase of over $100 in various teas, I noticed the small brochure that heralded the ability to purchase online. I snapped it up and we headed home.

The next day, my experience with the Silk Road brand took a hit. First, after visiting the website it was immediately clear that the website did not match the in-store experience and then it got worse.

As I clicked over to the ‘online ordering’ section, major disappointment set in. The options I was offered were to a) email my order by I guess copying the content of the product pages and prices into the email and then sending it ALONG WITH my credit card information b) phoning in my order or c) faxing in my order??????

Seriously, who uses a fax when they are online these days?

I was astounded and when I am in that state of mind I usually try to help. I emailed the only email address I could find on the website and told them exactly what I thought about all of this. Even explaining in the kindest terms I could, that asking someone to email their credit card information was a BIG NO-NO from a security perspective alone.

Guess what. No response. It has been almost two weeks and NO response.

This is so sad. Here is a company that has a great product, a wonderful brick and mortar experience and yet, they are prepared to throw it all away by ignoring the importance of the online customer experience.

Are you doing this? Please don’t. If you cannot reply to your customer emails (positive or negative) in a timely matter (maximum 24 hours), it would be better not to have a website.

Well, I have been trying very hard to avoid the plethora of widgets that many bloggers are adding to their sites, but this new link preview app called Snap Preview Anywhere by Idealab, is just awesome. Here’s how they describe their product…

What is Snap Preview Anywhere? Snap Preview Anywhere enables anyone visiting your site to get a glimpse of what other sites you’re linking to, without having to leave your site. By rolling over any link, the user gets a visual preview of the site without having to go there, thus eliminating wasted “trips” to linked sites.

So, check it out for yourself and see if your website visitors wouldn’t appreciate this tool on your links. Hover your mouse over any of the links on this page and watch the preview come up.

It is continually exciting to me when checking out the thirty plus RSS feeds that I subscribe to, that I find a new nugget. Bert Decker’s blog is just such a discovery and is now feed number thirty-one and a new recommended blog on the 2 Percent roll. I found two great posts today that you must check out.

First, there is the Top Ten Best & Worst Communicators of 2006. Quite the list for sure and very little argument I am sure on most of his choices for each list. I particularly agree with his #2 Best choice of Pastor Rick Warren and #7 Guy Kawasaki. On the Worst list I can certainly agree with his number one choice. She has turned the debate about justice into a really nasty affair.

Secondly, there is his post on the Five Key Principles to Great Communicating. If ever there were a need for better corporate, political and social communicators, the year ahead would be a great time. Bert clearly outlines five keys that can help anyone, even those deathly afraid of public speaking, to effectively communicate what they know or care passionately about.

Another great resource comes to mind. Communicating for a Change: Seven Keys to Irresistible Communication, by Andy Stanley, is one of the best I have read on preparing a message that moves people to action. Although it is primarily a book about preaching (in the biblical sense), don’t miss the opportunity to see how the 7 steps outlined in this book can make any CEO, entrepreneur, business person, coach, teacher or anyone who plans to speak to a group, become a great communicator.

Let’s make 2007 our year to become better communicators in every part of our lives.

Happy New Year!

Blogger B.L. Ochman points us to one example of how some companies are using host avatars to enhance the customer experience on their websites. The Visa/MSN example she points us to uses javascript and flash to create a very compelling if sometimes slow experience.

Another example that we have liked for some time is a credit union (bank) in the Vancouver, BC Canada area—Coast Capital Savings. Be sure and check out this very simple use of flash and a woman avatar named Julie. As you view her, be patient and wait for her to go on to a few chores as she waits for you to decide what you want to do.

Now for the real fun.

First, in the ‘or other products’ question box, type in ‘mortgage’ and watch her response. She will play a game with you to encourage you to ask her for more information.

Secondly, here’s a real hoot. In the same question box type in ‘wanna go on a date’. Wait for her response
The use of real people or actors on corporate websites is a great way to create a remarkable and memorable experience, especially if the experience involves useful information.

As I previously promised in Glenn’s Career Update, I would update my 2 Percent blog when the new venture was ready for prime time. Well, the incubation process has taken only a few months and now we are ready to introduce our new venture to all our friends, associates, customers and the online community.

Introducing ChirpMill.

We have been very busy developing our new identity, the corporate website and working with some of our new customers. In addition, we have started development on our first web-based application.

Please be one of our first guests and visit our new ChirpMill.com website and read all about our new ideas. Be sure and check out the ChirpInn Blog and subscribe to the RSS feed. We’ll be posting all kinds of regular news about our web app’s progress and some good articles on designing websites that provide remarkable customer experiences.

Here’s a quick rundown on what we are all about…

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Now here’s a definite contender for the 2% creativity category. An absolutely remarkable piece of marketing arrived wedged inside my newspaper this morning. At first, the printed 10 x 10 inch piece came very close to being instantly tossed into my recycle blue-box bin, until I saw these words, “Savour the wine. Save the planet.” Well, I had to look.

The caption inside the brochure tells you most of what you need to know, “The Next French [R]evolution: The first fine French vintage wine in a Tetra Pak container”. The packaging is really well done. Colors, layout, the whole deal is first class. They have a Merlot, Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The slick brochure sets out to clearly convince you of one thing—it is the environmentally correct packaging of the future. With 90% less packaging than bottled wines and a full 1 litre versus the meagre 750 mills of the bottled option, it is hands down, “One Smart Rabbit”.

My only question for you smart marketers (and consumers) out there is this. Will it float?

Check the whole story out at French Rabbit.

Glenn

I saw this posted by Seth Godin the other day on his blog, so I admit, originality is not my claim here. The fact is it inspired me and that is what good marketers are supposed to do. It inspired me because I am in the midst of the very early stages of a new startup and there are days when that little demon on the left shoulder (yes left!) gets me thinking—it won’t work. So what do you do?

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As many of you may know, for the past 6 years I have been involved in a web-based software and services company called Most Home. Our venture began in 2001 with the development of the Most Referred Real Estate Agent brand, websites and lead management system. In the past three years, we took what we learned building Most Referred and applied it to the development of ClientBuilder for Real Estate Brokers. This 6 year experience has been a tremendous opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a very dynamic industry and to apply our marketing and leadership skills to the business venture. I am very proud of what we accomplished and the people I have had the pleasure of working with during this time.

Well, as you can probably conclude from the subject of this post, it is time for me to move on from Most Home. I am very excited about what lies ahead and the new opportunities that are in store for us. A good friend and colleague of mine, Curtis Cottrell (Most Home’s former Director of Creative Services) and I, have formed a new consulting business focused on helping businesses with their marketing, advertising and web development needs. In addition to consulting services, we have also begun the development of a new web-based application that we hope to launch later this year.

Stay tuned to 2 Percent Creativity as I will provide updated information about our new venture (new name, website etc.) as it comes available.

Glenn

The next stop on our trip is the last of the highlights, and what a highlight it was. Imagine our surprise. We were heading to the Alberta town of Drumheller to visit the world famous dinosaur museum. We had also heard about a small town just southwest of Drumheller, that would be a great place to stay for the night. We were fortunate to get the last room in the Rosebud Country Inn when we had called just two days earlier.

As we travelled east from Calgary to our destination, we saw nothing but flat, yellow wheat fields, after at least 45 minutes of driving. The prospects for an exciting night in Rosebud seemed unlikely.

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After leaving the Okanagan valley we traveled east to the north Kootenay area of Invermere BC and spent a few days at the Panorama Mountain Resort. The experience at this Intrawest resort was less than remarkable and yet, the most expensive stay of our trip. Thankfully, our next stop was the Aspen Grove Bed and Breakfast in southwestern Alberta. Located just 20 minutes southwest of Pincher Creek, Alberta, this wonderful bed and breakfast exceeded all expectations.

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