Example: In the 50s, you’d drive into a gas station, and four uniformed attendants would rush over, each handling a different chore, from checking your oil, to pumping your gas, to cleaning your windows, and other basic automobile tasks. It was simply what was done. Can you imagine that? Four guys, waiting for you to drive in, and actually running to service you? I was driving to Atlantic City last week to give a speech, and stopped in to get gas. Because New Jersey is one of the few states where it’s illegal for a driver to pump his own gas (anyone know the actual reason why? I don’t…) an attendant came over. While the gas was pumping, she actually squeegeed my front window clean, on her own, proactively! I was so shocked that I gave her a tip! I can’t remember that ever happening to me before. But in the 50s, it was standard. For countless reasons that are irrelevant to this story, standards have lowered. They’ve lowered by a lot. And with them, so have our expectations. Whether it be for a multimillion dollar corporate buy on which we sign off, or for a salad where all we ask is for the dressing to be on the side, our expectations have dropped along with the standards for customer service. The worst part, without question, is that they’ve dropped to levels well below “ok” or “fair” or “average.” Our typical expectation for a customer service transaction starts at “poor,” and if we’re lucky, ends at “fair.”

It’s simply what we’ve become as a society. And yet, wonderfully, that’s actually good news for all of us reading this post!

See, since we have such low expectations of customer service, (and I know I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating…) It’s so incredibly easy to blow each and every one of your customers’ minds, and shock them into 100% loyalty, every single time you’re given the chance! All you have to do is simply treat each customer one level above “crap.” Amazingly, you don’t even have to be anywhere near “great, “awesome,” or “outstanding” to be different than the norm.  To be thought of as “good,” we just need to treat our customers one level above the normal expectation of crap. That’s it. Anything we do that goes above and beyond “one level above crap,” is so rare, and so unexpected, that if you do that, you can rule the world.

With that said, imagine my surprise tonight when I got an email from John Korff, the President of Korff Enterprises, otherwise know as the guy who runs the company that puts on the wildly popular New York City Triathlon every summer. John’s been producing this race since the very beginning, well over ten years ago, when it was ever so small – Now, it’s one of the yearly crown jewels of the NYC sports world, right up there with the NYC Marathon, and as of this coming August, the NYC Ironman Triathlon.

At first, I assumed it was a form letter, since I’d been accepted into my 8th NYC Triathlon, coming up this July. (Why so many? Because I’m an idiot who never learns, but that’s not the point.)

I double-clicked to find an actual email, from John himself, congratulating me for getting in again this year, and thanking me for doing my eighth one!

I was still pretty sure it was a form letter – CRM software can easily know those things – But I still thought it was a nice touch. Either way, I happened to be sitting in front of my computer when it came in, so I dropped a reply back almost immediately to John, thanking him for the note, and letting him know that I was also doing the NYC Ironman the next month. Didn’t expect a reply, since I still kinda thought it was an auto-email.

Two minutes later – “Wow, Peter – Both! You know, we call those who do the NYC Triathlon then the Ironman the next month “Hudson Doublers!”

So it actually was him. At 6:55pm on a Tuesday night.

What made him email me? Was he looking for repeat “customers,” as it were? Those who’ve done his race more than once? If so, smart – Remember – it’s not cheap to race these races – Perhaps he realized that and wanted to let us know that our continued support of what he built hasn’t gone unnoticed. Perhaps he’s just that nice of a guy – Perhaps it was all planned out on a spreadsheet, and it was just my time to get that email?

It doesn’t matter. I’ve run a TON of races, all over the place, and this is the first time that any race director reached out to thank me, unprovoked, on his own. You can damn well bet I’m going to race his race every year, as long as my body will let me.

It’s those little things – What’s an email? It’s not a steak at an airport (not that there’s anything wrong with that, either) – But ironically, I think that’s the problem – That’s where the disconnect lies for the majority of businesses:

We’re tricked into believing that the best customer service can ONLY be achieved by these massive, over-the-top acts of grandeur – The airport steak – the “we’ll replace your car” – The types of customer service events that make the evening news and get blogged about.

THAT IS WRONG!

I offer you this: (shrunk, for your Tweeting ease:) The best acts of customer service are the tiny things that reinforce the customer’s loyalty. They can be done daily, usually without any cost, and can foster customer retention, increase customer satisfaction, and yes, even grow your customer base by increasing word of mouth, through social media and other platforms. In other words: If you focus on the little things, your company will benefit, customers and clients will increase, and most importantly, REVENUE WILL RISE.

Don’t stop trying to create that one “massive” customer service story that goes viral and winds up on CNN. Never stop trying to do that, because you never know when it might happen. BUT – Spend more time focusing on the little things – The “thank you” when the customer walks in. The unexpected “we’re glad you’re still with us” email. The phone call to your favorite customer, letting them know that you were reading some article, and it told you to think of your favorite customer then call them to thank them for being just that. (I LOVE this one, I’ve recommended it countless times.)

An old friend and colleague who used to be a journalist once told me this story. His first editor gave him one piece of advice: “Be brilliant at the basics.” He was right. Let’s focus on the basics first. You’ll be surprised how much of your marketing and PR your customers will do FOR you, once you master the basics, and come out one step above the norm.

As always, I’d love your thoughts below in the comments. Thanks for reading! :)

As I’ve mentioned a few times already, I finally bought an apartment in Manhattan. Years of renting have come to a close as I signed close to 1,453 documents over the course of an afternoon in exchange for two lock keys and one mailbox key. I’m a homeowner. Yes, it’s scary as hell, with each day bringing up more scariness excitement than the day before. But the one thing that keeps me smiling is this: Because I own, I can create. Or, in less dramatic terms, I can mold my new place to what I want it to be, all the fun geeky things I’d always dreamed of, but was never allowed to do in a rental building.

Examples I doubt I’ll do, but have thought about: (For those who are familiar with how my brain works, this shouldn’t come as much of a shock…)

• Digital Shower: A computerized shower that with a touch of a button knows who I am and the temperature and pressure I like my water.
• Retina/voice print scans instead of key-locks.
• HVAC unit that senses my body temperature and adjusts accordingly.
• Waterproof iPads…

You get the idea. Chances are, I won’t wind up doing any of those things, but because I own, I like knowing that if I ever hit the Mega-Millions lottery, I can.

And there sits today’s quagmire.

The one thing any new homeowner knows is that a contractor, someone who you hire to do any type of work in your new home, has to have the following qualifications:

• He has to be licensed.
• He has to be insured.
• He has to have knowledge of the job you want him to do.
• And a billion times more important than any of that, he has to come recommended to you by someone in a very, very small circle of people. A contractor hire rarely comes from a Google search listing, or (for those of us over 30) a Yellow Pages ad. A contractor has to come recommended by someone you trust implicitly. End of story. This is one of those times where the personal recommendation trumps anything else. If your best friend loves his new closet, or your office-mate for the past ten years can’t stop raving about his new kitchen, that matters universes more than an Yelp review by someone you don’t know, or all the Angie’s List recommendations in the world. Personal trust in this situation has mattered long before the Internet or Social Media, and it’ll matter long after. A contractor recommendation is one of the ultimate signs of trust, up there with letting a friend date your sister. If you recommend a contractor to someone, you’re putting your full reputation on the line.

Unfortunately, I’m beginning to get this strange feeling that everyone knows this but the majority of contractors. And sadly, I think this extends to a good number of situations where people put their reputation on the line recommending someone they know for anything – a job, a speaking gig, a consulting assignment, or even a dentist or doctor. And that is a horribly bad thing. Here’s why:

I posted on my Facebook page personal page, where my connections are based on people I know in person in some capacity or another. I asked for personal recommendations of contractors who had worked for my personal connections. Made sense, right?

I got about seven or so recommendations. I contacted three.

The first person I called scheduled a meeting with me for a Wednesday at 3pm. I gave him my address, he repeated it back to me. 3pm on the day of the meeting came and went. At 3:45, he called me, and said the following: “Sorry I’m late, I’m on <a street about four miles away> (In Manhattan, that’s like, eight towns over) I’ll be there by 4, 4:15 at the latest.” Keep in mind, first contact came 45 minutes late. I had a 4:30 meeting downtown, so I thanked him, but told him we’d have to reschedule Needless to say, I didn’t call him back. If he can’t make the first meeting on time (heck, not even on time, how about less than 30 minutes late?) how can I go into a potential working relationship with him involving my home when his actions before we even meet are what I now have as my reference point?

Not mine, but still as pointless.

Second person: Showed up 15 minutes late, but showed up. Did a lot of measuring, and actually listened to what I asked for (a simple shower redesign, the current shower from the previous owners doesn’t have a door – it’s one of those ultra-modern “half-glass doors” that are supposed to look cool, but in actuality, wind up soaking the floor every time the shower is used.) He took notes, and I filled out a one-page form with my contact info and email. He left, saying he’d be in touch by early next week. (This was Thursday.)

The following Thursday, after not hearing back, I emailed him asking if he was still interested. Four days later, on Monday, I got an email “Sorry, got slammed on another project, will have ideas for you by mid-week.”

I’m sure my simple shower redesign isn’t his biggest project, but by this point, I felt lower than low on his to-do list, and when I finally got his email the following Wednesday (which wasn’t complete, but was just two ideas, and 13 days after we first met,) I just let it go.

The third person had a similar story, which I won’t bore you with. Suffice it to say, it’s a over a month since I got the keys to my new place, and the shower is still more akin to a yard sprinkler than a closed-in shower with a door.

But this isn’t about my bathroom-turned-swampland. It’s bigger than that.

It’s almost 2012. By now, it should be obvious to us that our job is no longer to do our own PR. The days of telling other people how amazing we are and hoping they believe us are long dead and gone, and they’re never coming back. Today, where asking for a recommendation is as easy as typing 140 characters from whatever device we happen to be using at the time, our job is to “wow” our current customers (fans, followers, audience, etc.) so hard, that they go out of their way to do our PR for us – I.e., they recommend us to their friends. AND THEN TO DO THE SAME MOVING FORWARD.

The problem is, once we get recommended, if we then fail their friends, we’ve not only lost one potential new client (1), and we’ve not only lost the current client who recommended us in the first place (2), but we’ve lost any potential future recommendations from anyone within both circles. (10? 1000? 25,000? 500,000?) That’s the kind of formula that can bankrupt your business, big or small, end of story.

If we’re going to rely on our reputation to get us new clients, our reputation has to be AS GOOD, if not BETTER, than our most recent job, EVERY SINGLE TIME. And here’s why: I trust the people who recommended their contractors to me. If their recommendation fails, whether it be for a friend/employee/consultant of theirs, or (and this is where it hurts) a person within their own company, I doubt I’ll trust any future recommendation from them again. In other words, the initial recommendation someone gives pays it forward, for good or bad. If the recommendation turns out to be bad, it reflects on the recommender as well as the recommended. In this day and age, when we’re all connected in our digital villages, one bad recommendation is enough to ruin your reputation, your business, and even the value of your word.

My speaking and consulting gigs are probably 90% by recommendation from current and previous clients, and it’s a continuing pattern. If I suddenly stop caring, that cycle stops, and so does my income. Not good. Remember: This isn’t just about the person you recommended: This is about YOU, because it was your recommendation to begin with. In other words, we are who we recommend. And, as it usually does, it all comes down to customer service. Whether you’ve been recommended by someone’s trusted soul-mate, or through a recommendation engine like Yelp or Angie’s List, the end result is the same: We have to strive to impress, every single time, whether a 50-time repeat customer, or a new lead, with the hope that you’ll fulfill what they want.

That being said, I could really use a trusted recommendation for someone to install a new shower door.

Thoughts? Let me hear them below.

Simply put, if you look at Macintosh users as customers, (which they are) then the product Apple creates is the customer service within the equation. Yes, there’s customer service at the Apple stores, or online at apple.com, but that’s (usually) a one-time thing. For the majority of us, customer service truly begins the first time we press that button and hear the beautiful C Major chord. It simply works. (And I’m not going to get into a semantics argument that it’s user interface or similar. Fact is, the product works to serve the customer the way they want it, thus, the customer service of Apple becomes the machine itself, whether it be an iPhone or a Macbook Air or an iPad.)

When my MacBook Air turns on, it becomes an extension of myself. It does so not in an overbearing or annoying way, but in such a way that I hardly know it’s there. It does what I tell it, when I tell it, and how I tell it. And on the rare occasions where it doesn’t, it usually takes just a reboot to make everything all right again.

This defies what we as customers expect (or usually receive) on a daily basis. Example:

This morning, I had to make a 6am Amtrak train from Penn Station to DC. I arrived at Penn Station at 5:40am, knowing that I had 20 minutes to print out my ticket from a kiosk and leisurely board the train.

But naturally, every single kiosk was down. (They all ran Windows, by the way, but that’s not the point.)

There was a 25-person line at the counter, and two people working it. 6:45, 6:50, 6:55… At 6:58, I get called up, and show my license. The man prints out my ticket, (with no great urgency) and I sprint to the other side of Penn Station to make my train. I make it with ten seconds to spare, and flop down into my seat, sweaty, out of breath, and pissed off.

Sadly, that’s the kind of experience we come to expect as customers, whether it be with the transportation we take, or the machines on which we compute. That’s why my Macintosh is so refreshing. When I open the lid, I simply KNOW it will work.

Can you imagine ever having that kind of trust in an airline? Or Amtrak? Or a fast food restaurant, or a car dealership?It’s beyond rare, to say the least. If you follow me on Twitter, you know the issues I’ve been having with my Verizon Wireless MiFi card for over a month now.

Some say the faith that Apple users put into the products they use defies all known types of customer experience known to man. I say it’s simply customers reacting to amazing customer service, and showing their passion and gratitude for it. Passionate customer service will always generate passionate response. Do you have the same level of passion for your customers that Apple does in theirs? Do you have fans? Or simply customers?

Create such amazing products and services within your company that your customers become fans, and offer their trust and faith in you.

Because once you have a customer’s trust and faith, the rest becomes easy.

Rest in Peace, Steve. Thank you for understanding that.

Two of those tabs are Facebook. Facebook.com, and my (I hate this term) “like page.” I go through the people in my network, then look at any posts or comments on the “like page,” and respond accordingly. This is a daily thing. I do it every morning, whenever morning happens to fall in the part of the world I’m currently in.

This morning, though, something was different. I’d been invited to try Facebook’s new “Timeline” profile. This meant that not only did I get to see the thing they’d done this whole press conference for (hey FB, take a tip from Apple, bring Zuck on immediately, let him do his thing, and move on, the 30 minute anti-buildup didn’t help anything) but I got to see it as it would affect me personally. And for as much as I like tweeting funny, sarcastic comments during FB press conferences, I’ve got to say this: The Facebook Timeline will radically change the way you use Facebook, and the way you think about “time” as a concept.

Now before you dismiss me as a Facebook fanboy, know that I’m not. FB has done some stupid stuff in the past, (anyone remember “Beacon?”) and I’m the first to call them out on it. That’s why their Timeline is going to be so interesting. Note that I didn’t say “revolutionary,” because as cool as it is, let’s face it – it’s still just something in Facebook. It’s not discovering Einstein might have been wrong or anything.) But it’s still quite interesting.

Here’s why: When I log onto Facebook, I do so because I want to know what my friends are up to. I want to know what my colleagues are doing. I want to know what people within my world currently consider interesting. And that makes sense. Deep down, that’s the purpose of Facebook.

But, think back – That’s not why we used to log on. We used to log on to Facebook because it was cool to find out what our friends, family, and colleagues were doing, and what they thought was interesting. Lately, though, doesn’t it kinda feel like an obligation?

So last week, I checked out my profile as a timeline, and the first thing I saw was a link to “Born.” I clicked on it, and sure enough, it went back to August 6th, 19-cough, cough, and asked if I’d like to add a photo. “But Facebook wasn’t around when I was born! Why would it have a link to that,” I asked.

And then it hit me – This wasn’t about Facebook – This was about our lives. This was about a company figuring out a way for us to put our entire lives online, regardless of when we became a part of Facebook. Rather, Facebook was offering us a place to store our entire lives, from beginning to now, to the eventual end. When we became “digital” is irrelevant, we can simply add more data later. Think about it: Would we ever post the photo our parents took of us at one day old for the heck of it? Of course not. But if Facebook gives us a link on our timeline called “born,” and asks us to fill in the relevant media, chances are, we just might.
There’s a lot more about the Timeline I can share, but for now, I wont. Rather, I’ll just say this – I know that we love to complain about new changes in Facebook because, well, that’s one of those things we just love to do. But don’t. And don’t bring up the whole “Well, they can now advertise to us with even more clarity and pinpoint relevancy!” argument. Yes, they can. And that’s why Facebook is free. And the better it is for advertisers, the better it’ll actually be for you – the ads you DO see will actually be worth your while! How about that! Ads that can actually improve your lives! That, my friends, is not a bad thing, despite our overwhelming desire to automatically say it is.

Remember: As long as Facebook is free for you, you’re NOT a customer of Facebook. You’re a user of Facebook. The advertisers are customers.

If anything, the new changes, as well as Facebook’s new “frictionless sharing,” will teach us to be much more careful about what we do online. This is NOT a bad thing, at ALL. This is actually a GOOD thing, and can prevent future Congressman Weiner outbreaks by making us all smarter, collectively.

Also, 99.9% of the world won’t see these changes as a bad thing, and they won’t care that they’re giving up more privacy. Why? Because Facebook has done an amazing job of making convenience matter more than lack of privacy. They’ve always been good at that, and that’s why they continue to win. Remember that crowd-funded company that wanted to compete with Facebook last year? What ever happened to them? I don’t even remember their name.

So, in the next week or so, when the new Timelines populate into your profiles, give them a shot – Take a look, and try to look past the changes you see on the screen, and imagine what these changes mean for the future. Learn to be more aware of what you post, and realize that privacy died 30 years ago – Some of us just happen to be noticing it now.

As far as I’m concerned, the future of Facebook is pretty damn exciting.

Some great personal news below this awesome George Michael video.

Last June, 2010, HARO was acquired by Vocus, Inc. It was a great day, and the perfect culmination to an amazing three years of building the best PR repository in the entire world. In just under 30 months, HARO turned from something I’d send to friends into a game changer – something that thousands upon thousands of people relied on each day to get publicity, exposure, and grow their businesses. It was massive.

Over time, I noticed that the number of PR firms using HARO peaked at “all of them,” and the number of small businesses using HARO kept growing at a rapid, rapid pace. And it occurred to me – small businesses really have two choices when it comes to growing their company from a marketing perspective. Do it themselves, where they may or may not succeed, or hire an agency, and hope for the best.

Both those options have their own benefits. I’ve worked with some of the best agencies in the world, as well as some of the smartest internal marketing teams known to man.

However, on the flip side, I’ve also consulted with companies who have come to me beyond angry, for they’ve found themselves having spent lots and lots of money, either for no deliverables, or for deliverables so far off the mark, that they’ve actually hurt the company in the long run.

I’ve been thinking long and hard about what can be done to help the small businesses of the world with marketing. It’s easy to help large businesses. When Saudi Aramco wants marketing help, they throw me on a plane to Saudi Arabia, and I help them.

When a mom and pop bakery want to grow their small, three person business, or want to dip their toe into social media, or figure out how to reach the media, it’s a bit harder. How do they find the right person to help them? How do they know whether or not to trust that person? And finally, how do they know they’re doing it right?

End result? Small businesses, which make up what, something like 97% of the United States economy, need some serious marketing help.

That time has come.

As you can read in this release issued this morning, I’m happy to announce that I’m joining Vocus as Vice President and Small Business Evangelist. In this newly created position, I’ll be helping the more than 30,000 small businesses around the world who utilize Vocus in any capacity, how to grow their business through smart marketing, smart use of PR, advertising, and yes, even social media.

From a bigger perspective: I’ll still be consulting, speaking all over the world, blogging, tweeting, bothering Meagan on a daily basis, and doing all the other fun things I do. I’ll still be writing the HARO, five days a week. I’ll still be based in New York City, and still have NASA the Wonder Cat by my side.

But – Now I’ll have the power of a huge, publicly traded company behind me. I’ll have hundreds of brilliant Vocus employees to whom I can turn, and as important, I’ll have the spectacular suite of tools from Vocus to offer clients around the world. These include PRWeb, HARO, NorthSocial, Engine 140, and a host of other tools and products designed to simplify, enhance, and grow any company’s marketing presence.

It’s going to be a fun, fun ride. Keep watching. We’re going to have a bunch of new and exciting news coming down the pike in future weeks and months. I for one, am excited as anything for this new change. I hope you are, too.

As always, thanks for reading. Thoughts? I want to hear them below.