Peter:

Spot on.

Actually, Fast Company claims the technology you desire is already in use. Now, if you could just get MTA to have it and provide it.

Here’s link to the FC story “How Brands Sell Customers Using Something That Isn’t There:” http://www.fastcompany.com/172.....sn-t-there

Also good for people publishing books to research: would your book’s target audience prefer to read the printed word on a page, in an e-version on a Kindle or iPad, or listen to an audio version? Many publishers these days offer multiple format options.

Great point. I often long for an implanted smart assistant that knows where I’m thinking of going and reminds me of all the things I need to do in that general direction, while quietly, gently reminding me of upcoming deadlines.

In the mean time, what are the best ways to find out how my patrons prefer to get info? Basic surveying?

Peter – you always have great ideas and the prompt to business owners to get to know their customers is a good one – I just wish everything from the social media experts wasn’t so extreme. “No right to run a business”? Really? So when you started your business you knew everything? It’s just so extreme – we are all learning, my clients are still learning. As a matter of fact, that’s why they hire us marketing and social media folks to help them with specific things. Again, I think your ideas are great, I am inspired by you and motivated – but I grow weary of all the “experts” constantly insulting everyone who somehow doesn’t know something. In an industry that is a veritable moving target – can I just say, lighten up?

While I don’t live in NY, I completely understand what you mean. I live in Louisville, KY, and when coming home down I-64, it drives me absolutely nuts when there’s an accident on 64, and there is a Trimarc sign that forewarns you of accidents, but the sign is AFTER the last exit to get off 64 before the stretch where the accidents always occur. They couldn’t put a sign telling you, “hey, get off here and take 60 or you’ll be waiting awhile!”

I do have the Inrix traffic app for my iPhone, but the stupid thing crashes so much that it’s almost not worth trying to open it. There’s another example of bad cust. service. If you DO have a plan in place, make sure it WORKS!

The most annoying part about the MTA.info is their huge advertising campaign on the trains talking about how they farmed their app development to the young genius experts rather than doing it in-house. Seems pretty intiutive to do what you wrote about – guess they found the wrong geniuses.

“I would kill for an app that senses I’m walking into the Columbus Circle subway station, then texts me with “Hey, just so you know, there’s construction on the 1 train, jump over to the A train instead” or similar.”

If there’s an MTA app, they could use some of the new passive location mobile technology from folks like Xtify that could send push notifications (of service alerts for examples) to users when in certain locations.

I think businesses forget the basics and should have varied channels for communicating with their customers. What maybe “easier” for the business may not work for the customer and businesses need to be open enough to understand that. And it is simple to do by just asking them.

Hi Nicole.

Sorry to hear that your INRIX Traffic app is crashing on you. clearly, something is wrong since we have hundreds of thousands of regular users who are not experiencing this frustration.

I’d ask that you send us an email to “mobilefeedback@inrix.com” and provide us with your mobile phone model and operating system, to determine how we can fix the app.

Thanks,
Kevin

Kevin Foreman, VP Mobile Apps, INRIX, Inc.

I didn’t know you boxed!? That just made you infinitely cooler (not that you weren’t already)

I work on a team right now that is tasked with this. We are wanting to find out how is the best way to communicate the information we have, that we know they need, in a timely manner that won’t lead to an exploded email inbox? Does anyone know of any generic surveys that could be modified slightly to get people to give us their ideas? Great post!

This question always determines whether we’ll make a face call or phone call, send email or snail mail, text or use our social media channels; to contact a prospect or customer. And because engagement preferences constantly change, it is a question that I along with my team, routinely ask throughout the customer life cycle. In many cases, we’ve performed all of the above, at the request of the prospect or customer. Great post!

Thanks for sharing and here’s to continued success for you and all of your readers.

I’m currently doing research for a paper in my new communications technology class. My paper is on the extinction of print media and I found this article intriguing, because it’s about how businesses need to get in-touch with their consumers the way they want to reached. In most cases the way consumers want to reached today is not through print media. Your blog reveals how communication technology, such as phone apps, is the way to do so. Even email is growing old.

Your idea of having an app that senses your need of information is fantastic! Thanks for the post. I’m excited to see if the next new thing in communication technology will involve some type of sensing element.

I also wonder if and when email will be replaced with something better…