New Persuasion

More on the 411

Last week, I wrote about how anyone can text Google for all sorts of information.  To follow up on this, I just found out that if texting isn't your thing, you can also just call Google and get similar information.  And it's FREE.  FREE.  You don't have the usual $1.99 charges that apply from calling 411.

From Google:

To try this service, just dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411) from any phone.

Using this service, you can:

• search for a local business by name or category. You can say "Giovanni's Pizzeria" or just "pizza".
  
• get connected to the business, free of charge.
  
• get the details by SMS if you’re using a mobile phone. Just say "text message".
  
  And it's free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.

Skyecade sees endless possibilities for this techonology:

If Google can iron out all the kinks in this technology, the possibilities will be endless. Why limit themselves to a mere phone directory. You're already connecting to (and searching through) Google's massive databases via a phone connection, why not pass them other search terms? For example, need to know  John Adams birth date in a pinch? - Just bare with me.- With this technology, Google could simply forward the user's query to a site like Wikipedia, or even use their own built in define operator, i.e., define: John Adams.  Now all Google would have to do is read you the results, which is what they are already doing in Goog 411.

It will be interesting to see where they take this.

I have to agree- the technology is fascinating and Google continues to make our lives easier and best of all, it's free!  I'm a fan.

The new way to 411

Everyone knows how useful Google is for finding, well, anything.  But did you know you can use Google even when you're away from your computer?   You can now send a text message to Google (466453) If you're out and about and need directions, phone numbers, weather reports, flight information, and the list goes on and on.  (Go to http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/mobile/sms/ for a full listing.) 

For flight arrival/departure info, type in your flight number

Send a text message of "w [city name]" to get a four-day weather forecast

Get translations of foreign words by sending "t [word or phrase] in [language]"

For local listings, text "[what you're looking for] [place name or zip code]"--such as "bbq denver co"

Text "[amount and currency] in [new currency]"--such as "2000 mxn in usd"--to do a currency conversion

For basic driving directions, text "[place or zip] to [place or zip]"--for example, "phoenix az to 86336"

Within seconds, you will get a reply text with whatever it is you're looking for.  And best of all, it's free. (Well, the usual text messaging rates apply, but I'm sure it's cheaper than the usual cost of dialing 411.)   This is just another example of how Google is adding convenience to our lives, and literally, putting the world and information right at our fingertips. 

Advertising, the Customer, and Relevance

More fuel for my 'advertising will never be the same' fire.  Rob Hof's The Tech Beat blog at BusinessWeek online, quotes Michael Wiley, the New Media guy at General Motors:

"The existing advertising paradigm sucks.  It's woefully inefficient. We give consumers virtually no information."

(Disclosure - General Motors is a client of the company I work for - The McGinn Group, and I know and sometimes work with Michael Wiley).

Hof also mentions Stan Joosten, Procter & Gamble's innovation manager for holistic customer communication.  Joosten says:

"People want to talk about things they care about and you give them a platform to do that."

Both of these men recognize that it's about the customer.  It's about the customer, their wants, their needs, their hopes.  It's not about the company and if it's about the product it's where the product fits into the customer's life.  And it's about the customer who is increasingly moving online to find information and to find other like minded people

As Jeff Jarvis said, "The greatest challenge for advertising today is relevance."
People go online to search for information.  And if like Wiley says, advertising doesn't give them that information, they'll find it somewhere else.  Companies have a chance here to provide good, solid, open information and reach customers when they want to be reached. 

John Sviokla put it best:

"...The question senior managers need to ask themselves is, in this new world, in which information flows freely, and all customers can actively search for my product or service, and compare competitors and substitutes: Are we first in line?  Are we in all the places we should be where people are searching for products and services?  Do we have a presence in these new marketplaces and marketspaces? Or are we still lashed to offering our marketing and persuasive efforts to customers when they come to our distribution, store, or place of advertising?...Most senior executives don't even know how the Google page rank algorithm works, yet it is the most important thing to happen to advertising since television."

Change is hard isn't it?

1-800-HELP ME!

I was watching TV last night and although I rarely pay attention to commercials, an ad for the Citibank Simplicity Credit Card caught my eye. You’ve probably seen this ad - it shows a guy on the phone with Citibank trying to cook dinner at the same time while almost setting a fire in his kitchen.  The tagline of the ad is “Press Zero to talk to a person.” 

What an ingenious idea!  We’ve all been caught in those frustrating phone chains which can seem like a maze with no exit and only dead ends.  In my experience, it seems like whatever issue I have at the time is never covered by the four choices I’m given. I also hate when you have to speak your answers instead of pushing buttons because, inevitably the computer misunderstands every word I say.  I say YES and the computer thinks I’ve said NO and I have to start all over.  ARRRGH!!  The frustration never ends.  At times like this all I want is some human contact.

Several websites, including www.gethuman.com  list shortcuts in reaching a real live human when calling various customer service numbers.  (To reach a human at American Express, press 0 repeatedly.) 

Matt at 37signals.com agrees:

Yeah, it may cost extra for Citibank to field these calls but it wisely views the added cost as an investment in good customer experiences and a compelling selling point that it can hype in its advertising.

Did you know that Amazon.com doesn't list a phone number anywhere on its website?  That's right-- this company had $8.5 billion in sales in 2005 yet doesn't list a phone number anywhere on its website.  It is shown on the screen once you purchase something but if you want to call about a  refund or anything else after you make your initial purchase you may be out of luck.

The NY Times wrote about this problem:

Try to reach customer service at Amazon.com to fix a problem with an order and you will encounter one of the most prominent and frustrating aspects of the Internet era: a world devoid of humans. Not only is there no telephone number on Amazon's Web site, but the company makes a point of not including one. Instead, customers are asked to fill out an online form and wait for a response.

Luckily, websites like http://clicheideas.com/amazon.htm have come to our rescue and posted every imaginable way to reach Amazon.com customer service.  (In case you need it, the customer service number is 800-201-7575.) 

Ebay is another company guilty of not easily providing live customer service.  According to http://hello.typepad.com/hello/

Ebay say they only provide there phone number to GOLD + POWER SELLERS, meaning you need to do over 20 thousand dollars worth of sales continuously for at least 3 months, then keep it up if you want to keep your rating & support.

It really shouldn't be that hard to get help.  What ever happened to the customer is always right?  All of this goes along with the recurring theme of our time is just as valuable as our money. We don't want to have to send an email to a company and wait a day or two for a reply. We want to just hit 0 and get instantly transferred to a live person who will answer our questions immediately.  Companies need to be willing and available to help us or we will get frustrated and take our money and time elsewhere.  Regardless of whatever other features the Citibank Simplicity card has, being able to just hit 0 to talk to a person makes me want to switch.