Donald O. Cohen: Corporate Ombudsman

Wal Mart -- Really Great Prices, but Service Sorely Lacking

2012-09-20T03:09:00.001-07:00

Yeah, but sometimes the service sucks!,
I shopped at Wal * Mart at the 163rd Street Mall in North Miami yesterday to look for a nice backpack to use while tooling around on my Mountain Bike. I found an inexpensive backpack that I thought might suit my needs, but a deluxe model made by the folks that distribute the famous Swiss Army knife struck my fancy. I could almost toss in the contents of my apartment - that's how roomy and filled with cool compartments it was. However, the price tag wasn't marked, and the bar code reader on my Android phone (I call it an iPhone with training wheels) wasn't working properly. I approached a woman at the Sporting Goods cash register and said:

"Excuse me, young lady. Would you kindly run a price scan on this item?

"Mine doesn't work," she grunted "Go to the the scanner over there, she pointed lazily.

"Where?" I said.

However, it was too late, as she'd turned her back to me and had begun walking away to chat with a colleague.

Disgruntled and darned near angry, I took my place in a long line at one of the main cashiers. Spotting another employee walking by, I asked:

"Where can I get this scanned?"

She pointed at the cashier (without saying a word), before turning her back on me to chat with a colleague.

The Swiss Army backpack turned out to be a decent buy.

But will I return to that Wal mart?

YOU BET YOUR ASS I WON'T.

Great Customer Service Florida Panthers Style

2012-04-28T02:33:00.000-07:00

Black (Pink) Friday

2011-11-20T04:49:00.000-08:00

Back in 2007, when I was Senior Editor (and on the cusp of becoming Corporate Ombudsman), of TigerDirect, our CEO came up with the idea to turn Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) into Pink Friday. In collaboration with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, TigerDirect (and later CompUSA) raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help find a cure for breast cancer. My hat's off to TigerDirect for this innovative and important pink-print for charitable giving.

Here's the original Systmax Inc (Tiger's parent company) press release announcing the Pink Friday promotion:

http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/SYX/1520187661x0x233835/59db8ab0-f38b-4689-b529-12f9b8ee8b01/233835.pdf

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For more information on TigerDirect, click here:

www.tigerdirect.com

For more information on CompUSA, click here:

www.compusa.com

For more information about Susan G. Komen for the Cure, click here:

http://ww5.komen.org/

How to Build Your Brand One Customer at a Time (times millions!)

2011-11-15T03:19:00.000-08:00

Ombudsman? What does it mean? Here's what Wikipedia says:

n ombudsman (conventional English plural: ombudsmen) is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests. An indigenous Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish term, Ombudsman is etymologically rooted in the Old Norse word umboðsmaðr, essentially meaning "representative". An ombudsman is an official, usually appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens. Modern variations of this term include "ombuds", "ombudsperson", or "ombudswoman".
Usually appointed by the organization, but sometimes elected by the constituency, the ombudsman may, for example, investigate constituent complaints relating to the organization and attempt to resolve them, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. Ombudsmen sometimes identify organizational roadblocks running counter to constituent interests.

The Corporate Ombudsman - My Story
Back in early 2004, I was handpicked by TigerDirect's VP of Creative to make an almost immediate impact on the website by writing product ads. I was hired on a 30-day trial. After writing about 250 ads in two weeks, my boss said: "Let's make this arrangement permanent." This fellow (the VP of Creative) lived and breathed customer service., As co-founder of a company that eventually became part of a Fortune 600, 2-billion dollar a year technology giant, he knew that without fiercely loyal customers Tiger would be swallowed whole by the competition. This VP would come to work every day at 3 or 4 in the morning, painstakingly approving each and every customer review. After working with him for a couple of years, he said: "Why don't YOU do this instead of me?"

I took my new responsibility seriously;.
Not only did I approve the reviews - hundreds every week - I acted upon the negatives and responded to the positives. If a manufacturer, distributor hadn't treated the customer like a King or Queen, I took it as a personal insult and notified the company officer in charge of customer service, the individual who purchased the product for us, and often a particular customer service representative. We attended to every complaint!

But what about the weird title?
One day my boss emerged from one of his weekly executive customer service meetings, beaming like a proud daddy:

"You're a rock star!" he said.
"Huh?" was my response.

"You solved more than 100 customer service issues this week! The CEO wants you to become our Corporate Ombudsman!"

And that's what I became... And while I'm happy that I wrote more than 5000 ads, created countless informative articles on almost every aspect of digital technology you could imagine.. I get goosebumps when I think of how many customers I assisted each and every day I worked for this marvelous company.

On these blog pages, I'll share my secrets, collaborate with our Ombudsmen and Ombudswomen, and provide a place where all of us can exchange ideas and create bold new strategies and tactics to build brands by delivering extraordinary service to each and every customer.