gDiapers: the early years...

Customer "Service"

Customer Service is a funny game. One would think the US - the biggest economy in the world would have nailed it but it is an ongoing source of angst. It's simple really. Listen, acknowledge and respond smartly.
I think if an outsourced solution is used, the heart and soul of the company is lost and replaced with a script. The customer service team is not empowered to make judgement calls and so very little is achieved. The company hopes customers accept the script and accept that 1% will actually ask to speak to a Manager. Makes me ponder how we scale. (Note to self...Need to up R&D on cloning Kelli & Karen. How hard can it be?)

And why the customer service ramble this morning? Portland has but two pubs that offer live coverage of rugby. There is the faux Irish chain Kells and the wee , new competitor - a travellers pub called North 45.
Yesterday, me and my mates went for the latter to watch the Rugby Workd Cup GF (England vs South Africa) as it is smaller, has a better atmosphere and closer to home. And lucky we did too. Because at Kell's, thanks to failed Customer Sevice they not failed to show the Rugby World Cup Grand Final, they were also close to host an impromptu live WWF involving their Doormen vs 500 rugby fans (picture sizeable South Africans and Englishman fuelled by Guinness and faded memories of past on-field glories: not pretty). Direct TV's feed failed to work at Kell's. They had charged a $20 cover charge. The genius who runs the joint decided the best response was three fold:

- keep everyone's cash
- keep taking cash at the door for the queue of people waiting to get in (to watch nada)
- run to the back office and lock the door

In the end North 45 was packed to the rafters and did a great afternoon's trade. Kells? Not so much.

Going the extra mile...

Holiday Inn taking every precaution...

K & K...

Karen & Kelli on fire in Chicago. Three deep for two days. They did a sterling job!

CRM search

So now we are up and running it is time to invest in systems...systems to track customers enquiries is a focus for us. So we search high and low. Fortune 500 companies to Excel. What a process. Some have systems that do the tracking beautifully but then you are forced to buy a bunch of other tools which are included. Think Microsoft and "bundling". Others were looking the goods all the way through spec checks, a webinar, a demo, a walk through...Oh and by the way we don't support Apple. Or we are web based but only if your browser is Internet Explorer. Grrrr.
So after resigning to the fact that we would just use Excel, Business 2.0 or Inc - one of the two had a piece on Entellium. Founder is ex-Apple and their tag line is perfect: Powerfully Simple CRM. It all looks the goods. And we just hired a Customer Service Manager so Kim can get off that beat and get more strategic. Yay. Now we love systems.

Customers helping us help customers...

For any customers out there with fit issues...

Hi Kim,
I emailed you recently and you called me to help me figure out why I was
having problems with leaky g's. You had said that I needed a good seal
around the thighs, but not to do the waist too tight (it could effect the
seal). I tried being very conscious of getting a good fit around the thighs
and not doing the velcro too tight, but still they were leaking.

Knowing my goal was a good fit around the thighs, I pulled aside the cloth
cover to see how well the edge of the snap-in liner was fitting, and I
realized it was so loose, I could see his little boy parts easily. Obviously
that was a problem. So I pulled up on the snap-in liner on the front so it
was actually peaking up a bit out the top of the cloth cover. This tightened
up the thigh area to create a good seal and... ta da! It worked! No more
leaking! YEAH!

We went to dinner at a friend's house and I forgot to change his diaper.
When we got home, I changed it and realized it had not leaked and he had
been wearing the same diaper for over 5 hours (I know, bad mom), but good
diaper! As far as the velcro around the waist, he needs a pretty snug fit
because he's got a smallish waist, and the tightness around the waist
doesn't seem to effect it the seal around the thighs. In fact, having the
waist on the snugger side seems to help keep the snap-in liner up higher in
front where it needs to be.

Thank you so much for all your help. I hope this helps you help others with
similar problems!

Also, here's some pics of Ely in his gDiapers. You have my permission to use
them if you would like to.

Sincerely

Allison

Thank you Allison!