Customer Service Flop – Goodbye Golf Galaxy

By: Sam Sova

Check out my new blog: http://samsova.wordpress.com/

The Situation

I have been a big time golfer (well atleast the interest level is huge) for my whole life. I spend money on the newest clubs, balls, even biodegradable tees! It was time for new grips because the cord (style) grips that I had were just not cutting it for me. So, I went to Golf Galaxy where I always buy (in this case bought) all of my golf necessities.

The Story

Monday 5/4/09 – Go to Golf Galaxy in Brookfield to get new grips. At the end of last year I had them put the Winn G8 on my 4 iron to test it out over the winter and see if it is what I wanted to switch to for all of my clubs. The test went good so I decided to switch to this grip. I went into the store and proceeded to the grip area. Went back and a guy was back there gripping a club. He was doing it for an elderly man who was trying to create some conversation with the employee – the employee wasn’t having it. Replied with one-word answers basically blowing the old man off. To be honest, don’t even know if the elderly man needed a regrip but really was just looking to  have some good golf conversation.

So I went and looked at grips. The G8 was advertised but did not have any grips for sale in the “bin”. I looked around and waited for the employee to finish the regrip. He finished and I asked if they had any G8’s in. He replied, “I don’t think so.” I asked if he could check “in the back” and he replied that they were all out and didn’t sell them anymore. BUT they were advertising them so that was a little sketchy.

Being open to other options I began asking questions. “Is this one like the G8?” “Is this one firm or soft?” “I don’t want a cord, so can you tell me which ones are opposite of that?” The response that I got was basically that it was a personal preference/he didn’t really care to help. Yes, I know it is a personal preference but you are paid to give me information! So we went around and around, basically I felt that the dude just wanted to go back for a cig break or think about his broken dream of being on the tour and now stuck in Golf Galaxy. So I found the Winn DSI. Nice grip but the display wasn’t on a shaft. Asked him if he could put it on one and employee said “no”. Ughhh.

You are probably asking now, “Why in the world did I even stay after this?” For me it’s all about loyalty. I have been loyal my whole life. Loyal in my job, loyal to my friends, girlfriends, and to my favorite stores. So I gave them a chance. I ended up getting the Winn DSI and had them put the grips on. I asked when I could get them and he said by the weekend. 7 days for 10 grips? Come one now! The guy was being a jerk. I tried to engage in conversation about a course that he and now another employee were talking about and they blew me off.

So I got an estimate for the work. I know it is an estimate and they can change it – yes I get it. But the guy’s estimate was only for the labor of 2 grips plus price of 10 grips for a total of around $65. I really thought he was hooking me up for being such a terrible help, but turns out he was just incompetent and couldn’t figure out how to work the computer. So I signed and left, asking to have the grips by the weekend and they said hopefully it could be done. 9 out of 10 times I would have brought up the mistake. But in this case he ought to be doing me a favor anyway.

Wednesday 5/6/09 – Early! Got an email the grips were done. Sweet, thanks buddy for coming through. I’m busy with softball the next few night so go in Friday. Go back by the club repair area and there is nobody around. Stand there for a good 4 or 5 minutes and two employees walk by but don’t acknowledge my existence. Awesome… Then the same guy comes back. Thinking he may have had a case of “the Mondays” during my last visit I give him a chance.

He walks up I say, “What’s going on man?” He blows me off…”Last name?” Really? After not helping me you have to be a huge prick. So I tell him my last name and look and the estimate is change to $90 (from $65). I say to him that the estimate was $65 when I signed on Monday. He replies that he screwed up (no “sorry I screwed up sir”) but just a non-genuine answer. So I say that the original was $65 that I signed and I shouldn’t have to pay for his screw up (in a very NICE way). He says he screwed up and I have to pay it, end of story. I come back and say that I have been coming here for at least 5 years and should not have to pay it. SIDE NOTE – if you know me, I am not cheap. Have never been cheap. But after how I was treated at Golf Galaxy I think I should be compensated for terrible service and shouldn’t have to pay for someone’s screw up.

So this guy then has the nerve to say, “So lookin’ for a freebie. I get it. You can go to the manager and try to get your freebie.” Basically saying that I am cheap. Golf Galaxy employees are now calling their customers (loyal customers) cheap! As you can imagine, I am furious. Just furious. So I go to the manager. Instead of apologizing and saying “Sir, I’m sorry that we screwed up but we cannot do anything about it,” he ends up telling me that the work was done and I have to pay it. I tell him that I don’t care about the money part, but the service was terrible. Even go on to tell him that his prick of an employee was unhelpful and extremely rude. He has no answer, but he can give me half off the difference ($10). I even said I would never come back again and he could still do nothing! Ohh, and still no apology on their mistake and his employees terrible service. I leave in frustration.

The Loss

I have been going to only Golf Galaxy for everything like I mentioned. Even have forwarded sales via email to friends, coworkers and family. Not any more. I am finished at Golf Galaxy for life.

My estimated future purchases and projected revenue lost for the next 40 years. Sorry Golf Galaxy but I’m going elsewhere.

Irons (new every 5 years): $1000 x 8 = $8000

Driver (new every 3 years): $300 x 13 = $4000

Woods/Hybrids (new every 3 years): 3 clubs x $200 each = $7800

Balls (5 boxes year):  $40/dozen = $8000

Total Estimate: $27,800 – this does not include shoes, gloves, tees, bags, and clothes – all bought at Golf Galaxy in the past.

The Power of Social (social experiment)

RT and pass this along. Let’s see if I hear anything from Golf Galaxy. I will update the post if I do. Twitter tag: #antigolfgalaxy

When Will Twitter Be a Household Name?

By: Sam Sova

I was on vacation this last week in Arizona and obviously had to do some golfing. Living in Wisconsin this is obviously not something that you can do at this time – although I do recall being dragged out by my father to golf when I was younger and there was snow in the sand traps and the ponds were still frozen. The two days that I went golfing, I got paired up with a different two-some of players. All four guys were mid-thirties with occupations ranging from an EMT, to dentist, to education. Being a game that does involve conversation, we all discussed what we did for a living. I said social media. Every response that I got was – like facebook…right?

So these people kind of got the idea of what social media was….kinda. They knew it was about building community over the Web, two of them even told stories about friending ex-girlfriends on facebook to see if they were “hot” anymore. But when it came to testing their Twitter knowledge, they were clueless. On the 13th hole at Vistoso and 17th at El Conquistador I pulled out my iPhone and snapped a scenic photo. Absolutely gorgeous in Tucson. After snapping it I put out a tweet that attached the image. Of course, my fellow golf partners asked what I was doing. And I said, “tweeting the hole.”

You can image…. eyes in the back of their heads. I explained twitter was a tool where you post 140 characters or less answering the question “what are you doing?” but I use it more for information gathering from the top social media folks in the industry. They were intrigued. Only one out of four even heard the word “twitter” before, but didn’t obviously look much into it. So the question is, when does Twitter get the type of props that Facebook has?

Take a look at my post called “Are You Using Twitter?”. Is twitter right now just for the techies? I’ll tell you right now that only a handful (and I have small hands) of my gen-y friends are actually on Twitter. And only one or two actually use it on a regular basis. Will it only catch on if Facebook acquires Twitter? I look on facebook and see how much people love to fill in their status updates with crap. Useful information. So maybe I like Twitter how it is now. There is some crap out there, but it is mixed in with valuable information. People linking to content that can make me more knowledgable instead of wasting my time seeing the countless facebook status updates on Sunday afternoon of how everyone is hungover….although very funny if I have a clear head, which has been the case for a while now.

Are You Using Twitter?

By: Sam Sova

Recently I have been seeing a ton of news about Twitter. The most eye popping to me is Guy Kawasaki saying “I think Twitter is, arguably, the most powerful branding mechanism since television.” Check out the post and video from Robert Scoble here. This is huge guys. Guy and Robert are the guys that you pay to see talk about social media and the future of the space. This is when you stop and really listen.

But if this is so huge, why is it not picking up in the Gen-Y group? When I look, it is mostly colleagues or people digging deep into social media or techies that get it. It is not my college buddy who I drank beers with in college giving his 140 word update of what he is doing. Example – Last week I posted a status update asking about twitter and if anyone is using it to friend me or let me know what they think. The result – no friends and five people within minutes ask me why the hell I use twitter! So does this, and Guy’s comment, mean that Twitter is more of a corporate/business/techie social function?

If you look at Facebook it started as a social function from the Gen-Yers, then was pushed out to the corporate/business world with SOME success stories, but not a lot. This is still where I keep in touch with those beer buddies. This is where I see those friends engaged (or unengaged). So looking at Twitter and just my own little experience here, could it be the opposite? More of a corporate/business function (or something with early adopters of mostly techies and web gurus) that eventually turns into a social function of the masses? 

I’d love to see what you all think. I think it is awesome. I see how it can be HUGE to my employer, but also to keeping in touch with all those beer buddies…but to do so they have to believe in it. Do you?

Are You Growing Your Network?

By: Sam Sova

If you somehow missed it, 533,000 jobs were cut in November – the most in 34 years. Check it out here in the Washington Post. Are you concerned about your job? If not, you should be. But there is one thing that you can do to make yourself ready for a change – build your online network.

In times like these, it is essential to build your network online. Start making virtual friends with those in your field all over the world. Here is a list of some necessary steps to take online.

• Go to Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Bebo, etc. and build your network of friends
• Go to these social networks and join groups that surround your profession and PARTICIPATE 
• Participation is key. Be active and be well known and thoughtful
• Join FreindFeed and subscribe to top professionals in your area (and me if you want!)
• Join Twitter and follow top thought leaders and professionals in your area (@samsova)
• Find top bloggers in your area and put them into an aggregator (like myyahoo.com) and learn
• Search for free or cheap events in your city (like our PRSAYP Bader Rutter event)

The biggest thing to take out of this is to build YOU online. Understand how people follow one another and how to be followed so that you are well know. Start a blog, contribute to a blog (comment). Be thoughtful. Just participate. 

Hopefully taking some of these actions will help you understand more what is going on in your profession and will open up opportunities in these tough times.

Social Media in the Workplace Part II: Who Are You Targeting?

By: Sam Sova

If you read my last post (sorry it was over a month ago!) you will see my insight on explaining social media to co-workers in your organization. With all of the hype in the last few years, I think it is essential to make sure that you are all on the same page with the technologies that are available. So….let’s assume that they somewhat get it – or atleast your co-workers know that you can listen to podcasts on more than just an iPod. What is next? Time to build a plan.

The plan is essential to explain what you will be doing with social media in the mix of things at the workplace. The first part, and focus of this post, is to determine the target audience. 

Determining the target audience is key in building this plan. Are you targeting your co-workers (internal) or are you going after clients, prospects, analysts, etc. (external). This can be determined from key initiatives that you may have heard about in meetings or corporate comms. One that I heard a ton of when talking to key decision makers was that we needed to do a better job at effectively educating “our own” on a consistent basis. Another thing that I have heard is that we need to hear more of what our clients want (be careful with this one). From the research that I have read I would recommend starting internal to get some more buy in from the skeptics. Integrate current methods with some of these new Web 2.0 tools.

A BIG PART of this step is once determining if you are going to target an internal or external audience, to look at that group’s current online usage and participation. If you have a budget, you can hire agencies to actually figure this out for you….but most of us will not have budget for this and will have to do it on our own. 

If you don’t have budget for true primary research on your specific target audience, take a look around you. Think of the median age of your workforce – this will determine eventually what types of tools to implement.

If your workforce is around the Boomer era, as a whole they are most likely not creating videos and putting them on YouTube, or writing their own blogs. They are not on Facebook actively commenting on photos and status updates. They are probably reading news and blogs online and watching videos (collectors of information) or rating and commenting on products and blog posts.

If you workforce is Gen Y and Gen X, as a whole they are most likely creating videos and blogs, on social networks on a daily or weekly basis. They as a whole are more active, and are more likely to participate by uploading video and writing blog posts – commenting and joining the conversation on a larger scale.

When looking at your target audience, just look around you. This will help you in later steps in the planning process to determine the best tools to implement to get your social media initiative revved up.

Social Media in the Workplace Part I: Explain it AND Keep It Basic

By Sam Sova

If you follow my posts on this site, you will see that most are about social media. Implementing a social media strategy in the enterprise has been something that I have been working on and passionate about for almost two years now, and I really think that explaining the basics of Web 2.0 and social media has been the toughest thing in my young career. I write this series of posts based on my experiences in the enterprise and with folks in the industry that have also shared their experiences.

Rule One – Define the “old school” tools in social media 

Basically, define what you have grown up with – like a blog, podcast, vodcast, forum, wiki, social network, etc. You wouldn’t believe how many executives asked me if by creating podcasts we had to buy all of our associates iPods to view it. Could you imagine the numbers going through their head! Crazy, yes…but understandable. If you are a Gen Y-er, then you probably at least know a few of the terms, especially a blog since you are reading this! But think about the older generations. You need to clearly set definitions for how you will refer to these tools in YOUR organization. So in my case, I nixed the whole podcast term for now and have referred to our online videos as – “online videos” because everyone gets it – and because I define a podcast or vodcast as something that is downloadable to an mp3 device and we have not taken it to that step yet. Truely baby steps. 

The biggest thing about this generational gap is the adoption of this technology. By confusing or making it unclear what tools you are planning on using in your strategy, you will miss the boat with those that have no clue. If you make it clear of what you are using and keep it basic, easing the older generation, you are bound for more adoption and success.

We’re Back…Take a Breath and Step Back

By Sam Sova

So it has been a while since any of us have posted anything. For those of you not in Milwaukee, when summer hits things get hectic. Nights are filled with sports, grilling, beer, brats, and of course wine (for those that go to Jazz in the Park). So for those of you that were/are following this blog, I will speak for everyone and say that we are sorry. 

So anyway, in the last month off of this blog I have been through some awesome experiences at the day job around Web 2.0 and social media. I have been building a social media strategy for the organization during the last year and am amazed of the number of people that just want to “dive in” to social media…not only in our organization but what others in the industry have done. It is absolutely insane that after giving presentations I will get a plethora of emails and calls that start with “we should do a blog on… or we should start a podcast on… or even better, lets start a social network like facebook. Clearly, just impulse behaviors (unfortanately how my buying behaviors are!). But the real question is, once you do that one blog post or podcast, what is next?

Here’s the deal. If you look at companies that have tried the Web 2.0 thing and have focused JUST on the tools, they have most likely failed. They were the ones that bought into the emails and calls described above. They were the “impulse buyers” of social media that did not take a step back and look at the big picture. They did one awesome video podcast and were left saying….”great, what’s next?”

As cool as all of this new stuff is like Twitter, Friendfeed, Digg, and the basics of blogs and podcast, you have to take a step back and look at the big picture. Is your culture even ready for any of this yet? Are they ready to have to figure out how to use RSS and download podcasts to their mobile? Or are they behind in the tech wave and have difficulty watching online video? These questions (and many more) are ones that need to be taken in order to have a shot of being successful, because in a large organization (Fortune 1000) sometimes you have one shot to do it right.

PRSA Health Academy Conference

By Sarah Nohr

We work in a multigenerational workplace. Traditionals, Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y. The problem? We all tend to market to ourselves. Meaning we in Gen Y tend to think that by starting a new group on Facebook will actually attract the 60-year-old woman in need of hip replacement surgery to call the hospital for more information. (Well, perhaps we’re not that stupid.) And our managers in the Baby Boomer generation still think that placing an ad in a newspaper is a foolproof way of attracting college grads to apply for a job opening.

After my return from my three-day retreat in Chicago at PRSA’s recent Health Academy conference, my head is full to the brim with new ideas on how to improve our strategic marketing efforts at my company by tailoring messages to different generations. Of course, being a low man on the totem pole, implementation of my eager efforts is not entirely likely. Why? Because I’m a Gen Y. I’m eager and driven and want instant gratification for my great ideas. I want my superiors to notice my efforts and tell me I’m brilliant. At least, that’s what the Baby Boomer presenter told me at the conference.

Here’s a rundown of some of the other things we Gen Y “kids” are supposed to attribute to ourselves. What do you think? Accurate?

Generation Y (Ages 6-28)

• We are entry and mid-level careerpeople; college and gradeschool students
• We are very motivated and competitive, but need regular reinforcement from our managers that we’re doing a good job
• In general, we like our family, our parents and our grandparents (much more than Generation X did)
• We are followers. We tend to do what everyone else is doing – like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• We don’t trust others because our parents (Baby Boomers and Gen Xers) taught us that “the world is not safe”
• We like it when you ask us for our opinion at work – it makes us feel important
• We HATE face-to-face communication at the workplace but excel at group/social events and digital communication
• We value deals when you market to us (2-for-1, dollar menu, etc.)
• We don’t watch prime-time TV; if you want to reach us on TV, target us on cable
• Only less than 10 percent of us are not Web-dependent - meaning 90 percent of us would NOT survive without the Internet
• We are the leading producers of all Web-generated content
• Our brains are wired for complexity – we really can check our e-mail, listen to our iPods, text and have a conversation with you at the same time
• We like instant gratification. Mail-in warranties do not appeal to us.
• Many of us have multiple e-mail addresses and when you swamp us with too much junk mail, we’ll switch our e-mail address on you
• Males of our generation are VERY hard to reach – via phone, mail and e-mail (believe me – I know!)
• We will eliminate your company as a choice based solely on your Web site – in less than 5 seconds

Being the Front Runner in the Digital World

by Sam Sova

As a young professional you have a distinct advantage in the workforce when it comes to the digital world – YOU get it. You grew up in a world revolved around technology and the Internet. If you need to find an answer to something – you Google it. If you want to find the basics of a topic you go to Wikipedia. Want to connect with college and highschool classmates, go to Facebook and find out what they are doing – you no longer have to wait for the reunions. 

When it comes to most organizations you have a distinct advantage in leading them in the right direction in communicating with clients in the digital world. Telling your clients how great you are ONLY through traditional methods of press releases, tradeshows, brochures, etc. no longer cuts it. To get your message deeper you have to hit them in the new ways of Web 2.0. This means by seeing what is being said about you in blogs, taking opportunities to participate in podcasts, and advertising on the Web. 

While some of your co-workers are still struggling with the basics of Microsoft Office – like embedding video in a PowerPoint presentation – you have the advantage of your basic knowledge to excel in your company’s progression in the digital age. We are a generation of participators. If you don’t know how to blog, start reading blogs and even start your own – like we did with this one! Find out what are good podcasts and find ways that your company could do it. Learn the basics of Web 2.0 by participating and JOINING THE CONVERSATION. In doing so you will learn a ton about helping your company succeed in the digital world.