I always look for ways businesses can be better. Ways they can be awesome with little effort. Often, I’ll see subtle things hotels can change, or online companies can do that take almost no effort, but have a huge impact on the customer experience. Maybe one customer can have a huge impact on your return. Maybe not, but a customer who is a champion for your product is worth a lot.

Last weekend my hand fell into a running table saw.  Don’t do this! It hurts! As a side effect, I can’t use my right hand and I’ve gone from a 80+ WPM typist to something really slow. This blog entry will likely take a couple of hours to write, but it is important. After I got home from the hospital, I slowly started writing emails and other documents as part of my everyday life and job. I have technical papers to write for conferences, correspondences to write, reports, etc. I do a lot of writing and not being able to type fast is a big deal.

So I ordered Naturally Speaking by Nuance.  It’s $99 on their web site and $42 at Amazon. You must get the box program, so why pay $58 more for the same thing? You wait either way. Amazon is quick, so I ordered there. The huge price difference depending on the distributor is another issue, but I want to focus on what happened next.

In general, I don’t like to wait for things, but this is different. Getting this program isn’t just a fun thing, it can really make an impact on my daily activities. Not exactly medically necessary, but close. For me, right now, it is a handicap aid - much like a wheelchair will restore mobility, this will restore my work to a more normal pace. Every day I don’t have it is hours of wasted productivity.

Nuance, the company who sells the software, is trying to be hip by getting on Twitter and Facebook.  Like many companies, they re-tweet other people’s tweets about their product. They do an OK job, but not worth following because I don’t want to hear how wonderful they are, I want to know where they are going. I want to know what they are developing that is going to make me even better. But again, that’s a topic for another blog entry.

So I tweeted the following. “@dragontweets Bought NS today because I mangled my hand in a table saw on Sunday. Wish there was a way to download so I don’t have to wait.” In my mind, this is a suggestion so obvious you could drive a trunk through. As a business owner, I would read this and figure out a way to help this guy. This guy needs our product NOW. He’s already bought it. I would find a way to send him a license key and a download to the program. We already have the 64 bit version available for download, so it is technically possible to do. Even if this guy is lying about buying it, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I got no response. Oh well. I’ll likely get the program in a few days. However it’s 3 days later and Amazon still hasn’t shipped. This is more of a problem now. Nuance has lost out on being awesome, I’ll be direct and tell them my situation and see about download possibilities. I chat with their customer service online who direct me to call customer service at their 800 number.  A 1 minute call later tells me bluntly it is not available for download.  Strike two.

Now I don’t expect extra service.  I don’t expect special attention.  I can wait like everyone else or over pay at a box store.  Let me be clear, this isn’t a rant or complaint.  But from an intellectual business point of view there was a huge opportunity that was missed.

What could have happened?  Say they responded to my twitter message with a license key and a download.  Even just a temporary license.  Someone in their PR department was awesome at their job and took a few minutes to make a difference. 

I would instantly be an unpaid salesman for their products.  Not just a salesman, but a cheerleader.  My online influence is about 100 twitter followers and 100 facebook friends.  I work at The Boeing Company as a software engineer and talk to other like minded people.  Most of our friends are doctors and lawyers (their big target high-paying customers).  This blog entry would be very different.  Maybe 200 people would read or be told directly about my experience and their product. I don’t know about you, but if a trusted friend recommends something, that means everything to me.  I’m going to remember that conversation and value it more than any random CNet or PC Magazine writeup.

Am I unique.  I don’t think so.  I may have more influence than the next guy, but even the most introverted to-himself guy I know tells me about things that make a difference.  I’ll read an online review - I’ll listen to him.

I know Nuance is going to read this post.  I’m not writing this for them.  I’m not writing this as an open letter complaint.  Their company is just a handy example for the way I see a lot of companies miss opportunities.  Look past the procedures and customer service flow charts and the standard operating practices.  Your customers tell you what they want.  Listen.