People like to beat up on RadioShack for all kinds of obvious reasons.

From a brand experience POV, sexy it ain’t (the stores look ’80s retro, but not on purpose). And from a financial POV, its need to redefine its retail premise and improve its experience is urgently manifested in its historically low $5 share price.

And yet…

Today I went to my neighborhood RadioShack out of a desperate need for ear buds for my iPhone. As I bought my (Apple, premium priced) earphones amidst the downmarket retail experience that is RadioShack, I was blown away by the contrast to Apple stores… but in a surprisingly positive way.

1. The salesperson took the time to engage me even though I was buying a relatively low priced item
2. She noted that my iPhone is cracked and offered to find out when I can upgrade (sooner than I thought, and I didn’t know I could do that at a RadioShack)
3. As part of that pitch she managed to get my email address, my home address and my home and mobile numbers
4. Although I missed that glistening shiny white cool feeling one gets at the Apple store, I did not miss that panicked claustrophobia I feel amidst the crowds, nor did I miss the implied insult of having to make an appointment or get on a waiting list for service

So: even if your brand can’t afford or isn’t ready for or simply doesn’t want to have that glistening shiny “special” brand experience of an Apple store, simply having effective, engaging, well-trained staff that proactively offer solutions to customers can help you make people feel pretty good about your brand experience.

I still use an AOL account. Seriously. And it’s from 1995. How do I remember that? Because AOL just emailed me a thank you note for being a loyal user. The thank you included a quiz to test my e-personality, fun facts about what happened in 1995 and a blue AOL monster that I can print, cutout and assemble into a 3D figure. This is the most I have interacted with AOL 16 years…and I love it. So while you all race to migrate your Yahoo and Hotmail accounts to GMail, I’ll stick with my retro AOL address. 

Before you make fun of me, remember that AOL set the stage for widespread internet usage. And despite the company’s recent missteps, it’s an iconic brand that has a lot of equity, when leveraged properly.

The realization that I was an “early adopter” and I’ve had the same email account for more than 1/2 my life is quite frankly giving me a happy feeling. Thanks, AOL. 

Great article in Ad Age about The Home Depot’s program to designate a group of store associates as a hybrid of in-store and social media customer service providers.

What’s intriguing to me about The Home Depot’s approach:

— They thought about simply adding people to their corporate communications staff but decided their social media store associates really needed ongoing exposure to products and “live” customers

— After some months of trying the program they’ve found that the social media store associates are doing a fantastic job of generating content—both adding their own and inspiring feedback and dialogue with customers

So, the learnings? 

— Hybrid works: combining offline and online is key

— Experience matters: maintaining ongoing visibility in and to the store adds to the value of the content

Katie’s post on the importance of customer service reminded me of a wonderful service experience that I recently encountered with Uline Inc., a packaging supply company. 

Calling their 800-number instantly connected me with a real person. I confirmed my name and company and their caller ID pulled up my entire customer record including samples previously ordered, billing and shipping information. I was never asked for any of this information throughout the call. Paired with exceptionally knowledgable representatives, I was able to order exactly what I needed within minutes. I was never transferred to another department or treated as if I was part of a pre-written script. Their website listed every product they offered and the representative was able to quickly direct me to photos and size tables of each of the products through a very quick numeric search query.

Using my existing customer data, eliminating touch tone menus, appearing to handle my call without a script and having a comprehensive website made my experience quick, hassle-free and highly desirable over their competition. An exceptionally fast order turn-around was the cherry on the top.

Along with TD Bank, I would consider Uline to be a great case study on how to correctly handle telephone customer service.