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Famous Last Words : Jeff Bezos, Genius!

September 2010 By Denny Hatch
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My Kindle Misbehaves
In June of this year I ordered "The First Tycoon," a biography of the great transportation gazillionaire, Commodore Vanderbilt. Without warning, my treasured Kindle went on the fritz. I would be reading along when suddenly the text would disappear and I would find myself in the contents page. This happened repeatedly. After resetting the system, this still occurred, so I contacted Amazon.com and discovered an incredible customer support system: the instant call-back.

Normally I am a "see guy" rather than a "hear guy," and like to resolve situations via e-mail vs. the phone. However Amazon.com was not responsive to e-mails.

Take a look at an Amazon.com support screen (part of one is shown in the mediaplayer at right). I indicated my problem, typed in my phone number and clicked on "When to call." The choices: "Now" or "In five minutes." I left "now" and clicked on "Call me." The phone rang. I picked it up and a recorded voice announced Amazon.com was calling.

In seconds a live rep came on the line and I told him what the problem was and that I wanted to send the Kindle back to Amazon so an expert there could fix it. Instead, over three additional phone calls (with two additional reps) we talked the situation through. I deleted "The First Tycoon" and the rep sent me a new copy, and (so far) my Kindle is working fine. The book file was corrupted, not my Kindle.

The instant phone-back system, known as click-to-call, is dazzling. OK, some of the reps had foreign accents and I had to get them to repeat themselves. But the problem was solved.

The "wow factor" of Jeff Bezos is right up there with Steve Jobs' iPad, IMHO.

Denny Hatch is a freelance direct marketing consultant and copywriter, and author of the e-mail newsletter, Denny Hatch's Business Common Sense. Visit him at www.businesscommonsense.com or www.dennyhatch.com, or contact him via e-mail at dennyhatch@yahoo.com.


 

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“Blanchard is demanding. He won’t allow you to flip through this book, nod your head, and leave. If you’re in, you’re going to have to invest to get your rewards.”
--Chris Brogan, president of Human Business Works

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“Blanchard is demanding. He won’t allow you to flip through this book, nod your head, and leave. If you’re in, you’re going to have to invest to get your rewards.”
--Chris Brogan, president of Human Business Works

“Social media isn’t inexpensive; it’s different expensive. The human effort required to do


...

ORDER NOW

Available as a PDF.<BR> <BR>A guide to prospecting, lead generation, building an Opt-in database, tracking, social media integration, deliverability, mining content and balanced creative. While email marketing has reached maturity, there’s still plenty of life in this channel — if used wisely. <BR><BR>That’s the focus of this new guide to email marketing, with articles devoted to best practices for prospecting; continuing to build and refresh your opt-in file; how social and email work together; generating relevant content; keeping your messages safe from spam filters and junk-mail folders; and more. <BR><BR>Are you searching for ways to create stronger email marketing campaigns? <BR><BR>The DirectMarketingIQ and Target Marketing editorial teams have been researching, writing and collecting expert advice from industry leaders about how to create top-notch email marketing campaigns for years. <BR><BR>We’ve compiled this information and made it easy for you to find all in one place, with our easy-to-read report – <EM>Email Marketing That Works (2nd Edition)</EM>. Email Marketing that Works (2nd Edition)

Available as a PDF.

A guide to prospecting, lead generation, building an Opt-in database, tracking, social media integration, deliverability, mining content and balanced creative. While email marketing has reached maturity, there’s still plenty of life in this channel — if used wisely.

That’s the focus of this new guide to email



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COMMENTS

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Most Recent Comments:
Tom Smith - Posted on September 04, 2010
Denny:

I used to be a raving fan of Amazon.com but some of their marketing practices are misguided.

I think Jeff is taking his eye off the ball:
Consumer Insights on a Retailer not Thinking (http://bit.ly/ccALct) and Consumer Insights on Amazon.com's Absence of Customer Service (http://bit.ly/bafAfW).

This is very disconcerting since I'm a shareholder.

Tom
Click here to view archived comments...
Archived Comments:
Tom Smith - Posted on September 04, 2010
Denny:

I used to be a raving fan of Amazon.com but some of their marketing practices are misguided.

I think Jeff is taking his eye off the ball:
Consumer Insights on a Retailer not Thinking (http://bit.ly/ccALct) and Consumer Insights on Amazon.com's Absence of Customer Service (http://bit.ly/bafAfW).

This is very disconcerting since I'm a shareholder.

Tom