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What Maki Teaches Me About Marketing by Idea Chef from 678 Partners

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:38:00 GMT

Thursday was a long, but good, day. I woke up with the roosters as usual, read / wrote many emails, I had lunch with Geeta (hi!), left phone messages and met up with the awesome #FIJIHunt volunteer crew to talk about this weekend's scavenger hunt!

It was getting late so Amir, the Network Sommelier, convinced me to grab a bite at one of the two places we go for sushi... well, technically maki. It had been a while since we last visited and was close by so it was really a no brainer. We sit, place our menus on the left, place the ordering sheet on our right and mull our options.

We didn't immediately notice that the ordering sheet had way more options for maki on it than the menu listed. And, that the menu only had descriptions for its special maki and not for the entire list of maki. It was Amir who noticed first. He pointed out that there were maki on the ordering sheet not on the menu and that none had descriptions (e.g., what kind of Tuna, etc.). I pointed out that there was space on the bottom to write in the numbers for the special maki in the menu and said, "Well, I suppose the listed ones can be found in other places which is why there are no descriptions." We shrugged and ate.

Later last night, it occurred to me that just like this Amazon.com post, I should have listened more closely to Amir's point! Lucky for me, he doesn't gloat... Let's go back to what he pointed out. There were no descriptions of the rolls. It looked something like this (and they had prices listed to the right of each entry):

Rainbow Maki

Shrimp Tempura Maki

Spicy Scallop Maki

Spicy Tuna Maki

Spicy Ebi-Q Maki

Many are sushi experts and know what's in all of of these rolls. You and the restaurant understand each other very well and it's a beautiful relationship. But what about the novices, first timers, willing to try and are curious? How do they navigate? Sure, they could and should ask, but there were over 30 listed on the sheet. That's a lot of asking. Let's try to imagine the uncertainty in ordering... You don't want your first timers even potentially uncomfortable because you want them to come back.

And, as a marketer, as a business person, as someone who wants to build relationships and referrals, you don't want your prospective customers to be potentially uncomfortable either. When we create business plans, marketing plans, strategies, you name it, we don't allocate a percentage to uncertainty and potential discomfort. I'm grossly paraphrasing Sandler sales training, but you never want your customer or potential customer to be "not okay" because they will never come back.

You want customers to be okay. And what I mean by that is they want to feel like they've made a smart choice, like they are getting value for the money, like they know they can rely on you to deliver a quality product. Customers want peace of mind and they want to feel like you understand them (and/or their needs) which is why you created that product or service that meets their needs now and in future. And, they want to know they can confidently come back for either more product or for answers to questions they might have.

Let's go back to that Amazon post for a moment... If you remember, my point then was the feeling of disconnect I had with Amazon because their email didn't acknowledge my purchase. Amazon is the shopping engine that makes recommendations for you while browsing and should also be the engine that knows your purchases so they don't recommend ones they consider better. After that email, I felt stupid. I thought I bought a bad milk frother. I regretted the $10 I spent.

We aren't in the business of creating confusion, discomfort or regret. We're in the business of creating value and, ultimately, relationships with our customers. Consequently, how we engage with current and prospective customers should never include a chance of confusion and disengagement.

Your thoughts?

Best,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678Partners.com

678 Partners Idea Chef Get Out and Be Social -- Scavenger Hunts and Marriage Proposals

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:30:00 GMT

"Get out of your nice comfortable office and meet with your potential customers. Use what you learn to create valuable stuff online." --@dmscott

I can't exactly remember when David Meerman Scott tweeted that but it was definitely within the last week. And, the reason why I held onto it is that I've come across so many good examples of this brought to life. I'm convinced it's because that I'm to learn what social actually means.

Since January, I've been blogging, building a business and banding together to launch ProductCamp Chicago. I've also immersed myself into a self fashioned social media education: what it means, how it can be a tool for good (and bad), its vocabulary, its etiquette, its ability to make connections that but for the channel(s) would never happen, etc. I've met many people, had many wonderful opportunities but, ultimately, I'm learning that I still have so much to learn. Daunting yet dazzling all at the same time.

One of the things I've come to believe is that while these social media channels are powerful, they mean nothing without a multisensory human experience accompanying them - either as the driver or the passenger. We can't always be parked behind a laptop or an iPad... At some point, we have to engage with others. It may be solely due to new technologies but we have to engage with others. It's why food trucks are all the rage now if you think about it... They may tweet their location but we run with joy to get our favorite bite and sit outside to enjoy the weather -- both of which are intensely human experiences.

So, there are other intensely human experiences I've come across lately that I'd like to share with you... And I think they underscore my point. Even before that @dmscott tweet, I saw an interesting tweet from Chris Brogan directing me to FIJI Water Urban Hunt (here) and taking place on August 14. It's a scavenger hunt social media style. Nope, it's not an online scavenger hunt where you steal someone's Farmville cow on Facebook. It is real, honest to goodness scavenger hunt that scours all of Chicago but uses social media tools in the process.

How? Teams race around town to find the required items. As soon as they find each item, they have to check in on Foursquare, shout it from Twitter rooftops (#FIJIhunt) and upload video on YouTube to earn points from the judges. Like any fun scavenger hunt, there is the "thrill of the chase" adrenalin high and competition. The other fun thing is that because of the checkins, friends/family members can track progress, cheer friends on and maybe also clue them in on what the competition is doing.

In other words, you can have an intensely human experience like a scavenger hunt enhanced by social media tools. The nature of a scavenger hunt requires team playing, exchange of ideas, creativity, rapid fire thoughts... hard to do online but most excellent in person. The extra element of the social checkins allow this human experience to go out in concentric circles. Yes, I know that this is about FIJI and the sponsors but it wouldn't be nearly as fun if this were executed behind a laptop at a WiFi cafe. This only works because there is a swarm of people competing for bragging rights and some prizes.

There's another intensely human experience that I just learned of this morning thanks to Mashable. It has to do with a marriage proposal that, at its core was romantic and traditional but engineered with social media savvy. He used Twitter, Foursquare and Qik (a video stream) to engineer the right location so he could rendezvous with his intended but also to let family know the proposal was taking place so that they could watch the live video... It's insanely charming (but a bit long).

If you made it through the bulk of it, you see the joy and surprise but you also see greetings to family that are watching via the video stream. Imagine the rejoicing of the happy parents that they could witness the traditionally proposal on bended knee and the acceptance. You can't propose over the internet... It's got to be done in person... but you can share an intensely human experience with those you love using social media tools.

So, to me, @dmscott is right... There is benefit in getting out and being social with people so that you can be more effectively social onine. What's your take?

Best,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678 Partners Web Site

LinkedIn Profile

If Your OpenTable Ain't Broke... by 678 Partners Idea Chef

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:21:00 GMT

Hello!

Hope all is well with you and you're looking forward to an insanely good weekend... I'm counting down the seconds to seeing R. (hi!) Saturday morning and hopefully seeing K. (hello!) who is moving back to Chicago with her family.

In my last post, I talked about businesses knowing limits in search of repeat customer heaven. While we can't foresee every variable, it's good to have an understanding of what our core competencies are, who we serve, why they come back and how all of that translates to business strategy, sales, marketing... everything, in other words.

As I said, if you know what you're good at and you make good money doing it, why would it be that you'd copy what your neighbors or competitors are doing? Which brings me to OpenTable. If you've not heard of it, it provides online reservations for diners and a guest management solution for restaurants. They released their 2Q results released on Tuesday. Here are some choice numbers:

Revenue increased by $22.5 Million, or 37%, over 2Q 2009.
Their installed restaurants grew by 27% and their Seated Diners grew by 52% over 2Q 2009.

OpenTable's growth was fueled by both North American as well as its International business. In other words, in an industry which is particularly hard hit by this recession and amidst a debt crisis in Europe, this company did extremely well. Some numbers, huh?

Before you shrug and move onto someone else's blog consider this: on the heels of that positive and impressive report, they launched OpenTable Spotlight (here) which is a half-off meal deal to New York and Boston diners (for now) assuming that enough of them buy the offer. Hmm... sounds familiar... Why does that ring a bell... Oh right... Groupon!

[I mentioned Groupon in my last post with no notion I'd be mentioning them again today. I'm just as surprised as you might be.]

Why would OpenTable do this? We all can guess at the basic answer: it's that they want to kill Groupon out of the restaurant portion of its business. It makes sense: no one should ever stick their heads in the sand and pretend or wish their competition didn't exist. And Groupon is definitely competition which OpenTable would love to kill.

My question of "why" has nothing to do with the basic answer. My question of "why" is really addressing what the core of the OpenTable product is versus the core of the Groupon product. OpenTable is ostensibly about the diner but really about restaurant operations: reservation management, table management, guest management and marketing.

In other words, OpenTable is a tool to help restaurants build/maintain relationships with customers at different touchpoints: pre service, during service and after servce. OpenTable is designed for longevity and positive customer experience. Oh sure, it's a lead generation tool for a restaurant and a diner may visit once and never return for whatever reason. That said, the backoffice engine is designed to be more than "Table for 2 at 8pm."

Let's contrast OpenTable with Groupon. Groupon is a group buying initiative with coupon only activated after a minimum number of people agree to buy it. It is a transactional, one and done engine just like Catalina marketing. Companies interested in casting the net wide in the hunt for new faces can use Groupon as one of the tools to do so. And that's all Groupon does: it helps to case the net wide (potentially). I won't speak to how much cannibalizing may happen but the smart money says it happens!

As we learned in this article and my last post, Groupon does not help with operations. And in fairness to them, that's not what they offer. How a business manages the increase in volume due to Groupon offer (staff, hours, forecasting, etc.) is entirely up to them. How business limits an offer should be based on what they know their resources to be and not on theoretical future repeat business. And let's also remember that for many, Groupon is a risky bet because the offers aren't profitable in and of themselves in many cases.

So, let's go back to the "why" question. OpenTable's function is to help with operations management and relationship management. It's designed for good resource management and longevity. And, based on those 2Q numbers, it's doing a good job of it. OpenTable's strategic advantage and key differentiator is that it can withstand the likes of Groupon because of its inherent nature not in spite of it.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This moves makes OpenTable look scared when they don't need to be. They should keep enhancing what they're good at to differentiate further from Groupon instead of doing things like Groupon. OpenTable just blinked first.

Thoughts? Let me know!

Best,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partner@gmail.com

678 Partners web site

Idea Chef LinkedIn Profile

Business development is still a top priority for the remainder of 2010 and beyond

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:27:00 GMT

I still see people who aggressively attend networking meetings. Yet no one follows up the next day when they collect multiple business cards. Why bother? Add the time taken to get to the meeting, meet new people (who might have nothing to do with your line of business) and time taken to get back to the office or home. Its a couple of hours from your day. In the business development world, thats a lot of time that could have been used in a more productive way.

I have built a strategic network of connections, clients and other business development professionals utilizing the power of LinkedIn. As you may know for me LinkedIn is not about the first man or woman to 40,000 connections. Its about strategic connections and partners. I attended a few very interesting business development seminars last month downtown (2 for free and one worth $299) and to my surprise I took away a number of great idea’s to enhance my own business development efforts. I am sure you are very successful, and I don't want to assume you need any new business but just wanted to share these events because I found them very valuable. Feel free to share this with any of your colleagues.

Building a referral machine (3:30-5:30) on August 12th (FREE)

Secrets of a rain maker (3:30-5:30) on August 26th (FREE)

Referral Machine Boot Camp (8:30-4pm) on August 27th ($299)

I also posted both of these events on my LinkedIn profile (on the events page) to share them with others in my network.

Thanks

Amir aka Network Sommelier
678 Partners A strategic business and marketing resource

Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh aka Network Sommelier

Need a business and marketing resource and can't find it? Post comments on our Facebook page and we would be happy to make an introduction.

My business and marketing tweets on Twitter

My LinkedIn network (invitation only)

Office: 312-725-3635

The Deal Or No Deal Groupon Dilemma

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:28:00 GMT

Well hello! I hope all is well! Have you visited our Facebook page? There is more fun there than you can shake a stick at: great posts, great conversation and the occasional prize!

Speaking of prizes, have you ever watched Deal or No Deal? It is luck at first but really about understanding risk. Initially, the contestant picks a briefcase that has an unknown dollar amount inside and is set aside. Onstage, models hold twenty plus cases all containing dollar amounts from $1 to $1 Million. The contestant has to choose a series of cases for the model to open. The amount revealed is "lost" to him/her.

After the first cases are opened, the show makes an offer to the contestant based on what's left to be opened and the contents of the contestant's selected case which he contestant can accept or reject. And this is the shift from luck to strategy, understanding risk and reining in a bit of greed. If the first opened cases are really high dollar amounts, the contestant might consider taking the offer because chances are decent that it will go downhill from there. If not, the contestant should reject the offer.

Theoretically beautiful but humans sometimes let things other than strategy and risk stand in the way. Here's a particularly bad example of not seeing things clearly (see below). I couldn't find an official clip so this is the next best thing.

Ouch. It would have been smart for him to take the $603,000 final offer and recognize that he was $603,000 richer than before. When the show started, Howie Mandel, in an interview, said was most interesting was the level of risk (or greed) people accepted in spite of the realities of what cases were opened, what remained and the show's offer to the contestant. He wasn't suggesting that we should all be math geniuses. What he was suggesting was knowing our risks based on realities.

Which brings me to this article about the danger of businesses wanting too much! See, this manicure place had good intentions: make an offer via Groupon to raise awareness, increase foot traffic and convert a portion into repeat business. But, like Deal or No Deal contestants blinded by dollars, this business couldn't or wouldn't strategize as to the odds of a "run on the bank", as to capacity nor as to some limits to give them some practical operational relief but also provide good service to prospective customers.

In other words, it didn't have the skill or will to consider offer management on the path to marketing and business success. Now, sure, I wasn't privy to the conversation between Groupon and the overwhelmed business so I can't and won't judge. But, models like Groupon make a business owner want to have access to as many new customers as possible disregarding information from Groupon, the coupon customer's "fit" with the business, the current capacity to serve the coupon customers who might keep your lights on in future, the current capacity to service current repeat business who do keep your lights on now and the long term capacity to service the new (and old) repeat business.

Is the space large enough, do you have enough inventory, do you have the right staff levels, can your managers handle the new volume, etc.? These are all good questions to ask. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. This scary economy makes all of us want to do scary, risky things in the search for a relief inducing payoff. We're all eager to keep the lights on. We're all thinking about doing things in the short term with nary a thought to longer term consequences. This isn't Las Vegas, it's business. It's how mortgages are paid, kids are fed and retirements are funded.

In other words, we're all thinking about turning down the $603,000 offer to go for the $1 Million prize. But should that eagerness make us lose sight of what our capacities are and what risks we can tolerate? Never. Because the alternative is much much worse as evidenced by the video above!

What's your take?

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678 Partners Web Site

Idea Chef LinkedIn Profile

Ye$, Cu$tomer Experience Matter$ (h/t Bruce Temkin)

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:10:00 GMT

Last time, I told you all about an airline customer service tale gone horribly wrong. There were multiple steps along the way that could have prevented how bad it was. But I take this to be a fault of internal employee alignment. We have to know and understand our brand before we can act as its cultural ambassador to others. In a ridiculous kind of way, our employees have to be beauty pageant winners -- walking tall with the tiara, the scepter, the (faux) ermine cape -- and being gracious as possible to everyone.

Resting on our laurels never yields anything good especially these days as power has shifted more to the hands and the voices of the customer. This means that everything matters. Not to make you paranoid or anything but every thing does matter. Every single mappable touchpoint between you and your customers can be moments of glory or doom. If you lose focus or you don't think it's important enough to pay attention, then you're headed for certain doom.

As backup, I've gone to my favorite Customer Experience expert, Bruce Temkin. In this post, he shares that customer experience leaders have more loyal customers than the laggards which is kind of a no brainer. The eye popping item is that the gap is 15 - 17% in three areas: willingness to buy more products, reluctance to switch and likelihood to recommend. That level of "stickiness" is enviable in any industry and particularly enviable these days as consumers are more and more driven by price than before.

So on to more practical airline examples and I do recall that I promised to share more numbers. In this post, I mentioned JetBlue's Jetitude as a model for employee engagement leading to positive, or as positive as possible, customer experience. Jetitude consists of:

Be in Blue always
Be personal
Be the answer
Be engaging
Be thankful to every customer

As I said then, Jetitude is effective because it's action and goal oriented with customer experience as the underlying theme. What's striking is the infinitive "to be" which means that these are to be active behaviors and attitudes at all times especially "Be in Blue" which means living JetBlue corporate values and the brand identity at all times. It also means that these active behaviors drive a sense of ownership and accountability. Every employee has the power and permission to "be the answer" within the context of the JetBlue brand for the customer without fear of reprisal. Great stuff.

And this translates to real performance metrics. In that 2009 Airline Quality Report which measures customer complaints, on time performance, lost baggage among other items, JetBlue ranked 3rd while the other carrier ranked 13th out of 18. You could suggest a connection between employee engagement and these metrics.

Earnings also could be correlated. Last week, JetBlue announced a record 50% jump in profits for the second quarter ($30MM versus $20MM) with $939MM revenues was a record representing 16% growth. The company attributed this to fuller planes and growing while other airlines were suffering in this economic climate. They even had to add employees! Lest you think this was a fluke, JetBlue also recorded profits for all of 2009. Finally, the stock price has risen 23% in the past year. They are doing something right.

How'd the other airline do? Well, the good news is they were in the black. The bad news is that it was its first quarterly profit since 2007 and largely attributed to baggage handling and seat upgrade fees. In fairness to them, they were given credit for tightening cost controls and there is some pocketed rebound in business travel. Also, their stock price has improved nicely in the past year (but only because they were in dire straits last year). On a comparative basis, you can say that JetBlue is doing better.

I could bring up Zappo's success here as well but some may say I'm beating a dead horse here. The point is that customer experience, though intangible, has real meaty impact on how well you perform as a company overall. The point also is that it bears the time, money, resources, attention, etc., to make sure you communicate your brand promise clearly to your employees so that they can be your standard bearers to the customers. It's mission critical.

Let's face it: there will be some people that we can never satisfy because it's economically infeasible to satisfy some demands. That being said, we have to try every single time to "win" the customer's attention and loyalty. It's not a coin toss with the probability of being 50% heads (win) and 50% tails (loss). You have to hit a theoretical 100%. If you're a student of statistics, you know that this is hard to do but you've got to try for it every single time.

What'$ your view on the dollar$ and cent$ of cu$tomer experience?

Best,

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com
678 Partners Web Site
Visit my LinkedIn Profile
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Jetbridge to Nowhere by 678 Partners Idea Chef

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:37:00 GMT

I was to go away this past weekend for a long overdue sister trip. All of the plans went pear shaped when our plane suffered a mechanical problem.

We were on the runway, the engines were revving for a nice delicious takeoff and about 10 seconds into said takeoff, the pilots aborted. We learned that there was an issue with one of the engines and we'd have to go back to the gate for a plane change or a mechanic. The pilot was regretful and apologetic but also optimistic about getting back on track for our trip. I was fine with a return to the gate as opposed to barreling up into the air with a defective engine and appreciated the caution. The tone was appropriate.

When we got to the gate, there was a few minutes of silence and then the optimistic pilot informed us that mechanics were on their way to have a look. The next voice we heard was not the pilot's and this was the gist of his comments "This is customer service. This flight is cancelled. Exit the plane with your belongings, walk over to the next terminal and stand in line at customer service to rebook or go standby."

Admittedly, I've got a bum left ear but I didn't hear a "sorry" nor "we regret this inconvenience" or similar. I also didn't hear anything in the tone that was sympathetic/empathetic to our plight. So, in a state of silent confusion, we trudged off the plane with the lone flight attendant that remained averting her eyes and not acknowledging us as we got off the plane. Warm fuzzies all around!

So, after the panicked walk/run with wheelie bags to the other terminal, 45 minutes in line and only halfway to speaking to a live agent, we get rebooked via phone on a 5:30pm flight. But we still had to stand in this long line to get receipts, passes, etc. No sympathy from the phone agents either, by the way, and we had to tell the same story a few times over.

During the next 50 minutes in line, we realize that our trip now would be all of 1.25 days which wasn't worth it and wanted to cancel. When we got to a live agent, she said she could help us but we should have done that over the phone - something we didn't know. She also said she couldn't refund my sister's money but that she could have done that over the phone - also something we didn't know. The good news, according to her, was that she refunded the miles back to my account. It turns out, I had to call back later in the evening because she actually hadn't refunded the miles. It was a fitting cap to a confusing and frustrating day with Chicago's hometown airline.

There were so many things that could have gone better and they all boil down to my wondering if they have a brand identity and if so, how it relates to employee engagement or lack thereof. It's clear that neither time nor money have been spent on building real relationships with employees that transfer to building real relationships with customers. Information, the lack of it, misinformation and delivery is all part and parcel of employee engagement. It's clear in my example that time nor money haven't been spent on engaging employees. Perhaps better put, so little time or money has been spent that it has led to employee disengagement. The result is confusion and dissatisfaction: employee and customer.

Last month, I talked about the importance of apologies - remember Umpire Jim Joyce's disastrous call and instantaneous acceptance of his error? I also talked about employee empowerment and I used Southwest's rapping flight attendant as a prime example of how the airline has successfully encourages its employees to "walk the talk" of its brand promise. As I said then, the word "sorry" doesn't absolve you. Rather, it's an acknowledgement of what went wrong and that one understands the impact on others. It also means that you have the power to provide the solution or lay the groundwork for a solution.

Customers want guidance towards a solution especially amidst a sea of confusion. To be clear, it shouldn't be that we hand hold all the time. Rather we take a few extra steps to provide meaningful pieces of information as an aide to customer decision making. Making that extra effort and/or ensuring that the customer has the needed tools to make a satisfactory decision really can make a difference. As I pointed out here, Maritz data show that 43% of customers defect because of poor service with 77% of that 43% connecting poor service with employee attitude and 83% of the 43% telling others their horror stories (like I've done here).

To bring it home: I can't begin to tell you how many times I heard, "I forgot how much I hate this airline." or even "This is why I fly Southwest." while in line on Friday because of the confusion, misinformation and a seeming lack of empathy/sympathy. So, in real terms and using those Maritz percentages, if there were 150 people on that cancelled flight, about 65 will defect. Of that 65 that defect, about 28 will say it was due to poor attitude and about 54 of them will tell their sad story to others.

Ouch. Those are some serious numbers. Wouldn't you agree? I'll talk a little more about serious numbers in my next post.

Until Then,

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

Contact Idea Chef on email
678 Partners LLC web site
LinkedIn Profile

Amazon.com and a Mea Culpa

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:58:00 GMT

Friends, I have to tell Amir, the Network Sommelier, that he was right. Earlier this year, he purchased one of those nifty portable Flip Video Cameras so that we can make vlogs on the go as we're zipping about town. Quite convenient - all you have to do is hold up the camera to yourself, press the red button, start talking and ignore the strange faces on the passersby.

Anyhow, a few days after he received the camera and fell in love, Amir received an email from Amazon telling him about the Flip Video Camera, how cool it is, what its uses are and that if he purchased it with a Flip accessory, he could get an attractive bundled price. And yes, friends, the attractive bundled price was less than he actually paid.

Understandably, he was all sorts of confused, frustrated, angry -- he kind of went through the five stages of grief (here) and I went on that journey with him complete with him asking me to write about it. And, objectively, I did think it rather odd that he'd received an email about a great product he'd already purchased let alone the fact that the great product would come bundled with another item at a cheaper price than what he actually paid.

I chalked it up to a weird processing mistake, "Maybe they meant to say that because you bought the Flip, you'd be interested in XYZ but instead something went awry with the programming." I just didn't think it was blogworthy... But he was frustrated enough to think it was vlogworthy. See this little video:

So... fast forward to earlier this month. I had to buy a book for my next club meeting (hi S, S, S, T, C, K and M... or Stick 'Em as I just noticed) so I purchased that as well as a milk frother for my daily cafe au lait from our good friends at Amazon. I got the package shortly thereafter and all was well... Until I got an email from Amazon touting the features and benefits of different (and fancier) milk frothers than what I had just purchased. And, to Amir's point, it didn't even open with a salutation. Instead, here's what it opened with:

"Are you looking for something in our Small Appliances department? If so, you might be interested in these items..."

Mr. Bezos, I was interested in something in your Small Appliances department and that's why I purchased it. Thanks for letting me know that it wasn't special enough for you to remember. And, oh yeah, thanks also for letting me know what I purchased was probably a bad decision. I'm going to sulk for a bit and think about what could have been amazingly frothy cafe au laits instead of what I'm having in real life.

Okay - that was melodrama. This is not life altering in the slightest. My cafe au laits are perfectly frothy. But, what it does is give me the case of the bummers. How can it be that Amazon of all companies makes this boo boo not once but twice? And who else is getting this feeling of disconnect from them especially in this age of super turbo super socialized CRM? If this were a much smaller outfit and/or an outfit just starting out, I'd understand and forgive it. But, this is Amazon. This is the company that asks us to rate past purchases and recommendations so that they can refine what's presented to us further... because they want to personalize the experience!

This is also the company that bought Zappo's last year. Last month, as you recall I wrote two posts about Zappo's (here and here). Zappo's tagline is "Powered by Service" and Tony Hsieh very much believes that your culture is your brand and vice versa. As I mentioned then, their great success is borne of their personalized customer service and they very much "walk the talk" when it comes to their customer service philosophy. It's that commitment that garnered the $1.2B price tag, that results in 75% of daily orders being repeat business and that 1Q results were 50% greater than 1Q results last year.

So if Amazon is structured for refined recommendations and customer specific content... and Amazon bought Zappo's for that level of customer service commitment that has made Zappo's so successful... How was it that the emails we received didn't reflect recent purchases? It's so odd and, honestly, not aligned with previous experiences with them.

What about you all? Have you had this happen to you? I'd love to hear your stories.

Until Next Time,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678 Partners

P.S. Please visit with us on Facebook!

Duane Reade's New York State of Mind by 678 Partners Idea Chef

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 14:00:00 GMT

Hello Everyone!

Earlier this week I had the utmost honor to be a guest blogger for Shopper Insights in Action. I learned quite a bit and met many great people!

Today, I would like to tell you about the talk by Joe Jackman, Duane Reade's CMO, which covered how that drugstore went from convenience destination to desired destination. It's truly a "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere" kind of New York story. Honestly, I was excited for the preso because, as a former New Yorker, I remember my Duane Reade shopping experiences well... and not always because they were like running through a meadow of beautiful flowers.

Shopping at Duane Reade is like breathing -- vital but not always conscious. It's a part of NY cultural fabric and before it's transformation, it felt like as you went from store to store the only thing in common from store to store was its name. There was no consistency in format, layout, etc. As you traverse the streets of NY, that's charming because every neighborhood in every borough (what up, Brooklyn?) has its own vibe. But it's not charming when you're trying to have a quick, easy drugstore experience.

It's easy to say that New York is a brand (watch this Jay Z video to understand why). But it doesn't mean that Duane Read was a viable brand on par with that of New York (or Jay Z). And that was at the core of the research work to wort out how to revitalize and reinforce Duane Reade as a #1, top of mind drugstore shopping destination.

What did they learn? Quantitatively, they knew they had the highest sales per square foot but that they were at the risk of being overrun by CVS and Rite Aid because those two brands bested Duane Reade in every single research dimension - ouch! Qualitatively, they found numerous sites/blogs devoted to how much New Yorkers loathe the store. Double ouch! Net net: if they didn't do anything, they'd be gone like a New York minute.

They essentially learned that while Duane Reade stores are ubiquitous, it didn't mean ubiquity meant ease. Consumers told that they were bored, needed information, craved engagement and wanted things that would pique their interest to pull them into the store and keep them once they got in. Duane Reade took the time to learn who their shoppers were and, significantly, who their shoppers weren't and honed in on three segments that represented their sweet spot. And their sweet spot is nicknamed Maria, a busy ethnic minority woman living and working in multicultural New York.

So, they learned who their shoppers were and what they wanted. Many companies would make subtle changes and hope for the best. Duane Reade underwent a top to bottom change which not only required engaging with their customers and earning their loyalty but engaging their employees and earning their loyalty as well. Many companies focus on the former but forget that it's an internal and external rebranding initiative!

Duane Reade decided to "own" New York. And their new tag line "New York Living Made Easy" does just that. It acknowledges that living in New York is a unique experience and that it can sometimes be hard. It also lets you know that shopping at one of their stores now matter where you are in any of the boroughs will make it easier to navigate the city's landscape. It's peace of mind in a concrete jungle.

In their stores, it's top to bottom format redesign with bright colored, well lit and easy to navigate aisles. Cosmetics sections appear more inviting and the pharmacy is redesigned to look more professional so you can feel confident in asking for recommendations while waiting for your prescription. It also allows for an employee fingerprint: one of the stores lists all the employees' favorite things to do or see in New York.

Duane Reade wants to reflect its New York heritage, a New York sense of humor and the "soul" of the brand. The store redesign speaks to some of the quantifiable things shoppers wanted in an ideal store but the advertising reflects some of the intangibles. Here are some funny gems that were on some NY cabs:

Germs are everywhere and so are we.
One place even tourists can find.
Where the toughest people get the softest toilet paper.

The beauty of all of these initiatives starting with the research shows a wonderful sense of alignment and understanding of the long term goal of business survival and business triumph. It's not an easy task to have the discipline to understand the research, devise the segmentation, drive internal and external branding initiatives, redesign the store to service the modern demands of "Maria" and reintroduce the brand to millions of skeptical, jaded New Yorkers.

This discipline allowed Duane Reade to go from being at risk to being acquired by Walgreens for over $1B. Not bad, eh? Have you shopped at Duane Reade recently? Please share your thoughts! And, join us on Facebook!

Best,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678 Partners

Baby Registries and Customer Experience by 678 Partners Idea Chef

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 12:38:00 GMT

Hello!

Thanks to everyone for the live feedback, comments on Facebook and here on the last post. I had fun writing it and researching it. And by researching, I mean that I watched that Huggies commercial multiple times. Hey, I'm easily entertained.

Last month, I told my Budget car rental escapade (here, here and here) and it turned into an excellent discussion of why (and how) Jet Blue (here) and Zappo's (here and here) get it "right" when it comes to customer experience. I also pointed out data from the always reliable Bruce Temkin to demonstrate the causal link between customer experience and business results.

In other words, customer service and customer experience matter. We know that there are top line and bottom line impacts when we don't pay attention to either. And, by this point, the fact that they matter should be more a "preaching to the choir" as opposed to a "teaching moment" for business people. *sigh*

A friend was recently invited to a shower and the shower hosts instructed those invited to visit myregistry.com to purchase from the list the guest of honor compiled. Easy enough, right? Nope. She had to call in reinforcements and when she couldn't find them, she asked me to navigate it with her. It was probably one of the most complex things I've seen in a while.

Have you been to myregistry.com? It's a consolidator of store items into one master registry list. After you sign up for an account on myregistry.com, you can add a "Add to My Registry" button much like you can add a "Share on Facebook" button to your browser toolbar. You can visit any site you wish and if you happen upon a must have item, you simply click "Add to My Registry" and it's added to the master list. You can also sync all of your store registries so, again, it becomes a neat one stop shop. In theory, it's a gift registry tool for good especially for the discerning, discriminating, time strapped or nervous and for people looking to give gifts.

In practice, it's a gift registry tool for good only for the discerning, discriminating, time strapped or nervous bride or mommy to be. It can be painful for everyone else because though one can sync lists from larger department store registries, it's also possible that the registrant can choose one item across multiple, obscure, small sites which, as luck would have it, was the case for my poor friend.

See, the guest of honor had visited multiple smaller retail sites and chose multiple products, many with price points in the $5 - $15 range and her master list reflected all of her great choices. The problem becomes when you make a selection. In my friend's case, if you want to choose multiple items, you're directed to multiple sites with multiple tabs open on your browser. You have to actively select what you want to purchase and go through checkout multiple times (your billing address, the shipping address, credit card info, message, etc). After you go through that, you're to go back to myregistry.com to update the master list.

In other words, there's no link between the master list and the site from which you're purchasing at any step of the purchase process. And, there's no roadmap to explain why multiple windows open when you select an item, that you need to go through multiple checkouts and that you need to return to the master list to update it. Figuring it all out takes a lot of time, a bit of confusion and a smidge of aggravation. Completing the purchases takes a whole other chunk of time, a bit of confusion and a smidge of aggravation, too.

In the grand scheme of things, this might not be "important" at all. It's not on the scale of the oil spill nor does it solve high unemployment. But, it still matters because of how we perceive others' appreciation of our business. As consumers, we have choices. And, as I mentioned in my last post, this unstable economic environment has made us savvier and warier consumers. Our antennae are now trained to pick up "value for money" as we purchase.

As we've said so many times before, the minute by minute customer experience matters. Sure, the "Add to My Registry" button is functionally a great idea but one wonders how much research went into actual user experience? Did they consider scenarios like the one my friend went through? And if they had, why didn't they build an explanatory roadmap so people don't spend time spinning their wheels trying to figure it all out? In other words, why didn't the customer experience matter?

It comes down to strategy, lack of strategy and/or the failure of strategy. You might recall my posts about stress testing from last week (here and here) with this anecdote being a good practical example of why we need to test and retest strategic and tactical premises. On paper, the linkages to multiple sites makes sense but its failure in practice showed a lack of care and precision in execution. The end result: aggravation instead of joy in buying a gift as well as resolution to never use myregistry.com if one can help it.

What's your take? I love those comments!

Best,

Parissa Behnia
Idea Chef

Email Idea Chef on 678Partners@gmail.com
Check out our 678Partners web site
Idea Chef LinkedIn Profile

Designer Baby Booty by 678 Partners Idea Chef

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:33:00 GMT

Hello!

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Mine was filled with parties, BBQs, friends from out of town, hot/humid weather and the requisite overeating... Just as July 4 should be!

Right before the holiday, my friend A.M. (Bonjour!) sent me a short article to share on the 678 Partners Facebook page as she knows I have affection for the unusual. And this article was about Cynthia Rowley designer Pampers. No need to adjust your monitors, rub your eyes or check the lighting, my friends. It's true that Cynthia Rowley, the American designer, was asked by P&G to design high end Pampers. And design she did. In all, there are 11 patterns that will be sold in Target stores starting this month. There's no long term commitment but if P&G is happy with its performance, it's conceivable the line will expand.

And, I'm sure many of you have heard of or even seen the Huggie's denim style diapers. Below is the commercial which has both amused some and turned off others. Full disclosure: it gives me the giggles.

You know what I find interesting about the Cynthia Rowley Pampers? Aside from the fact they had a serious conversation with her about this, that is? The suggested price of these diapers is $15.99 which is $6 higher than the plain variety. So, for 60% more, your baby can relieve him or herself in style. I don't know how that's a good fit with the realities of today's consumer. The Huggie's suggested price for a pack of 29 is $13.49 and is priced higher than the plan variety. To be clear: I'm all for baby fashion and nothing is more hilarious or more fun than shopping for baby clothes, etc., so I don't judge dressing babies to maximize their natural cuteness.

If you've picked up any sort of newspaper, you will have read stories about how private label (also called private brand or store brand) is taking the country by storm and how consumer mindsets are shifting towards value for money type of purchases. Also, we've seen multiple articles and analyses about the seismic shift in purchase behavior of private label not only because of the unprecedented economic environment but that also, frankly, private label product quality has improved dramatically. Focus Group of One: I used to be squeamish about buying private label but now, I give it nary a thought. A peek at my grocery shopping cart will show a large percentage of private label canned goods, pasta, storage bags, etc.

Some data just published from Private Label Manufacturer's Association (PLMA) reinforces this. Sales of private brand products increased by 1.8B units and national brand units decreased by 2.1B. In grocery, private brands were 23.7% of unit share and 18.7% of dollar market share. A recent BrandSpark study shows us that 59% of Americans think that private label products are good as brand name products, 66% of consumers (this is an international study) believe that private label brands are usually extremely good value for money and that 56% of Americans have purchased more private label products in the past 12 months.

You could extrapolate these points to say that consumers will feel less risk in expanding their private label purchases into new categories. After all, if you buy private label chickpeas and are consistently satisfied, you may start buying private label cereal, for example. And many stores believe that. Rite Aid just announced a whole new private brand line and Walgreen's attributes a portion of its latest positive results to its private label offerings. It's safe to say that private label is here to stay and it's safe to say that the private label/value for money mindset is ingrained into the consumer.

So let's talk about diapers again. More specifically, let's talk about diapers that are 60% more expensive than its plainer branded cousin let alone way more expensive than its private label counterpart. You could argue that these designer diapers are for the affluent whose wallets aren't squeezed like the rest of us. True. But then these would be in better packaging and sold at Bloomingdale's not Target.

So why does it seem like P&G is not in touch with what's going on in the consumer landscape? After the novelty fades, how many newly savvy and savvier shoppers will want 60% more expensive diapers? What's your angle? Let me know!

Best,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678Partners.com

LinkedIn

Pier 1's Cardiac Stress Test by 678 Partners Idea Chef

Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:00:00 GMT

Happy Thursday!

It's July 1. Holy smokes where did the first half of this year go?

I saw a tweet earlier this morning asking if anyone was halfway to accomplishing goals for the year. It's a question many ask but it assumes that goals only have a one year shelf life with the creation of wholly new unrelated goals the next January 1. What about goals that span a few years to fruition, that force you to make some tough decisions which may seem weird or (gasp) that show you have looked at your business stressors in the eye?

In my last post, we talked about embracing failure and used cardiac stress tests as example of why seeking the causes of failure is actually a good thing. I encouraged us to be marketing, really business, cardiologists to look for the stressors in branding, messaging, products, service, customer experience, etc., so that we can identify where we are failing and write our business prescriptions to save us from an untimely end.

It's not silly to stand up and admit the possibility of failure. And, really, do you want to be known as the business version of the Emperor's New Clothes tale? I certainly don't.

And, interestingly, neither did Pier 1. The other day, I came across a brief (yet interesting) interview of Alex Smith, Pier 1's CEO. What was striking to me was the decision to cease e-commerce sales in 2007 during a time in which everyone was selling online or starting to sell online. Let's face it: selling online is like breathing. Everyone does it. And yet they still walked away from it.

This was because they understood the failure factors in their underlying business model namely store operations and profitability. They were low on cash and the stores weren't operating at satisfactory levels. And because they knew that when (not if) they fixed it, they'd be able to be open again for e-business. Here's what he said:

"The pie is still there ... We had a very acute business situation that we had to fix. [E-commerce sales were] de minimus, so we weren't giving up a whole lot by getting rid of it."

I wish I were smart enough to use a term like "de minimus" but setting that aside, I wish I were smart enough to understand broad, longer term vision as opposed to letting the desire to "keep up with the Joneses" to inform my business strategy. In 2006, Pier 1's internet sales were only 8% of the total. So, he was right to call it small in the grand scheme of things and to redirect funds to improving profitability and store operations which brought in the lion's share of their revenues.

In the meantime, Pier 1 has closed 200 stores and renegotiated rents on many others. They've streamlined merchandising and improved inventory management. Result? In times where stores are struggling and desperate for positive same store sales numbers, they were able to report 14% same store sales increase in May with June numbers trending in the same direction. Their shares have risen about 29% this year. Juxtapose those numbers with some depressing consumer confidence numbers and market volatility we've seen recently and you'll understand that Pier 1 understands their mission to survive and are committed to it.

Pier 1 will be back into the e-commerce pool this year. But, in another instance where they identify and understand failure, this won't be a cannonball jump -- more like a tentative toe dip into the pool to check the temperature like site to store shipping instead of shipping direct to the customer. He further says:

"One of our greatest strengths is that we have got this great nationwide coverage of stores ... We believe that 70% to 80% of our target customer base lives within a very comfortable drive time of our stores. We also know from our research that customers buying home product like to see and touch the product before they finally commit, even though they do a lot of research online."

What I like about this is that it's a realistic blend of the necessity of e-commerce presence while at the same time understanding the realities of their business model and also understanding their type of customer. In other words, they understand the critical points where they might fail and are considering ways to mitigate or eliminate failure.

Would Pier 1 still be around if they didn't cease online selling in 2007? Maybe. But maybe not. But it was also risky to cease sales in the broader "perception is reality" point of view. They stopped selling while others ramped up. They went on an e-commerce diet. Think about when you've been on a diet -- you really want that piece of cake, that juicy steak or those fries. But you know you have to stay away from it. It's hard!

And so is acknowledging where you might be failing and doing something about it. What's your view? I'd love to hear from you!

Best,

Parissa Behnia

Idea Chef

678Partners@gmail.com

678Partners.com

LinkedIn

June 16-Building long lasting relationships on LinkedIn by 678 Partners & Smartketing

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 12:36:00 GMT

Idea Chef and I had a great conversation with Jim Matorin about engagement and social networking last week. Part 1 discussed how 2010 is different from the previous few years where social marketing had some time to wind down across twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. So here is our title:

The usual suspects on the interview turntable. Jim has a terrific background and is very knowledgeable. He is also a great guy. We had multiple touch points(phone and email first), before we met in person. If you are in the food marketing business, well worth knowing him.

The interview is in 2 parts. We did part 1 last week and will be doing part 2 this week. As soon as we have time to upload everything on the usual channels we will let you know. Slideshare, You Tube, Blogger, 678 Partners page as well as our Facebook page will have all the details.

Everyone is trying to re-define engagement. Its still the same engagement as it always has been. Nothing replaces the face to face meeting on "how can I help you?" and "how can you help me?". Building the 2 way relationship has always been a face to face discussion(and will always remain that way). Online connections are great and now we have more channels to share information. At the end of the day the job still has to get done. We have delight and surprise our customers and solve their problems by offering top notch solutions.

My belief has always been that speed networking does not work in the fashion that most people apply it. 40 people all show up and exchange cards. You never hear from anyone unless YOU follow up. I was at one meeting last week. I have 30 cards on my desk. It was as if I was never in that room.

Jim had the best quote. Build meaningful and powerful relationships. It still amazes me in this country that they don't teach networking in business settings.

Some great discussion points on blogging from Jim. Very few blogs these days contain interesting content. It is not only classic marketing but should be built as part of your everyday strategy.

Separate your situational connections from your sustainable ones. Situational connections don't build a strong foundation for you. Will they be there when you need them most? Will they refer business to you? Again why would you want 70,000 connections when you only work with the first 100(possibly a lot fewer than those). If the first person to 100,000 connections wins an IPOD, that's great but focusing on building a quality relationship with 10 people might generate much better returns.

This slide explains itself. Regularly sharing best practice in the form of information exchange is a great way to enhance business relationships.

Jims details so you can get more information. I am also attaching our interview (you need 40 minutes to listen to this). I would suggest your cup of coffee over the weekend when you are reading the weekend papers.

678 Partners Idea Chef and Network Sommelier Interview with Smartketing Jim Matorin on Buzz Marketing, Engagement & LinkedIn Par from Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh on Vimeo.

I also did a short You TUBE with regards to a speed networking meeting I attended(I am still shocked people have not followed up with me). I might have to start approaching some business schools to start teaching this as a full time program.

Share your feedback with me on email or if you like this information, please visit our 678 Partners Facebook page and say you like this. We would certainly appreciate your thoughts and comments.

Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh aka Network Sommelier

A strategic resource to private business owners, non-profit executives and art collectors

Have a niche business? Want to join my LinkedIn strategic resources?

Comment on our Facebook page.

Want to be interviewed? Have something to say? Then email me or check out our interview studio.

Office: 312-725-3635

Hidden tax issues that serious art collectors neglect by 678 Partners Network Sommelier

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:05:00 GMT

The art world impacts everyone and anyone. Museums collect and display it.

Non profits receive it from donors. Some know what to do and others have no idea on how to deal with it. Whichever camp you fall in, not knowing what to do with donated art can cost you a fortune. Hidden tax issues, complex estate decisions and never talked about asset protection topics are rarely discussed by professional advisors.

So I decided to talk to Randy Fox about this. Between Randy and I, we shared lots of stories from the real world.

Randy and I spent close to 40 minutes talking about this. Here is what we talked about.

If you get a chance this weekend grab a cup of coffee and listen to this 40 minute interview. Here it is:

678 Partners Network Sommelier art discussion with Randy Fox from Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh on Vimeo.

As always you can also find these interviews on our 678 partners interview studio web page.

Next few weeks we will be pick up a discussion on car collectors.

Want to get in touch with Randy? Please feel free to contact him with any questions that you might have. Here are his details:

What amazes me, is the fact that people spend a lifetime collecting art. That passion gets completely destroyed in a matter of hours or days. It does not seem to be an American only issue. It happens around the globe. Don't fall in that trap.

Stay tuned for our car collector discussion coming out soon.

We got a lot of interviews lined up. Have a great week. Don't forget if you like this topic feel free to check our Facebook page and drop a comment.

Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh aka Network Sommelier

A strategic resource to private business owners, non-profit executives and art collectors

Have a niche business? Want to join my LinkedIn strategic resources?

Comment on our Facebook page.

Want to be interviewed? Have something to say? Then email me or check out our interview studio.

Office: 312-725-3635

Get ready for a shaky 3rd and 4th quarter in US economy by 678 Partners Network Sommelier

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:18:00 GMT

Government spending has come to an end. 90% of new job hires are going to census(not long term jobs). Europe going through a lot of problems. US GDP is weak and threatened by 1% reduction with every $1trillion of new national debt.

Let's take a quick look at the last 7 recessions and expansions.

The most recent GDP recovery is fundamentally different from previous ones.

Large institutions hedge their bets based on taxes, interest rates and global economic outlook. Why is it that most investors can not invest like institutions?

If you are 5-10 years away from retirement, start saving now as fortune 500 pension plans are underfunded. Social security future funding (2010/2020 projections) is pretty unclear, so every person is now responsible for their own retirement.

If you think the last decade was bad, take a look at the return assumptions of some of the biggest companies in the US. This next decade will undoubtedly have slow growth. This would definitely require a different mind set as far as planning is concerned.

The latest state of consumer balance sheet (assets to liabilities) needs a major makeover. Every consumer has to watch their own balance sheet let alone, business's, cities, counties, states and the entire country. We have to clean balance sheets from the bottom up. Its going to be an ugly and long process.

Post recession of 2008, we are slowly beginning to see an increase in personal savings(something that we should have done 20 years ago).

Household debt (in all shapes and forms) is heading lower (in the right direction) as consumers are trying to keep cash and pay down debt. Budgeting becomes an absolute must!

No comment on lending standards. The chart should speak for itself. Small and mid sized community banks continue to fail under a slow and long process adopted by the FDIC.

This latest trend is not talked about in the media. Hoping for improvement in Q3 and Q4. If this does not improve it will have a ripple effect in the US economy. More bankruptcies, more foreclosures, less consumer spending leading to a smaller GDP. Everyone is impacted by this measure. We need jobs and growth to boost GDP.

We have to stop printing money and address how we can reduce spending and bringing growth back. It starts by helping small business and encouraging entrepreneurship.

Between Japan and China, they own half of our debt(not a pretty picture).

Another signal to watch closely as investors seek safety and run towards yield(massive amounts of money going to bond mutual funds). Some investors are still paying the price for 2000 let alone 2008. Whats interesting is the investor behavior once you get hurt in one asset class. Every recession blamed one asset class. Started with bonds, then in 2000 it was equities and everyone went into real estate looking for cover. You remember what happened in 2008. Doing everything in one asset class is generally not a sound strategy.

What does all of this mean to you?

If you are a private business owner you should be building niches.

Separate yourself from competition. Everyone talks about public companies. Well 50% of US GDP comes from private business. When you get a chance take a listen to my 45 minute interview with Rob Slee the countries top expert in private business within our interview studio below.

Latest Status of the US Private Business Market Interview with Rob Slee by 678 Partners Network Sommelier from Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh on Vimeo.

As always, if you have questions please feel free to drop me an email here. Would be more than happy to answer any of your questions.

The entire presentation can be viewed here on my LinkedIn Slideshare.

Amir Homayoun Rafizadeh aka Network Sommelier

A strategic resource to private business owners, non-profit executives and art collectors

Have a niche business? Want to join my LinkedIn strategic resources?

Comment on our Facebook page.

Want to be interviewed? Have something to say? Then email me or check out our interview studio.

Office: 312-798-6727