ELECTRONIC HOUSE CALL - August 29, 2003

We are coming up on a long holiday weekend in the US. Whether it will be a slow period or a hectic period for you, I hope you can sneak a few minutes to relax, reflect and spend some quality time with the people who are important to you. Let the world turn without you for a few hours and remember why you work so hard.

Enjoy these last few days of summer while you can. Fall will quickly be upon us ... and we have some serious work to do in the next few months!

Now What?
The SoBig virus will be with us for another couple of weeks ... and perhaps longer. My infected message count is still running around 300 a day so here is how I am handling it. Maybe you can use the same idea to minimize the frustration.

I can access my e-mail from the Internet, so rather than just download it into my e-mail program (and wait while my virus protection flags the junk one at a time), I review my e-mails on the web first. This way I can see what is waiting and delete infected messages before they even get to my computer. It is a lot faster way to identify the junk and get rid of it before it ever gets inside my machine! If you are uncertain about whether you can look at your e-mail on the web, ask your service provider. Most have this feature.

Finally, check your computer for the SoBig virus and get it cleaned out if you are infected. Remember that you are probably going to be the last one to know if your computer is infected since the messages that go out from an infected machine always carry someone else's address in the "From" spot so they never get blamed on you. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to see if you are infected and remove the critter -- just click on the link below and you can download a removal tool that makes the job simple. While it is supposed to go dormant by the 10th, there is some concern that it could be used to launch future spam attacks. Get it out ... and advise your friends to check their machines as well.

The price of e-mail freedom is eternal vigilance. Click here for more information on SoBig and how to clean it out.

Nickels and Dimes Revisited
A couple of weeks ago, I shared the story of my experience in a Florida resort hotel. It prompted this response from marketer Joel Cohen, my co-conspirator in the Year of the Guest program. He writes: "Nickels and Dimes hit home for me as we just dined at [a nationally-known upscale pizza kitchen] and I was taking down some notes in preparation for next month's newsletter. I ordered the BBQ chicken salad, which is normally a ratio of 90% salad/lettuce and 10% chicken. I asked the server to lighten up on the lettuce and add a few more pieces of chicken."

"The server said, "So you mean add extra chicken?" I said yes. When I got the bill, I was surprised to see they charged me $2.50 for "extra chicken" -- which looked like it should have been the proper, regular amount anyway. But let's be liberal and say I got 10 extra chunks. They charged me 25 cents for each half inch by half inch cube of chicken meat. (They didn't adjust the price for putting in less lettuce, though.) "

"All I remember about the meal is that they charged me $2.50 for a few extra measly chicken morsels -- without my permission. You can bet I will be taking them to task in an upcoming issue of my marketing e-letter. At your hotel in Boca, if there were none of the negatives you described, would you truly have remembered anything? Like a newscast, bad news has more of a lingering impact than good news."

A note from the Doc:
There is a steep price to pay when we try to sneak an extra charge past our guests. The best approach is not to have any add-on prices. Serve a proper portion in the first place and charge what you need to charge for it. If guests occasionally want a little more, give it to them with a smile. The risk in doing otherwise is unacceptable -- the loss of their business and negative word-of-mouth on the street. Once people decide "how you are." it is nearly impossible to change their minds. Give them more than they expect, do what your competitors are not willing to do and they will sing your praises.

Click here for info on Joel's restaurant marketing e-letter.

The Perpetual Question
What did you learn from your staff today?

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