I was traveling this past Wednesday with my Senior Product Executive in Tulsa, OK. Just as we were about to board to return to Houston, she realized she had left her credit card at a local restaurant. She called the restaurant, and thankfully they had her card, but she could not seem to get anyone […]
Author Archives: David Peterson
Update on OAO Fail
Back in March, I posted about my attempt to open an account at a large regional bank based in the Southeast. Essentially, there had been a huge disconnect between the options available online and those offered in the branch. Worse, both options offered at this bank resulted in an unsuccessful account opening. My point was […]
What is your “Contact Us” for?
It struck me just today: why aren’t people contacting me? Here’s what I mean: over the past several weeks, I have accessed websites and entered my contact information into their “Contact Us” forms. While these forms appear in numerous designs, in essence, they all serve the same purpose: to collect the contact information from someone […]
When Innovation is Not Needed …
I pride myself on being an innovative thinker, looking for innovation in every situation. But recently, I learned the hard way that there are times when innovation is not needed or warranted. Let me explain. I recently replaced a double oven in my primary residence. After removing the old oven, I carefully measured the opening […]
How to Innovate From Below …
I talk a lot about innovation and the need for enterprise-wide innovation. As I talk with business leaders, though, I find it interesting that many C-Suite executives don’t consider organization-wide innovation to be a priority. And this is not just an “old school” mentality: I recently spoke with a Gen X executive who stated flat […]
Getting Your Tone Right …
Do you remember when Target rolled out its EMV (chip card enabled) machine? I know I do! I especially remember how they emanated an obnoxious noise when it was time to take your card out. It was negative reinforcement; why have such a rude noise associated with the new chip card? In fairness to Target, […]
Customer Service – NOT!
Many of us remember the news about the Atlanta airport fire that severely affected travel. As the largest airport in the U.S. by passenger count, anything that affects Atlanta ripples throughout the whole transportation grid. I was scheduled to travel through Atlanta during that time, and like hundreds of thousands, had to change my travel […]
Taking Full Responsibility
In any online system, there is always a chance there might be a break in the service. A service interruption can be related to a hardware malfunction. It can also be a software bug, or perhaps the result of malware or another cyber security event. Regardless of the source, a service interruption negatively affects the […]
Online, seconds matter … Offline for a week?
On February 12th, TD Bank upgraded to a new system for online banking. Directly thereafter, the system became unusable for their customers, who were locked out of their accounts completely. The system remained essentially “down”… for a week. A week! As far as online systems go, that’s an eternity. I’m not sure if they were […]
Now that’s using your head …
After driving a U-Haul 920 miles from Valdosta, Georgia, to Sugar Land, Texas, I arrived to a mostly-empty apartment. It was a Sunday, and the men I had arranged to unload the truck were not available until Tuesday. I had luckily remembered to put a queen-size air mattress at the end of the truck, so […]