Corybantic Service
While businesses spend time and money on Search Engine Optimization, Google is behind the scenes optimizing its search engine. For Google, it’s not so much about the results any given search yields but more about whether Googlers get the results they were searching for, and the ease of use of those results. Anyone who has spent time “Googling” over the past decade can see that search results have evolved. Along the way, they innovated the PageRank, where a search delivers the resulting pages, ranked according to those with the largest number of web pages linked to them. Google also created the “snippet.”
While a snippet may seem like a cute and fun thing, from Google’s viewpoint it is actually quite complicated. Whenever someone searches on a given topic, the “engine” searches through the pages in a web site to assemble a relevant snippet of how the search term appeared – in milliseconds. And it handles hundreds of millions of searches daily. If you’re in Minnesota and you Google “State Fair,” the top ranking result will your state’s fair site, plus a Google map showing the location. Other near top ranking results will be for other states fairs plus newsmaking events at your state fair. At the bottom of the page you’ll have the opportunity to refine your search in case you were looking for “State Fair,” the musical.
All of this in the interest of providing the best customer experience because the search feature brings in more than 90 percent of Google’s revenue. Consequently, engineers at Google may be working on their Android phones or Google News or improving Gmail, but they also track everything from the sorts of search terms users enter to the way the human eyes move across a web page. They’re also constantly tweaking, adding such options as clickable links for broad topics. Google a news media site, any news site, and you’ll instantly have the opportunity to click to Sports, Weather, Opinions and the like. It’s easy to take all those things for granted because the Google people make it seem so effortless.
Kickstarter.com is a new way to fund and follow creativity. “Kickstarter is an incredible platform. Its obvious purpose is funding, but we find ourselves gaining so much outside of collecting pledges. For us, Kickstarter has been a powerful tool to connect with a community passionate about our work.” Lumi Corp Kickstarter creator
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Talk about air travel almost always turns to the increasing hassle factor. Fees for checked baggage. Surcharges for the best seats. Lack of discounts for the middle seat. It may be an oxymoron to use the words “airline” and “customer service” in the same sentence. But it turns out that when asked which is the most admired airline of all, there would be an answer and it would be – Singapore Airlines. Who would have thought? Perhaps it’s the charm of their iconic symbol, the sarong-wearing Singapore Girl in an outfit designed by a French couturier in 1968 – or not.
News from the company says it’s all about catering to the customer in a very literal way. In their economy class cabin, they’re upgrading to seat covers designed by Givenchy, in “soothing colors as well as richer and softer fabrics.” In business class there will be a “lie-flat” seat where the traveler can personalize seating preferences to achieve better lumbar support – which is what we all want. Once you’re comfortable, take your pick of inflight entertainment with the “highest resolution in the sky.” If it’s connectivity you crave, Singapore Airlines delivers a range of options including a USB Media Player, Photo Viewer and PDF Reader.
Then there’s the food. Yes, it’s a surprising thing to imagine food on a flight. But here meals are more than just gourmet. You can special order from one of their top chefs – or rather, their International Culinary Panel of stars such as Gordon Ramsay. Order a meal for your kids, for your religious preference – fresh fruit, ice-cream, chocolates. Not to mention the pan-seared salmon with light tomato, lemon dressing. But wait. You can also order a meal according to your medical condition. Diabetic, low sodium, low lactose, bland or semi-fluid – pureed. Now that’s beyond customer service.
Late in the day on New Year’s Eve, Tony Hsieh filled up his car so that he could start the New Year on a full tank. Earlier in December, he refrained from complimenting co-workers on their sweaters just in case someone forgot it was Ugly Sweater Day. These are the revelations that appear on the Twitter page belonging to Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, an online store that offers free shipping – both ways. It isn’t clear how such Tweeting fits into Zappos business plan, but Hsieh insists that the most important thing about Zappos is the corporate culture where, he said, one of the core values is to “create fun and a little weirdness.”
Back in the day, the Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle launched a whole new corporate way of thinking around “having fun,” like the guys who are notable for throwing fish around. It isn’t known if they throw shoe boxes around the Zappos offices but their conference rooms are decorated in various themes – such as log cabin with a fake fire. Employees get a free lunch. All the better for getting acquainted. All employees are required to come and go through the front doors, a practice that is thought to build community. However, obviously not good for those who like to sneak out, unnoticed. But if Zappos is such a fun place maybe Jack doesn’t want to slip out the back.
At Zappos, they have a culture book, assembled each year with the unedited comments of employees discussing the corporate culture. When hiring a higher level executive, Hsieh says that once the basic qualifications are established the person is invited with family in tow, to hang out at weekend barbecues to get a sense of who they are beyond the walls of the corner office. The standoffish types probably don’t get invited back. During the interview process, prospective employees are asked to rate themselves on a weirdness scale. Just like Goldilocks, the extremes are bad and possibly the middle is good.
