The $5 philanthropist - GiveMeaning

Jess and I are about to move and we wanted to use the opportunity to de-clutter. In preparing for the move, we used some of our time yesterday to be mercenary in identifying stuff to throw away and give away. Within a few hours, every room was full of bags to dispose of. Problem was, we were identifying SO MUCH JUNK and couldn't dispose of it in our apartment's bins.

I had seen the ads for 1-800-Got Junk and knew that it had been rated as a great place to work and that it's a great local success story but had never used the service. First of all, the online booking process was incredibly elagant. Within minutes, I had booked an appointment for them to arrive a few hours later.

Instead of having to wait around all afternoon, we were given a two-hour window and a promise that we would receive a phone-call 15 minutes before they arrived.

We got a phone call an hour before, giving us plenty of time to go about the rest of our day.

The two guys were great! They were friendly, funny and professional. As they finished loading a lot of the stuff faster than we thought, they caught us going over old sentimental stuff that we were unsure of whether to let go. Recognizing the sensitivity of the situation, they left us alone to decide what to do.

Finally, unlike any comparable service, when we were in danger of being slightly over one price category, they worked to squeeze us in to the cheaper category. In doing so, they've only made me more of a fan.

It's so rare that a service lives up to its brand promise but this is the one that did.

I know this post is so evangelical that it sounds like I was paid to write it. I assure you that other than some "Junk Bucks" the guys left with us as an incentive to use the service again, I haven't nor don't need to be paid to promote their service.

My friend Michael Garrity wrote a post the other day about some service pretending to be a consumer-information service but instead is just propaganda for certain clients. And of course, there's the ongoing debate around PayPerPost and other services. What I liked about what Michael said is essentially great products don't need spin/propaganda.

You want to "engineer word-of-mouth"? Simple! Build a great product/service, invest in ongoing quality assurance, hire good people, infect them with enthusiasm for the company, treat them well, deliver outstanding customer service..repeat.

I'm a HUGE FAN of 1-800-Got-Junk. Organizations of any kind can learn from what these guys are doing.

Labels: 1800gotjunk, brand, customerservice, marketing