By choice, I'm pretty much always connected. How I don't need glasses is beyond me! But this is where I talk about the discoveries I find while I'm here.

They’ve gone and done it again. They just keep me coming back for more…

No. Not a crack dealer but you’re close! Nike.

This year I was convinced that by buying something related to the Chicago Marathon I’d somehow jinx myself and not finish the race. So this time around I made sure I waited until my happy (and sore) ass was sitting at home recovering from the race before I even LOOKED at the gear. I bought 3 items, a hoodie, a running shirt and new shoes since I’d been running in the same shoes all training season. The latter is a no-no by the way. You should change your running shoes about every 300 miles or 6 months if you run consistently.

So I made my purchase via their recently (and beautifully) re-designed Nike Store. About 2 weeks later I get an email asking “How’s your new Nike gear?”

What I thought in my head…”It’s GREAT, I’m glad you asked!”

Nike asks you to "Speak Your Mind"

Here’s what the high-level Nike customer cycle looks like:

1. Get customers to the store
2. Provide a flawless shopping experience
3. Provide prompt service (returns are painless)
4. Ensure that products meet or exceed expectatio
5. Follow up and request for feedback

Now THAT’s customer service and a great brand experience. This is what all brands should be striving for. The end result, at least in my case, is a loyal customer (I have more Nike gear than I know what to do with).

What’s that you say?

“But I’m not NIke. I don’t have a BAZILLION dollars to spend on marketing.”

Hogwash. Nothing I listed above mandates an insane marketing budget. It’s just good business. And if you can’t afford that, well then my friend I have a question for you. What are you doing in business? I will admit however, that the “getting people to the store” part will likely require more investment but that’s another post for another day.

The other thing that Nike prove here is that no one is perfect…the three “Review Product” buttons didn’t properly link to the items I purchased, nor did my search via product number, although a search for “Chicago Marathon” eventually worked. So, major negative points for this simply NOT working but it did get me back to the store none the less and it did plant that tiny seed in my head that says Nike cares what I think. Pile on a couple more of those tiny seeds and you’ve quickly got yourself quite a harvest