I’m not afraid to admit that I’m one of those people who carries a little bottle of Purell hand sanitizer wherever I go. My reasons for doing so are quite straightforward: using hand sanitizer is a very effective way to avoid getting sick, especially when traveling. So why do I still feel self-conscious about using this product when I’m eating with friends or clients? I think there’s still a certain stigma associated with it, like using hand sanitizer means that you’re a little too concerned about germs or something. In turn, I believe these feelings limit the overall market for the product.

If there’s a stigma associated with using your product, it’s your responsibility to help fight it. The best way to do this is with hard data. For instance, the Purell people might buy up outdoor billboards and present stats on how many colds you can avoid by using the product. I think it would be pretty compelling to learn that “People who use Purell before each meal are 75% less likely to get a cold this year.” (I’m using made up data, of course.) This messaging also gives current users some ammunition to fend off criticism from their peers, further reducing the hesitation to use the product in public.

I also see a lot of value in focusing these campaigns on workplace and social situations. For instance, the Purell folks could provide free samples to offices, with messaging designed to emphasize how using the product means fewer sick days. Or, the ads could encourage people to share Purell when they’re dining with others, instead of feeling weird about using it in secret. Regardless of the exact message being delivered, the goal is to promote greater social acceptance of the product and reduce the stigma that current customers may feel when using it. And in doing so, you can help turn loyal but shy users into outspoken brand advocates who are promoting your product at the office, in restaurants, and all sorts of other venues.

I spent a few days in a Hyatt hotel this week. Overall, the experience was pretty solid, but I was surprised by some of the basic things they got wrong. I’m not expecting incredible innovation. Instead, I’m talking about basic stuff that all of us take for granted at home or at work. You know, like coffeemakers that don’t suck and trash bins in each room.

Sure, Hyatt puts a lot of thought into nice-looking furniture and comfortable beds. But what’s up with some of the basics? I’ll start with the coffeemaker. It’s a useless piece of junk called the CV1 from Courtesy Products / Hamilton Beach. You put in these little pods, and it spews out less than one cup of tasteless brown liquid. Ostensibly, they installed these to replace the old Mr. Coffee-style units for sanitary reasons, but I don’t buy it. How about a partnership with Keurig or Senseo to provide good coffee and a co-marketing opportunity at the same time?

Next, the waste baskets: in my suite, there was only a single trash can, plus a tiny one in the bathroom. And the one in the main room was the trendy perforated kind, so anything resembling food just falls right through. Nice. Even a shoddy dorm room can easily be equipped with two or three decent waste baskets for about one-tenth the price of a night in the Hyatt. Honestly, I have no idea what their excuse would be here.

When it comes down to it, hotels at all price levels have a really tough time matching the most basic comforts of home. Heck, they can’t even get the coffee and trash right, and there’s lots more where that came from. Maybe their customer experience manager ought to check out the sort of accomodations that frequent travelers have in their own homes, and compare that to what the hotel offers, to understand why people like me often leave disappointed.

I’m not sure if they still do it, but Range Rover used to provide a special test drive area at their dealerships. The idea was to let potential buyers drive the cars over rocks, up slopes, and through other harsh conditions — much worse than most people would ever use their vehicle in — to solidify the brand’s claims about all-terrain versatility. So, if this works for cars, why can’t it be extended to other products?

Mostly, I’m thinking about this for mobile gear. Retailers could build an in-store lab featuring their own products and popular alternatives from their competitors, and let customers put them through their paces. Want to see how much weight that new laptop adds to your bag? Drop it in there and find out. How much lighter is it than the other guy’s cheaper model? Try them both and see. With a little creativity, you could even simulate things like using the laptop on a plane or in a cab.

But don’t places like the Apple Store already do this? Yes and no. The products are there in full view, but you can’t do things like put them in your bag and see what it’s like to walk around with them. I’m pretty certain this is a compromise they made for theft prevention, since products on a leash are harder to steal. Of course, stores already use anti-theft tags to prevent you from walking out the door without paying for something, so I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to try cutting the cord for demo gear. At a minimum, it would be interesting to see if people buy more when they start with an unrestricted product trial experience.

There’s a wonderful sushi restaurant near me that I like to visit on Sunday nights. Although they’re pretty busy during the rest of the weekend, Sunday evenings are always dead, especially during the winter months. I always found this surprising, since the food and atmosphere are great, and the prices are quite reasonable. The restaurant really ought to help people like me spread the word, since literally thousands of potential customers live in the buildings nearby. But how can they make this happen?

The approach I have in mind is quite basic. Figure out when the place is really empty, and create a promotion surrounding that period of time. Then, ask repeat customers to tell others about the offer, and reward them for doing so. Obviously, I’m not talking about asking people to hand out flyers door-to-door. Instead, customers would just be using an asset they have — namely, their residential building or workplace — to post a notice about the offer.

In my case, the plan would work as follows. After identifying me as a repeat customer, the sushi place would ask me if I’d like to get some free meals by helping refer other customers. If I said yes, they would give me a couple of flyers to place on the bulletin board at home or at work. These would advertise a big discount for eating there on Sunday nights and say that I’m the one recommending the restaurant (using my name to establish credibility). To redeem the offer, people would tear off one of the coupons and present it at the restaurant. There would be some sort of referral code on each one so they can credit me with bringing that person in. After perhaps 10 customers show up, I would earn a free meal.

Yes, this is very low-tech. Yes, there are lots of ways to automate it over the web. But that’s not the point. I’m just trying to show that people who really like a local business might be the best way to reach others with similar interests. And in dense urban areas like Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, getting those customers to put up just a single flyer in their apartment building or office could bring in considerably more traffic than mailing out coupons or buying local ads. And by rewarding those loyal customers, it helps strengthen their bond with the business and drives additional word-of-mouth recommendations.

Virtually every time I go to Target, I end up looking for some simple household item they don’t carry. Usually these items fall into the category of “hardware,” and they have apparently deemed them too obscure to carry even in a megastore environment. When I ask an associate for help, they inevitably refer me to Home Depot or Lowes. But it strikes me as odd that they make no attempt to monetize this referral traffic, or use the customer inquiries to improve future product assortments.

On the web, retailers often handle these requests by joining an affiliate program for related stores. When a customer searches for something they don’t carry, the retailer shows results from the other stores. If the customer buys something as a result, the first retailer gets a commission on the sale. Of course, they also have a record of what the customer was looking for and whether they bought it or not, providing valuable data to help in future product line assortment decisions. In other words, if people are searching your site for Widget X, and 10% of them buy it via your link to another website, perhaps it makes sense to stock the product yourself.

But when you step into a brick-and-mortar store, this logic is nowhere to be found. At a minimum, retailers should be tracking requests for products they don’t carry in the store. Perhaps they already do this, but I’ve never seen a store associate write down what I asked for. A simple form for the shopper to fill out and give to customer service, or perhaps a website or kiosk to handle the request, would be a good way to collect the data.

Creating an offline affiliate program is a little trickier. Maybe it could be done with some branded coupons that the first store gives you along with the referral, which would help track purchases and award affiliate commissions when you buy something at the second store. But even without the affiliate component, finding out what your customers are looking for would be a step in the right direction, as the revenue associated with referral purchases at other stores is currently being squandered entirely.

A few weeks ago, I sent detailed feedback to several websites that I use. In each case, I gave them 5-10 suggestions and bug reports. One of the companies wrote back the very same day, with their customer support department thanking me for my comments. I even got a separate reply from my account manager, echoing the same thoughts. However, the other company never replied at all, not even with a computer-generated message. Clearly, these companies have very different approaches to handling customer feedback.

Before I continue, it’s worth noting that both websites make a point of asking for comments and suggestions. Ironically, the one that does this the most is the same one that never replied to me. There’s obviously a disconnect there between the people designing the front-end website, and the people who handle (or ignore) the feedback that comes in. Their process for handling and routing comments, as far as I can tell, is nonexistant.

As a rule, customer feedback should be treated like a gift. That customer has taken the time to tell you what they do and don’t like, and provided you with some ideas of how you can serve them better. Sure, you’re going to get a few off-the-wall requests and even some outright complaints. Much of what you receive won’t be actionable in any way. But no matter what you think of the comments that your customers provide, try to follow one practice: always send a reply and thank the person for their time and efforts. Otherwise, people will feel cheated, as they’ve seemingly wasted their time to write comments that nobody will ever read.

Don’t you just love when you call a company during regular business hours, only to find out that every person who might be able to help you is unavailable? Sometimes, it’s “All the managers are in a meeting.” Or perhaps you’ll hear that “The executive team is attending an important trade show.” And my personal favorite: “We’re on a skeleton crew since it’s Founders Day.” Are these valid reasons for why things have come to a crashing halt? Hardly. But that doesn’t stop lazy companies from using this crutch on a regular basis.

I understand that there are plenty of circumstances when key people are out of the office. Trade shows, meetings, and vacations are a normal part of life. However, customers are probably going to need the same level of support and advice no matter who’s on staff that day. As a rule of thumb, the remaining staff should be able to address say 95% of customer issues — otherwise, you’re relying way too much on your executives to handle regular operating tasks. Sure, there are going to be obscure things that need further research or consultation with the higher-ups, but these should comprise less than 5% of the issues that you handle.

So, how can you deliver quality service when key people are out? Get some collaboration software and start documenting things. Whether you use a forum or a wiki or even a series of recorded instructions, give the people who handle the tough issues a way to share that knowledge. Since these folks are usually really busy, you may find it works best to have a junior staff member shadow them and write down how issues are handled. These procedures can be documented in a central location, reviewed for accuracy, and published for your whole team to see. So, the next time you get a question that normally has to be escalated to senior staff, you’ll have a good chance of resolving it upfront — no matter who’s out of the office that day.

While trying to kill some time before a movie last weekend, I wandered into a Starbucks that I had never seen before. I’m not sure how long this particular location has been there, but it’s on a busy corner with lots of foot traffic. When I went inside, I noticed that the seating area was quite small — and all the chairs were taken. Since the customers looked rather entrenched, I left and went elsewhere. This got me thinking: how should quick service restaurants respond when a small group of customers hogs all the seats?

The problem here is pretty clear. Some people go into cafes with their phone and laptop, and sit there for hours while only buying a few items. This prevents other customers like me from spending any money, even if we only want to sit down for 15 minutes. In many cases, no available seating equals no sales. But the restaurant can’t just throw out the first type of customer, since they tend to be loyal and return quite often.

My solution is quite simple, inspired by the way supermarkets handle their checkout lines. Just designate certain seating areas as “Express Seating”, and use the accompanying signage to provide guidelines of how long people can sit there. In most cases, 15 or 30 minutes should be ideal. Granted, this would rely on an honor system, since there’s no way the baristas are going to run around timing how long each person has been sipping their cappuccino. But even with only partial compliance, Express Seating should help make room for additional customers (and sales), while still providing unrestricted seating for those people who seemingly never leave.