The think (here) Blog

It Starts

A few days ago I was in a pickle.  I received great news: "We are sending you to BizTechDay".  I was elated, honored, and humbled, but more on that later.  The important part here is I was faced with a little over a week  to design, order, and receive cards in time for the conference.  Enter MOO.

My background in marketing, design and "Serial Entrepreneur" lifestyle introduced me every flavor of media and print company available.  Some were great, and some were crap.  So why did I order from MOO? I was going off a recommendation of someone who had a good experience.  That's it... one data point. 

After looking around the site I quickly discovered this was way more than a print company.  If Vista Print is PC, MOO is Mac.  Why?  Four simple (yet essential) differences:

1. Beautiful and intuitive interface
2. Unmatched quality in finished product for a low price
3. Near infinite design possibilities and customizations 
4. Above and beyond customer service

The last point is only eluded to on the site's customer service page.  One simple line "Need Human Help?"  I found out that the "humans" are genuinely helpful.  While gearing up for BizTechDay, I miscalculated my shipping time by a day.  Truth be told, the decision to use MOO stemmed from the fact that the person who recommended it said they got their package "way faster" than estimated by the website.  Since I was on a time crunch, I took a gamble.I ordered 2-3 day shipping, banking that it would arrive on or before the second day.  If arrived on day three it would do me no good, as I would be well on my way to the event.

I watched my order like a hawk. Tuesday...Printing, Wednesday...Printing, Thursday...Printing.  Friday... Printing.  Panic sets it.  I realize if it is not "Dispatched" on Friday that my 2-3 day shipping won't cut it.  Let me preface the rest of the story by stating that MOO clearly states it takes between 4-5 days to print.  I orderd on the 12th.  This means it would be 100% dead on time if I were to receive it Thursday the 22nd, a full two days after I needed them.

"That" Customer

So I realize I messed up, I should have ordered 1-day shipping right off the bat, but took a gamble.  I contacted MOO on a Friday afternoon and explained my sob story (admitting full fault of the situation I was in).  I was "That" Customer, you know, the "Hey I screwed up, how about you fix it!" type of customer that thinks the world revolves around him.  In reality, I knew I was at fault, I was willing to do anything to get the cards to me on time, but you can imagine how I came across to a customer service rep.  Faster than it takes you to finish this scentence I had this response sitting in my inbox:

Thank you for getting in touch with the MOO Team.

No problem, I upgraded you to Express shipping just to be safe!

Please feel free to contact us again if you have further questions.

Best Regards,

Shay Maloney
Service Agent - MOO

Just like that?  No additional charge?  MOO eats the extra cost because of MY GAMBLE?  It may not sound like much, but I was elated. 

Monday...Printing!?!?

Monday rolls into town and I am back into status watch mode. I get nervous to see the cards are still in "Printing" Status.  I know I should be patient, it will all work out, but it is just nagging at me.  I contact MOO again (just to soidify my status as "that" customer) expressing my concern.  The response was faster than the first one:

I just shipped it myself, you will have it tomorrow!

Shay

Point. Set. Match. 

I am sure you can guess how the story ends, but do you see the most important part.  MOO is more than just a printing company, they are a group of people who are passionate about what they do.  More businesses need to look at the bigger picture. 

How many large companies out there would simply blow off the request, state that orders are processed as received, or "pass the buck" to someone else?  It was my fault after all.  The thing MOO understands is that by doing what they are passionate about (i.e.- they actually care), by going beyond the call of duty, and by not expecting anything in return they decided that the experience I had was more important than their bottom line.

For too many companies the bottom line is all that matters.  If there is not a way to directly trace every dollar back, they don't do it.  MOO had no idea I would post about this, they expected nothing in return, they decide to stake a claim in an accounting "Grey Area". They just went above and beyond for a seemgly insignificant (100x mini card) order because that is what quality companies (who know there is more to business than the bottom line) do.