I like to eat lunch from a number of carry-out restaurants in the neighborhood where I work in Bethesda, MD. What I eat depends on where my tastes run to on any given day--Tacos, Asian food, subs and sometimes soup or salads. But the one thing that is always important these days is the value of what I buy. I have reduced my list of favorite restaurants to maybe a half dozen based on food quality, value, service and proximity.

Lately I have been frequenting a taco and Tex-Mex fast service restaurant that was is owned and operated by a local family. The restaurant (whose name shall remain nameless except it has the name of a certain west coast state in it) serves a pretty nice list of Tex-Mex dishes. The service is prompt, prices are reasonable and the food always fresh…EXCEPT THAT MONDAY!

Here’s what happened: I ordered my usual three crispy tacos…two chicken and one steak (I like a balanced meal) and my containers of hot sauces. I paid my tab, and strolled back to my office, dressed my tacos, hot sauce, salsa and then took a bite! Holy Moly…they gave me stale taco shells!!!

Now I am not a person given to emotional outbursts…I don’t often complain unless there’s something to complain about.  This was something to complain about…I know, “what’s the big deal” you may ask? but for me, food is as much about texture as it is about flavor. So soggy taco shells don’t cut it!

As it happens, I had signed up for the restaurants rewards program and had the official card in my wallet. So I receive the usual emails with coupons and other information from the restaurant. Being the tech savvy guy I am, I went to the restaurants website at 2:10 pm, clicked on the “contact us” page and wrote an email describing what had happened. Low and behold at 4:10 pm, I received an email from Stacy Kane, Director of Marketing…

Hi there Jon -

Thank you for being such a fan and for taking the time to write about your taco debacle. Please accept my sincerest apologies. I know how incredibly frustrating it is to be all excited about your meal, only to find that everything's not quite right. So believe me when I tell you, I will talk to the owner about this right away and I promise you, he'll make sure his taco shells are as fresh as they can be. What store did this happen at?

In the meantime, thank you so much for bringing this to my attention. Because as much as I hate to hear that we've failed our customers in any way, it's feedback such as yours that will ultimately make us a better restaurant.

(I deleted the part where Stacy offered to throw a few “bucks” in my account for my inconvenience.)

What’s the point of all this? Well, there are two points…first, because the restaurant utilizes a frequent diner card program and a very well-developed and organized website that is particularly consumer oriented, I was able to communicate with the restaurant and the restaurant was able to deposit a few bucks into my account for my inconvenience and communicate back to me. They probably were also able to see my level of spending at the restaurant and perhaps deemed me a valuable customer. There’s nothing particularly revolutionary about that!

The second and more important point is that all the technology we have today doesn’t do any good unless business owners  care enough to have procedures in place to quickly and effectively communicate with customers, address their complaints, compliments and  questions. The folks at this restaurant did just that! And they communicated in a way that was personal and thoughtful…not just a boilerplate letter saying “sorry”.

It is heartening to see how technology can be used to build a business and good customer relations…it’s not just technology for technology’s sake.

Got a positive technology-customer service story? Share it with me here!

If you haven't heard about or seen QR codes yet, you probably will soon. The QR ("Quick Response") code—also referred to as mobile tagging—was developed by the Japanese firm Denso-Wave in 1994, and is commonly used in Japan. They allow you to store information—a contact vCard, a web link, destination maps, etc.—within a two dimensional bar code that can be scanned and read using your mobile device's camera.

There are lots of possibilities: on business cards or other marketing materials, on signs, or even in video. In 2007, the band Pet Shop Boys used QR codes in one of their music videos to direct viewers to issue-related information online.

You'll need an appropriate mobile app, of course. There are several available, and if you do a quick Google search of "QR code reader" and the type of device you have – iPhone, Droid, etc.—you should be able to find the one that's right for you. Then it's just a matter of point-and-shoot. The software will read the information bar-code and deliver it up on your device (then you just click on the URL, add the contact info to your Contacts, etc.).

And, there are LOTS of sites out there that you can use to generate the codes. I used this site and created the following:

Once you have the app, just point it at the screen and take a picture – see what you get!

Traditionally, photos and videos have been a pricey option for businesses when creating advertising or public relations messages. It involved hiring photographers and videographers and even models to capture that perfect shot. Luckily today we’ve traded “picture perfect” for “grassroots and down-to-earth”, but small businesses and B-to-B firms are always maximizing this option.

Here’s an example of a video podcast I just did for our client, Centennial. They built the world’s first recycled plastic train bridges and as interesting as it is to read about, it’s even cooler to see the train actually cross the bridge and hear from the inventor and builders. I took the footage myself and edited it on a (gasp!) PC. Sure, it doesn’t have the special effects of a Tom Cruise movie, but it doesn’t have to because it’s going on YouTube and blogs, not the silver screen.

Photos work much the same way. Setting up a photo gallery under your own account on searchable photo sites like Flickr and posting photos that you want people to view, or even want people to use on their blogs and articles, is easier than ever. They also spruce up your blog posts.

And all of this can be linked to your Facebook page and tweeted. This underutilized medium opens up a realm of possibilities for organizations of all types, so next time you have a story to tell, consider the best way to go about it—it just might be a 3-minute video.

Recently, I wrote a post about the meaning of branding. Here is the second of two examples of the branding process.

I was hired in 2004 to help evolve the Centennial brand from stealth to the world class recognized industry leader that they really were and are. I started at the brand development side. I questioned everything from the mission statement, the core values, the development of a value statement, etc. There were difficult sessions from the president on down. I even talked with the competition. I wanted to know the perceptions, the beauty, the soft and the hard spots. The process took about six months to bring to a point were we could craft a branding statement and move forward.

Today we have a brand store that gives insight to this brand thinking, but at the high level look at our elevator pitch.

We realized that our brand was about people, solutions, and living up to our promises and that we are a different kind of company. So we made sure that we pulled this brand thinking into our themes, our designs, and our approach to all the marketing and sales. Once the brand platform is crafted and believed and understood, the communications and marketing development efforts flow from here. We realized that our key growth efforts were building brand awareness and building a body of knowledge around JOC and Centennial. We also focused on the media and public relations side based on this brand thinking.

Brand is a challenge, because if left untended and cared for it can grow all weedy and diminish over time. People begin to change it, shape it to their view and next thing you know you are no longer aligned and it is hard to be honest with yourself and the organization all the time.

David Carrithers is vice president of marketing at Centennial Contractors Enterprises where he leads daily operations of its corporate brand management, market development and sales programs. Carrithers has over 25 years of experience in marketing and new business development. Carrithers has managed brand assets valued in the multi-billions of dollars, including the brands of American Express, MasterCard, General Motors, AT&T, Air Products & Chemicals, Motorola, Bell South, M&M Mars, Rich Products, Xerox, Diebold and American Cyanamid. Carrithers has been awarded two US Patents, and is recognized as an industry expert in customer and employee loyalty programs in the US. He is the global creator of the first stored-value cards and gift cards. He presents on business management, project management, relationship management and brand and product development. Carrithers has also served as industry chairman for Center for Job Order Contracting Excellence, a board member for the Alliance for Construction Excellence and IFMA Industry Ambassador to China in 2007. He blogs at www.CentennialNOW.blogspot.comand tweets @CentennialNOW.