I don’t like designer stuff, or so I say – [Black Friday – part 4]
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I don’t like designer stuff, or so I say – [Black Friday – part 4]

BySherwette

I don’t like designer stuff, or so I say.

Of course I like designer stuff, but I’d rather spend my money in experiences, travel or courses. Yes, courses, you would be surprised how much I spent my money on that department.

Never stop learning, and the best investment is you.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to go to Gucci “just to have a look”. The queue was crazy from the moment I arrived and all the way up until 8:00 p.m. when I decided to leave the outlet. I didn’t make it to Gucci, but I did make it to Furla.

Are you telling me there is an additional discount to the Black Friday discount? [ Black Friday — Part 3]
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Are you telling me there is an additional discount to the Black Friday discount? [ Black Friday — Part 3]

BySherwette

I got out of the bus and made sure to know where is the pickup location to head to when I want to go back to Port Authority.

The first thing I see is the Information Center, and people queuing up. Ok, the first thing I saw was actually the different stores. I asked, “Why are people queuing up here?” A nice lady answered me and said, “You get additional discounts with the voucher they give you.”

I didn’t have to think twice and queued up. It was also warm inside and freezing cold outside so I didn’t mind the queue.

After I got my discount vouchers and the outlet map, I started wandering and thought I might as well check it out first, and then go into the stores. To tell you the truth, I didn’t have the chance to get into my favorite stores, for the simple reason that people queued like crazy in front of those stores. Gucci, Burberry, Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger were the craziest. Most of the stores had long queues.

The weather was cold, like 1 or 2 degrees Celsius. Let me remind you, I live in Dubai, which is smoking hot all year long. I couldn’t simply stand the cold and wasn’t willing to stand in the queues.

It’s like what I have seen in those videos on social media, or rather the movies. People were walking around with big suitcases to stack up the purchases.

“Is it really that good?” I wondered.

Was I going to catch the bus on time [Black Friday — Part 2]

Was I going to catch the bus on time [Black Friday — Part 2]

BySherwette

Was I going to catch the bus on time? I panicked a little bit.

My hotel, Element by Westin, was right next to the Port Authority in Times Square, and I planned to catch the 10 a.m. bus, which is pretty chill. I would take my time getting ready in the morning and have a good breakfast.

In case you were wondering, no, I wasn’t really willing to take the 6 a.m. bus.

Not that crazy, not that crazy yet at least.

The lift at my hotel was incredibly slow though. It took me over 15 minutes just waiting for the lift to go down, and I was on the 16th floor. Now that I am thinking about it, I should have taken the stairs.
According to the Groupon voucher, the bus either leaves at 10 a.m or 11:15 a.m., so in my mind, if I have missed the 10 a.m. bus, then I am kind of screwed and have to wait for another hour and 15 minutes, but hey as Hal Elrod, the author of the Miracle Morning, says, “If you can’t change it, then let it go.” I couldn’t change the lift situation.

It was 9:53 a.m.

Tick tock tick tock. The clock was ticking.

The curiosity made me take part in Black Friday [Black Friday – Part 1]
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The curiosity made me take part in Black Friday [Black Friday – Part 1]

BySherwette

Recently, I spent five days in New York.

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really planning on buying anything in New York, let alone participate in Black Friday, and even though that was my intention, I totally gave up and took part of it.

If I go back in time, about four month ago when I planned this trip to New York, everyone in Dubai told me the shopping is incredibly amazing in the US. I thought, “Really?” Almost every single person who used to live in the US or visited said, “You go to the US with an empty suitcase.”

I wasn’t sure what to think. I do live in Dubai and shopping in Dubai is also a “real” thing. There is sale almost all the time and loads of brands. There are multiple outlets, and did I tell you I am also not so much into “Designer” stuff.

Easy! 5 Steps to handle customer service agents
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Easy! 5 Steps to handle customer service agents

BySherwette

Let’s talk a little bit about customer service. 

While it’s a very well-known trend to companies and service providers that now is the era on which they compete on customer experience, some of them still go out of their way to disappoint us, customers. 

I wouldn’t say that this is the company’s strategy per se, but it’s more about the customer service agent that you end up dealing with. 
I don’t know about you, but I personally like to avoid interactions with customer service as much as I can… and if I absolutely have to do it, I opt for the e-mail, online chat, etc. I don’t want to do the phone conversation. Maybe it’s because I am a millennial. Maybe not. It’ doesn’t matter. What matters is that the mere thought of having to repeat my story more than once turns me off. I had times on which I had to repeat the same complaint, like 5–10 times to different people, just to get my issue resolved. 

That kind of interaction gets to you. It definitely gets to me. In fact, I resort to my mom in some situations because she has more patience than me when it comes to those customer service conversations. God bless her. Most of the time though I have to do it myself. 

If I am lucky, I would be dealing with a professional who understands how to handle disappointed customers. For the most part, you call customer service either because 1. you have a complaint or 2. you are asking about some information. 

… And here comes the challenge, if I end up with someone from customer service who practically doesn’t give a damn, then, I am screwed. I bet most of you could relate to that. 

So, then comes a question.

How can you ensure the customer service agent would be cooperative and help you without driving you insane? 

I recently learned a trick. Thanks to consumer behavior studies… and I am going to share it with you.

I can’t believe I never thought human interaction matters that much when buying coffee
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I can’t believe I never thought human interaction matters that much when buying coffee

BySherwette

It seems like in every ‘business’ discussion, there is no escape to mentioning the emergence of technology and how it is currently changing the customer experience, let alone the future experience. 

While I personally love technology and how it enabled me as a consumer, especially when it comes to saving my time, I still believe in the importance of the human factor. 

I love it when I complete all the services online, and God only knows how much I hate calling customer service. I love when I buy heavy items online but hate it when I can’t return them. 

I also love it when I interact with a friendly face, let’s say when buying coffee. Sometimes a simple hello, a smile and my misspelled name in a takeaway cup make my day. 

Which reminds me to ask you…

Learn how mirrors will change your consumers buying behavior
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Learn how mirrors will change your consumers buying behavior

BySherwette

When you look at yourself, what do you see?

Remember earlier when I was brainstorming with my friend who is testing a new stylish laptop bag for corporate women?

If not, it’s ok. I get it, you are busy, but in case you are interested here is the blog post: I am not sure this is for you, but…

A little background context.

I was brainstorming ideas with my friend who is doing customer testing for a new stylish laptop bag for corporate women.

In addition to the “I am not sure this is for you, but…” tip, I also suggested to get a mirror, where customers can see themselves wearing the bag. I didn’t write about it in that blog post though, because, well, my friend was too lazy to get the mirror due to logistic reasons… and I have no results to share with you.

To be honest, that suggestion was purely based on intuition — and that is another reason I didn’t write about it back then.

Now, however, I learned a new trick from Roger Dooley in his book Brainfluence about mirrors that can just make me confidently share my tip. Can I just say that Brainfluence is one of my favorite books?

Chocolate might make you want to buy more
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Chocolate might make you want to buy more

BySherwette

Indulgence.

What comes to mind when you hear that word? Indulgence?

For me, I think luxury, I think the Spa or perhaps a relaxing massage. I think of candles. I think fine dining. I think coffee coupled with my favorite piece of chocolate. I think a nice dessert. I think of memorable perfume.

Here is the thing about indulgence. When you start indulging, you kind of what to keep doing that — indulging.

That’s pretty much stating the obvious, but not until I read about the impact of injecting indulgence in the experiences of consumers that I realized the power of it.

Roger Dooley in his book Brainfluence, described how being offered candy actually makes us want to buy.

The reason free trials make you happily spend your money
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The reason free trials make you happily spend your money

BySherwette

I have heard it numerous times by people thinking of starting their own business, reluctant to share ideas or information for free, asking: 

“Should I offer it for free?” 

Not only start-ups or small businesses but also large corporations hesitate and think… 

“But if we gave all this knowledge away for free, they wouldn’t need us. They will just go ahead and do it on their own.” 

Raise your hand if you think sushi is so damn expensive
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Raise your hand if you think sushi is so damn expensive

BySherwette

First, let’s get to know each other a bit, do you like sushi?

If you don’t, carry on, you might still think this is interesting.

And if you do, then I bet you are a bit like me and think sushi is so damn expensive. It’s also not the first option that pop-up in your mind when you are in the starving state of hunger. Is it?

It’s an expensive yet delightful dining experience. You indulge.

But, why?

The question that just popped into my head, is whether you indulge because sushi is really that delicious, or because it’s expensive.

According to a study done by researchers at Standford University, …