Now, when you buy an Apple product you get a little bit of a warrantee, but if you want extended coverage and help that’s worth anything you have to pay for it. Is it worth paying a premium for something you may never use? Let’s see…
A Broken Mac
A few weeks ago my Apple MacBook Pro went on the fritz. I did have the AppleCare Protection Plan, so I called up my special number and let them know the problem. After trying a few fixes my support guy decided the laptop needed to be sent in for repairs. The next day a return box was dropped off at my house. I pulled out a few tabs and had a package that custom fit my specific computer.
Apple paid the for overnight return to them, and I could track exactly how my repairs were progressing online at all times. On the third morning a box showed back up at my house with my perfectly fixed computer. Wow, that was worth paying for.
The Moral of the Story
The moral of this story?
If you have a premium service or product it better wow those paying extra for it.
Your products and services should always be excellent, that’s how you draw customers and clients in. But if someone is paying extra for a premium service or product they deserve extra speed in your step, extra value in your service, extra quality in your product. Make sure you are providing them with it and you’ll go from just having customers to having loyal fans.
Last week my hard drive on my iMac crashed. Died. Done.
When I called to tell my wife the news she said, “You sound much more calm than I thought you would.” That’s because the night before the crash my automated weekly backup (via the very nice iDrive) ran and all my client files were safe and secure in the cloud of the internet.
While I had always heard the importance of backing up your computer, that day’s calmness confirmed just how vital this task is to any business. After using TechTool Pro I was able to boot the drive up for a couple hours and pull the few files that didn’t get backed up (of course, I back them up now), but all in all the crash was nowhere near the disaster it could have been. Surprisingly the closest certified Mac technician is all the way down in Ellensburg, but in just a few days the awesome guys at CCS had me back up and running. In the meantime I could keep working on my laptop and everybody stayed happy!
Two lessons from this story:
- Apple no longer has the shiny halo around it that it once did for me. (the hard drive was only 1.5 years old!)
- Backups are critically important. The time they take (which, with automated backups is virtually none) is never wasted.
This place is now feeling like a real business. The office setup has been completed. here’s a view of where great creative design gets done, and the tools and elements that are used.
- the 24″ imac with 2 GB of RAM has arrived, and its bigger than you would even think. inside is adobe creative suite 3 – the latest industry standard for all graphic and web design work. this mac flows along with incredible speed and looks absolutely gorgeous.
- out in front, a 9″ x 12″ wacom tablet. i write and draw left handed and this tool has become indespensable to my creative work. it seriously doubles effeciency and aids in everything from file management to illustration.
- a full-color brother laser printer. though this is definitely necessary for full color proofs and some letters, i’ve been amazed at how little paper i have used so far. very close to a paperless office.
- speakers for one of the most important parts of good design – great music. working from home gives you the great opportunity to crank up the music and zone into a project.
- a creative wall for inspiration.
- a better view than i’ve had at any other job. currently watching apples in the orchard ripen. watch for more ‘views out the office window’.
over in the corner – my companion throughout the work day (though she mostly just sleeps and makes me do all the work) – mocha. she is always ready to go out for a game of catch.
so, now “This battleship is fully operational,” and the option of commenting on my blog posts exists, so let me know – what do you think?
