FredMcKinnon.Com

I’ve got a personal rule:
If you’re going to blast a company in public, you’d better be prepared to praise them.

A few weeks ago my internet speed at home took a drastic nosedive.  My upload speed was non-existent and it was taking forever for sites to load.  Dreading the automated phone tree and “Tier 1″ techs who, with all due respect, make me do everything I’ve already done … I made the call.  As expected, I pushed all the buttons on the phone tree only to hold for 20 minutes and finally get redirected back to the “main menu” for no reason.

Long story short … the Tech says that my modem is so old, it’s not supported anymore … it’s “end of life”.  His suggestion?  Go down to the local Comcast office and swap it out for a new modem.

So I get up bright and early so I can be in Brunswick (about a 30-minute drive, one way) when the local Comcast office opens.  And what do I discover?

“Oh, I’m sorry … we don’t have any modems here, they are all gone”.
“We will call you if we get any in”.  (still haven’t received that phone call)
“And we don’t have a number you can call locally to make sure we have them in stock before driving over here”.

As you can imagine, I’m pretty ticked off.  So I vent … publicly … via Twitter.

My tweet went something like this:
“Comcast, thanks for wasting the first hour of my day” #comcastfail

Let’s face it, folks.  Sometimes, things just go wrong.  I own a company, and I get the blunt of both positive and negative feedback EVERY SINGLE DAY on our Ebay, Amazon, and Buy.Com accounts.  Negative feedback hurts … really.  But … even if we screw up … even if we fall short … what really counts is this:

HOW DO WE RESPOND?  HOW TO WE RESOLVE?

It’s no secret that companies have folks whose job it is to search Twitter and Facebook for references to their names and trademarks. So what happened next is pretty fascinating.

About an hour after my tweet I get this @reply on Comcast:
from @comcastMelissa:  that’s terrible, how can we help?

In a bit of a sarcastic jab, I reply:
“I seriously doubt you can help, unless you want to OVERNIGHT a BRAND NEW MODEM to me since our local office has none”.

About 3o minutes later, I get this:
from @ComcastBill:  hey, please follow me so I can get your account info and dm you.

I followed Bill’s instructions, and within an hour, I have a UPS tracking number for a BRAND NEW MODEM, being sent NEXT DAY AIR to my home.

Comcast may have been lacking in the local office and their phone support was a bit frustrating … but as for the team of Comcast folks who are utilizing social networking platforms to monitor their brand and provide customer service, all I can say is …. HOME RUN.

That’s how you keep a customer for life, Comcast.  Great job.  Thanks a million.
By the way – my internet is FLYING fast!

HEY -

We interrupt your afternoon with a quick announcement (yes, two blog posts in one day!) ….

TONIGHT, I will be joining several others in a live, online discussion, sponsored and hosted by the AllAboutWorship Podcast.

The topic?  Senior Pastor and Worship Leader Relationships!

Check out the details, and join us tonight!

OK, so first … what is this #sundaysetlists thing in my blog post title?

It’s called a “hash tag” … a way to tag or identify a blog or twitter post so that people can know it’s subject, keywords, or you can even search twitter based on them.

“Sunday Setlists” is an event that started right here on FredMcKinnon.Com, but has since transferred over to TheWorshipCommunity.Com – where people post a recap of their worship services each week.  Be sure and check out the other posts.

So, on to my recap of our worship service at SSCC for Sunday, August 15th.

Wow.  I can’t express how incredible it was.  We have never conducted a baptism during our worship services in the building … they have always been special gatherings, outside, at some place with a pool.  We had our first baptism service yesterday, which was a complete surprise to most of those who attend our church.  The bigger surprise; however, was that we were prepared to baptize anyone who wanted to be baptized … spontaneously.

We opened up with a couple of songs:

“I Have Found” (Kim Walker)
“Mighty to Save” (Hillsong)

Then, David (our pastor) taught on salvation and baptism.  It was a shorter, 25-minute sermon.  Then he basically challenged people to respond.  We were ready with the excuses.  We had stacks of brand new shorts and T-shirts of all sizes.  We had undergarments.  Personal Products.  Hair dryers.  Combs.  Photographers.  Videographers.  There was really no reason to NOT respond …

And respond they did.  Between the two services, countless people confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord, and +/- 126 people got baptized.

Young, old.
White, black.
American, Chinese.

I’m still blown away … we played instrumental music, sang a bit, worshiped the whole time, and simply let the music “ebb and flow” with the baptisms.  Makes for some tired feet … a good 1-1/2 hours into the service and still seeing people lined up all the way down the wall of the church, waiting for their turn to publicly demonstrate their faith in Christ.

And that’s a recap for our church.  How about yours?

Hey Gang,

CONFESSION: this is one of those blog posts that is different, and I hesitated to even do this.   But, I’m going to put this out there, for whoever is interested.  This blog is usually visited by friends, family, and those who share similar ministry positions.  So why mix up my business affairs with that?  Well, because it’s a huge part of who I am.

As many of you know (anyone who has followed me via blog, facebook, or twitter for very long), I have a flourishing “e-business”.  To summarize, my company (HPP Enterprises) pulls wholesale pricing from a handful of huge distributors and we resell over 125,000 products on the internet.  About 95% of our sales volume is through Amazon.Com where we’re one of the highest ranked sellers.  In addition, we sell on Buy.Com, Sears.Com, Ebay, and on several custom “niche sites”:

GetSkinsNow.Com (laptop, phone, MP3, electronic skins, cases, accessories)
HPPEnterprises.Com (consumer electronics – TVs, BluRay, Phones, Marine Electronics, MP3, Laptops, Accessories)
DiscountKidsGames.Com (computer games, video games, accessories)
McKinnonOutdoors.Com (outdoors, hunting/shooting products)

One of the things we are trying to do is create a special “E-Blast” about 3-4 times per month, featuring some of our deals, discount codes, etc.

That’s the purpose of this email.  If you’d like to get on that mailing list and perhaps “become a customer” at some point … please do so.  It would be totally cool to actually pass along these products and prices to people we know.

What do we sell?  HAHA – just about anything.  TVs.  Home Accessories.  (we just shipped a whole pallet of Lasco Fans to Amazon.Com).  Video Games (50 of the in-demand “Wii Wipeout” on the way!).  Laptops.  Computers.  Hard Drives. Hardware.  Tents.  Games.  Software.  Accessories.  Hunting Products.  DVD Players.  and the list goes on and on.

When we are able to bulk buy a product or get special pricing .. we’ll send an E-Blast.  If you’d like to be on that list, go for it.  Just fill out the form below, then click the link in the confirmation email.  And hey, spread the word!

Hey Everybody!

Yesterday (Sunday, August 8th) was my first time back on the stage, leading worship at SSCC, in a couple of weeks.  It was great to be back.  We started a new series called “Small Steps, Big Faith” and our service didn’t have a “sermon” … just a flow of worship, testimonies, and communion.  Well, we did “kind of” have an impromptu sermon during our 9:00 AM service when one of the pastors lost track of time in his 5-minute “setup” … which turned into 25 minutes!

Thankfully, a little “Campfire Meeting” backstage after that service helped us workout the timing kinks and we nailed the flow in the 11:00 AM service.

Walk In Song:
“Washed by the Water” (NeedtoBreathe)

“Glorious” (Paul Baloche)
“For All You’ve Done” (Hillsongs)
“Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone” (Hillsongs)

*Testimony:  I shared a faith-building testimony about prayer.
*Testimony:  One of our pastors, Steve, shared a faith-building story about how God called him into ministry.

“Great is Thy Faithfulness” (Traditional Hymn Version)
*The Lord’s Prayer (corporate prayer)

Communion:
“You Gave Your Life Away” (Baloche)
“Jesus Paid it All” (Northpoint Live Version)
“Christ is Risen” (Matt Maher)

From a technical standpoint, we used a cool backing lyrics video for “Christ is Risen”, which required us to play this song to a click.  The animated lyrics and backgrounds were powerful and added a nice visual dynamic to the worship experience on that song.

We wrapped up our Sunday with a big, family “Beach Night” on St. Simons Island – it was a great day celebrating with other Believers here in the area!

This recap is a part of the “Sunday Setlists” event hosted by TheWorshipCommunity.Com.