John Bresee

At Backcountry.com the Gearheads have great latitude in resolving problems and doing whatever they can to make the customer happy. But this example is like no other I’ve ever seen. Follow the link to see the customers full post on her blog FoolsandSages.com. Here’s a small excerpt.

“After I placed my order, I sent their customer service folks a mail telling them how much we loved their site and asking for the shipping to be adjusted to reflect our original wish to combine shipping. I fully expected for them do graciously do so, but was absolutely not expecting the response I received:

‘Hi Andrea,

Thanks for contacting us at Steepandcheap.com.  We love you, too. We would marry you if you weren’t already married. And we weren’t a company, but rather a young shy boy lost in the throes of love, yea, a misty-eyed dreamer looking towards the future, still unscathed and unpolluted by the hardships of mid-adulthood. We would ask your housemaid to deliver white flowers to you, with an anonymous note that read “Heaven nor hell could provide me the joy and pain your approval or lack thereof might impose upon me.” Then, that very night at midnight we’d stand outside your window playing a love sonnet on the violin–a heartfelt ribbon of swaying notes and flittering string plucks. You could get out of bed and come to the balcony to listen. Instead of saying anything, you might drop a single white handkerchief slightly soaked with your tears.

But none of that could ever happen, so instead I just gave you a full refund on your shipping costs. I think it was like 8 bucks. Thanks for the love.’”

Wow…how unusual. Here’s her full post.  http://www.foolsandsages.com/2009/12/03/making-customer-service-fun-what-a-concept/

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It’s been a year full of challenge. A year rife with pain and growth. And as I set out hopeful to join my friends Raspberry and Blueberry for dinner I can’t help but reflect for what I am thankful:

• A son who didn’t let me sleep a wink last night but began the day by saying, “I love you all the world Dadou!”
• A friend who ignored tumult to invite me to his Thanksgiving dinner
• A business partner who supported me through a challenging year and who I hope I’ve done the same
• A company filled with the finest co-workers and people I’ve ever seen assembled in one place. I’m humbled every time I enter work by the sheer quality of the people. Backcountry.com is what professional means.
• A country that rewards innovation and allows two entrepreneurs to start Backcountry.com with $2,000 and grow it to what it has become.
• Co-workers who get so inspired that they go on to create their own empires in Avantlink, CamoFire.com and GearDigger.com to name just a few.
• Semi-retired co-founders like Christian Gennerman and Bob Merrill without whom we never could have built this company.
• Mentors like Jill Layfield, Scott Klossner, Kelly Phillipps, Dustin Robertson and many more who teach who I am, my many shortcomings and all and yet who I desire to be.
• A boss who is a mentor and yet not afraid to call it as he sees it.
• An ex-wife who retakes the phrase and turns it into a wonderful thing.
• Endless support and energy from Sara H and Lyndsey who show me what energy I would like to face the world with.
• And deep boundless friends who have been with me since I began accruing them at six and I never seem to stop.
• And a friend who doesn’t rush.

The humbling of 2009 never seems to stop but that is as it must be for now. Thanks to all who help me get back up and figure out yet another way to tackle a fresh set of problems. I have more to be thankful for since I turned toward lightness and away from the inexorable darkness that is available to us all. I wish you all a happy Thanksgiving.

2010 is already filled with more opportunity than I ever dreamed possible. I hope you all tear off a chunk.

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Here’s a video about how we used to market at Backcountry.com circa 2007.  It’s kind of a B- performance. Sorry. There is some good data in here though:

This is a link that may or may not work to a speech to a BYU entrepreneurship class circa 2007.

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I’ve spent a lifetime watching new dotcoms launch with incremental improvements in user experience. And I’ve tried to copy the best of it for Backcountry.com and our associated sites. And then along comes Mint.com and it humbles me completely. The site works so beautifully and seamlessly that it leapfrogs all other interactive design. Almost everyone is nervous about sharing financial data on the web and yet Mint tackles by pulling in your data so quickly and efficiently it almost happens before you know it. And then it’s all parsed into instantly useful information. It’s so brilliant in its simplicity.

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• User Experience = $5 Million per Employee (adaptivepath.com)

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