I think about customer service all the time. It's become a legitimate obsession of mine over the years. I love hearing great stories of customer service, learning from companies that value it, criticizing companies that suck at it and trying to build businesses that stand out as a result of it.

The ultimate challenge for a customer service aficionado is running  a creative, client-based business. It's truly a marathon. Great customer service is defined not by one or two interactions, but by month after month of consistent communication, met deadlines and work that exceeds expectations.

Like many small web design companies, we depend solely on happy customers. We don't spend any dollars marketing our services; it's all based on referrals. The company literally sinks or swims based on the quality of our customer service. Despite innumerable mistakes and learning experiences, we're still quite successful today because our team spends a lot of time polishing our customer service skills.

Aside from every-day communication, here are 5 things we pro-actively work on to deliver a WOW experience to clients:

Proposals

I believe proposals are an awesome way to deliver WOW, which is why we constantly refine the copy and design of our proposals. The template goes through at least 2-3 major revisions per year. The biggest factor is working to make each proposal unique. Clients can smell a boilerplate proposal from a mile away, so be sure to personalize it.

Also keep in mind that the client will probably not read every word of the proposal. They will scan it and follow-up with questions. So don't get mixed up in creating an extremely detailed scope or including fine print that should be meant for the contract. Simply provide an overview, find creative ways to be memorable and leave them wanting more.

Handwritten Notes

I'm a big fan of handwritten notes and their ability to really create a WOW moment. Most every potential client we deal with gets a handwritten note at some point during the process; even the ones that say no. If the client uses someone else for the project, a handwritten note virtually guarantees they will consider you for work in the future.

Our notes are beautiful letterpress cards and envelopes. We think it's a true WOW to get one of these babies in the mail. Even if the client doesn't acknowledge or thank you for the note, it is still something they don't soon forget.

Professional Comps

Another WOW moment you can create with clients is in how you deliver design comps. Rather than simply attaching them in an email, putting them in a PDF or linking to straight JPGs, we've created a little PHP script that presents them in a really cool way.

Each page is branded with the company name and date. Each comp has a section for people to leave comments on the bottom. We like it so much that we're hoping to open-source the project at some point in the near future so others can use it as well. Until then, here's a little sample of our comp viewer ...

Do a Little Extra

Proper budgeting for a project means including enough padding to account for anything that may go wrong or drag out further than expected. In times when the project goes off without a hitch, it's an opportunity to do a little extra.

"Extra" simply means going over and above what you originally agreed to do. It could mean a couple hours of updates free of charge after launch or an extra round of design changes after the fact. Maybe it means adding a requested feature to their CMS that wasn't in the original scope.

Instead of getting greedy or stingy with a project budget, make sure you use padding to go the extra mile whenever possible. The client will clearly notice when you go over and above the call of duty. If they don't notice, make sure you let them know you are!

Celebrate

Some of our best memories have been celebrating with clients after a project. If they are local we often provide a pizza lunch or bring the whole team by for something fun. For out-of-town clients we have tried a variety of things, most recently sending Nashville's famous Christie Cookies their way.

Often times the method of celebration depends on the client, but it does require thought and planning. It's an awesome way to clear away any tensions that may have developed over the course of the project and express your gratitude in person for their business and continued partnership in the future.

So those are some things we're proud of. What's the coolest customer service interaction you have had in the last six months and why?

PS - I love customer service so much that we're even building a web app to help people manage customer service over email better. You can follow our progress on the app here.

Being the business junkie that I am, one of my favorite things to do is read company stories. Large or small, my favorite companies value their culture and cultivate it in unique ways.

I'm going to share culture stories from time to time on this blog because I think we can all be encouraged and inspired by them. Our trip to Zappos was the first one I talked about. Culture is not a buzz word to these companies; they live and breathe it.

First up ... Southwest Airlines.

I've been reading a book called Nuts: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. It's a great history of the early days and talks at great length about the culture they built over the years. One particular thing I'm fascinated by is how they hire people.

How Southwest Airlines Hires

In 1995 (the book was published in '96), the Southwest Airlines People Department (they don't do HR, just people) received 124,000 applications and only hired about 5,400 folks. Guess what the #1 criteria is? Sense of humor.

Founder Herb Kelleher says, "We look for attitudes; people with a sense of humor who don't take themselves too seriously. We'll train you on whatever it is you have to do, but the one thing Southwest cannot change in people is inherent attitudes."

How would you answer if someone posed the following question in an interview? "Tell me how you recently used your sense of humor in a work environment." If you don't know the answer, I wouldn't suggest applying at Southwest Airlines.

In what very little experience I have hiring people, it's not surprising Southwest hires for personality first. Although our industry in particular requires technical expertise, it's not worth hiring someone unless they have a personality that compliments everyone else.

Now you know why the most memorable flight attendant you've ever encountered was most likely on a Southwest flight. I know mine was.

Ever wondered what the difference is between a logo, identity and brand? Maybe you've just wanted to impress all your friends at parties with your intimate knowledge of all things visual. Either way, our resident logo guru Kevin Burr is here to bestow some wisdom for us.

Kevin designs logos and websites at Project83 along with our team.

Logo

Out of the three, the term logo is the easiest to understand. A logo is a symbol or font based design, also known as a logotype, that represents a company or service. The logo works much like a signature. It can be a mark like the Nike tick or a purely type driven logo like FedEx.

Logo Examples

Identity

The identity is more global. It influences how an individual feels about a company through visual consistency across various mediums. For example, color schemes, stationery, photo styles, font styles, logo guidelines (i.e. spacing, sizing, reproduction) and grid systems all take part in defining the company's identity.

Identity Examples

• Business cards, stationary and print collateral
• Style guides, including approved colors, typography and logo usage
• Product packaging

Brand

Think of the brand as something less tangible. A brand can't be designed or created. It's the collective perception one builds about a company based on the logo, identity, goods or services provided and also their experiences with the company. Brand value is built over time in the minds of your customers.

Brand Examples

• Zappos: synonymous with great customer service
• Crate & Barrel: modern furniture and clean design
• BP: big oil company that prioritizes profits over safety and the environment
• Starbucks: good coffee that's always around the corner

While Project83 is where we do client business, our same team also operates another business called Brightwurks that builds web applications. So far we've created two, Feed My Inbox and Linkpatch, along with a mobile website gallery called Mobile Awesomeness.

We've decided to start work on a new web app recently, and blog about the entire process publicly. Being transparent and sharing our secrets is another way of proving that ideas are worthless. Everything from inspiration to wireframes, logo to launch will be written about and covered in detail. It's a really great way to learn about our process first hand and even follow along and participate if you want.

The project is called B Combinator. We've published two posts so far outlining what B Combinator is and what we're building. I'd  love for you to subscribe and participate as we try to do something that's never really been done before. I'll be hard at work working on the app and writing all about it in my spare time over the next several months. Cheers to taking risks!

Last week we launched a semi-new version of Project83.com, keeping the overall feel but re-working a few pages. As part of the process, we decided to be completely transparent about our pricing. Wow does it feel good to have it out there for people to see.

I've always been extremely frustrated by the fact that creative companies don't talk about pricing. Until recently, I thought everyone was merely too fearful and busy copying each other to actually consider it. While a bit of that still exists, I think the real reason is because of how bids and budgets are usually done.

For example, if a company budgets $20k for a project, they intend to spend it all. In organizations with more than a few people, the person leading the web project typically isn't the one paying for it. So it literally makes no difference to them whether they spend $10k or $20k. They just have to get the project done and might as well spend the entire budget making sure.

As a client, it's very difficult to assess the value of a creative service before it takes place. On paper, someone that charges $20k for a website looks like they provide a much higher quality service than someone that charges less. If I've already got $20k to spend, I'm going with the bid that is closest to $20k, thinking I'm getting the best possible service for my budget.

As someone that provides the service, why would I want to come in LESS than the budget if I'm only going to be penalized for it? If our bid is only $12k then the perception is that our work is not as good.

By not listing any of our prices, we can find out what the budget is for each project and come in right at that price. In the end, bidding right at the budgeted amount gives us the best shot to win the project.

We've lost at least two projects this year because our bid was too low. Since our pricing is available on the website, I can't fudge any numbers to match the budget. Even if we are a much better fit for the project, nine times out of ten we won't get it because the perceived value of our service is lower than the budget. How crazy is that?

Now that you know how the budgets work, why would a company want to show their prices? Here's why we do it:

1. Varying your prices based on a budget figure is dishonest. We choose to be honest, so we have no reason to hide our pricing.
2. A lot of organizations we work with truly appreciate upfront pricing. I believe we'll earn as many (or more) contracts as we lose by talking about money upfront. God forbid we save them thousands of dollars if our bid is lower than the budget.
3. Many of the fixed budget clients are organizations that probably aren't the best fit for us to do business with anyways. It's hard to relate with people that don't like to save money when it makes sense.
4. No one else lists prices, so we set ourselves apart right off the bat.

This is a tough decision all creative companies have to make. I know every project and client is unique, and with that comes customized pricing. However, there is no excuse for not providing general pricing guidelines in public at the very least. That's why I stand firmly on the side of transparency.

The only other company I know of that talks about pricing is Blue Flavor, so kudos to them for stepping out there as well. Is it time for you to re-consider your stance on pricing as well?

In January of last year our team took a little "company retreat" to Las Vegas. Why Vegas? ZAPPOS, of course. The phenomenal online retailer with the best customer service around also does tours at their headquarters and I knew we had to go.

Every second of our day there was a huge WOW factor, from the Zappos-branded Escalade that shuttled us to and from the hotel to the ridiculously friendly folks that work there (some of which we still keep up with). In no way is their culture or way of doing business an act. The people are genuine, the atmosphere is contagious and the methodology works. As a fan of customer service, you can't help but ooh and ahh about how they run the company.

Unfortunately it took nearly 18 months for me to talk about our experience on the blog and post the video we took. Hopefully this provides at least a glimpse into the awesomeness that is a Zappos headquarters tour. Please forgive the awful camera work by yours truly, I will do better next time.

Since our visit, they have formalized the whole tours thing a bit more. I highly recommend that you GO see Zappos for yourself.

Here's me taking a seat on their famous "Royalty Chair" (sorry the photo is scanned):

My first article as an author for Smashing Magazine published today and I'm extremely pleased with it. It's called "Web Development for the iPhone and iPad: Getting Started".

Vitally and the team at Smashing are first class in every way. I'm looking forward to writing more for them if they let me. If you don't already, subscribe to their feed. It's one of the very best for web designers and developers.

"Most of the best decisions in my life came after I realized I don't know everything ... the more something feels like something you don't need to know, the better the chances are that it's something you could really benefit from."

— Merlin Mann on The Pipeline

I heard this interview with Merlin Mann recently and his thoughts on curiosity were right on. I haven't experienced enough success in my own mind to start dishing out advice, but I think if successful people have one thing in common it is perpetual curiosity. They explore things they are interested in for the simple sake of learning; not because there's something in it for them. In many cases, their curiosity ends up having a profound impact on their life and/or their business.

Merlin Mann's interest in productivity eventually made him one of the first full-time bloggers on the internet and a very highly-respected geek in many circles. Gary Vaynerchuk's interest in wine made him one of the first and still one of the most successful video bloggers around.

Fact is, you never know where your curiosity will take you. It could mean a new product idea, a new philosophy, a new job or just a new hobby in the long run. The end game frankly doesn't matter. Just never stop learning, because it could be the start of something great down the line.

Apple does a lot of things right. Over the last several years they have made some unpopular decisions that turned out to be good ones. For instance, their refusal to support Flash on the iPhone OS is criticized by many, but it's the right call. Most people know Flash sucks, but up until now no one has had the balls to do something about it.

More recently Apple has been criticized for updating their terms of service to block applications created by 3rd-party frameworks that allow people to write code in another language, then compile it into Objective-C (Apple's native programming language). Again, it's the right call. It may be convenient for some to write Mac and Windows apps in Flash or ASP or Hebrew for that matter, but that's not how it works. Apps should be created in the language they were intended for. It's a ballsy move, but in my opinion it's absolutely the right one.

Now that Android phones outnumber iPhones and Apple has some legitimate competition, it's time Apple makes another bold move: fix the App Store.

What's the Problem?

Great developers have already ditched the iPhone OS by the boatload because of the App Store's flaws. Here are just a few:

1. Developers are 100% at Apple's mercy with regards to the approval process, which has been inconsistent at best. They can't release products, bug fixes or so much as a launch date for their apps because they are restricted to a vague approval timeline controlled by Apple.
2. Marketing efforts are limited because you can't give out promo codes or even 30-day trials
3. It's costly to have a customer refund policy because Apple keeps their 30% cut either way
4. App Store exposure is difficult to say the least and developers have little to no control over marketing their app from within the proprietary store
5. Forget the prospect of measuring conversion and analytics surrounding the sale of your application because you can't even sell it on your own website

Imagine buying OSX apps this way ... what a nightmare! Imagine having to drop by the Apple store just to check out an app you read about, then pay more than you normally would because Apple takes 30%. I believe this process stunts both application developer growth and Apple's growth of the iPhone OS. It may be profitable in the short term for Apple, but could be devastating in the long term.

Solution #1: Make Inclusion Optional

1. Selling your product in the App Store should be optional.
2. Developers need the means to distribute, promote and sell their application however they want. Apple only gets their 30% cut for products sold in their store.

The App Store would still exist as a formidable way to sell your app without having to worry about payment processing or a website. But if some developers prefer do it all on their own, they deserve that opportunity.

Solution #2: Make the Approval Process Optional

Apple's argument against this suggestion is all about security and performance. They want the ability to keep the iPhone OS as secure and bug-free as possible. I totally get that, which is why application approval/certification should still be available to all developers whether they sell their product in the App Store or not.

As a developer, even if I don't want to sell my product in the App Store I should be able to pay a flat fee structure for Apple to review and approve my product just like all the ones in the App Store. Developers that pay the fee get the exact same treatment as App Store products.

While I completely understand the approval process and why it exists, I still believe it should be optional. iPhone users don't lease the devices from Apple, they own them. Therefore it's my right to screw it up with applications Apple doesn't support or approve if I want. Apple could limit the APIs and access in the SDK for unapproved apps, or throw up a big warning before installation; either would be reasonable. I just don't see why this has to be any different from installing an application for OSX.

Solution #3: Ditch iTunes

iTunes was awesome 10 years ago. Since then it's progressively morphed into the slowest, most bloated app on the Mac platform. It makes no sense for iTunes to serve all the purposes it does today. It should be scaled back to the music player/organizer it was always meant to be. Here's how:

• Make the iTunes Store web-based. The irony of Steve's open letter blasting Flash is that he talks about Flash being a proprietary platform. Guess what iTunes is? Proprietary! Thanks to all the great technologies talked about in that letter (HTML5, web standards), the store would lose nothing if they transitioned to a web app. Hopefully that's the direction they are headed by acquiring LaLa.
• Re-work iSync. Apple's iSync used to be pretty good at syncing Macs with other devices. iPhone OS devices should use a dedicated application like iSync to keep all their data in check. Furthermore, developers should be granted access to sync their applications through iSync as well, instead of forcing users to do it over WIFI as a completely separate process.

I could learn to love iTunes again if it just did what it was intended to do and played/organized my music.

In the end I have no problem with the iPhone OS being proprietary. So are OSX and Windows. But I think developers must continue to publicly challenge Apple's unfair practices with regards to the App Store. The iPhone OS will not scale or perform at it's full potential as long as it's constrained by the App Store bubble. When Apple decides to put developers in a position to succeed, they in turn will achieve a greater level of success.

If you create websites or web apps for the iPhone OS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), it's important to setup a solid local development environment for testing. Using a desktop web browser (even Safari) or one of the many available "emulators" for testing is worthless because the real thing looks different.

The only way to test properly is with Apple's iPhone Simulator. Since you can't just type a local file path into the simulator, I'll show you step-by-step how to get it working (on a Mac).

What You Need

• Latest version of the iPhone SDK
• MAMP for Mac
• A text editor of your choice ... I love Textmate. You won't have to use Dashcode.

1- Install the SDK (with Xcode) and MAMP

The SDK is about 2.8GB so you should give it a while to download. Installation took about ten minutes for me.

What's MAMP?

MAMP is a great little application that gets you up and running with the local server environment on your Mac in about five minutes. All you need to do is install it like any other application.

2- Setup the location of your website or web app

Create a folder for your project. It can be anywhere on your computer. Place an index.html file in it with "hello world" or whatever you need to test that it's working when we open the simulator.

For this tutorial I'm going to call my folder "iphone-site" and put it in /Users/Nick/Sites/ on my computer.

3- Create an alias in MAMP

Go to the location where you installed MAMP (probably Applications), then open this file: /MAMP/conf/apache/httpd.conf. Around line 655 you should see the following code:

Alias /MAMP "/Applications/MAMP/bin/mamp"

<Directory "/Applications/MAMP/bin/mamp">
    Options Indexes MultiViews
    AllowOverride None
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

Add a line of space after this code, then create your alias with this code:

Alias /iphone-site/ "/Users/Nick/Sites/iphone-site/"
<Directory "/Users/Nick/Sites/iphone-site/">
    Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
    AllowOverride All
    Order allow,deny
    Allow from all
</Directory>

Replace the file path above with the file path to your site in both places.

Save the file and close it. Please note that if you ever make edits to the httpd.conf file while your MAMP server is running, you will have to restart the server to see those changes take effect. Also, if you ever change the location of your site, of course this file will have to be updated with the new file path.

What this does is keep the URL clean and easy to remember. Setting up an alias is not technically required, but I highly recommend it. Instead of the URL being this:

http://localhost:8888/Users/Nick/Sites/iphone-site/

The new, clean URL would look like this:

http://localhost:8888/iphone-site/

4- Test It

Launch MAMP and make sure that the server is running. The window should look like this:

Now it's time to open the iPhone simulator. Open a finder window and navigate to the drive you installed the developer kit on (eg. "Macintosh HD"). The simulator is in the /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneSimulator.platform/Developer/Applications/ folder. It's a good idea to add it to your dock so you can access it easily in the future.

Once the simulator is running, open Safari. Navigate to http://localhost:8888/iphone-site/. Of course you will want to substitute iphone-site in the URL for the name of your project. You should see "hello world" (in very tiny text), which means you are good to go!

Now you can develop iPhone websites and web apps without depending on an internet connection, which should speed up development time significantly. Whenever you start another iPhone project, simply add another alias to your httpd.conf file and get started!

Testing on the iPad

The iPhone OS SDK version 3.2 and up includes support for the iPad in the iPhone Simulator application. It's a little confusing, but think of the iPhone as more of an operating system rather than a device in this context. From the iPhone Simulator, click "Hardware" in the main menu, then "Device" and you can select between the iPhone and iPad.

What about debugging?

Mobile Safari has a debugging console, but I didn't find it too helpful for basic front-end development. There isn't a substitute for Firebug or Safari's developer tools, so I would suggest continuing to use those in a desktop browser if you get stuck. Using the same localhost URL will work in other browsers as well as the simulator.

Resource Library

Once you have your test environment going, it's important to familiarize yourself with the mobile Safari browser and how to make the most of it. Here is a set of articles to get you started:

• Apple: Getting Started with iPhone Web Apps- all of the resources available on this page are very helpful
• Apple: Preparing Your Web Content for iPad- a good basic introduction to formatting web content for the iPad
• jQTouch- in my opinion the best library for developing native-style web apps for the iPhone
• O'Reilly: Building iPhone Apps with HTML, CSS and Javascript- A book that's free to read online and a GREAT resource.