Replace Google Notifier’s ugly Gmail menu icon in Mac OSX

I decided long ago to leave Mail.app and totally migrate to Gmail for proper access to my email wherever I was. I use Google Notifier for Mac for notifications of new email which works really well, but the default icons really don’t fit in:

Apple’s menu icons are solid black with transparency, but Google Notifer’s ‘No Email’ icon uses grey gradients and solid white. Not cool. The ‘New Email’ icon is red which is acceptable since I want it to stand out, but the white and web 2.0-ish gradients are too much. The error state (appears when no net connection) is just horrible.

Luckily Google Notifier makes it pretty easy to change these icons, here’s what I have now:

To install:

1. Download the icons (4kb) and unzip
2. In OSX, Go to the Applications folder
3. Right click Google Notifier and choose Show Package Contents
4. Choose Contents > Resources
5. Drag the three new icons into the Resources folder, then quit Google Notifier and re-open. Tada :)

Hope it’s of some use to someone!

Business lesson #4 from my summer holiday - Reduce the barriers to entry

This is a follow on from Lesson #1, Lesson #2 & Lesson #3, read them first for the premise of the post.

Have you ever been to a hotel where you had to leave a deposit for potential damages as soon as you got there? Or where you could only have the air conditioning if you paid up front? I have, plenty of times.

You’ve had a long journey, suitcase in hand, you just want to sit back and relax, but you have to fork over €100 instead for a cost you hadn’t expected. That sucks. It’s a negative start to the experience.

At Aeollos, Themis let us know there would be a cost for the air con, but that we could pay at the end of the week. Such an obvious idea for customer satisfaction, but you’d be surprised how many get it wrong. It’s a barrier to entry, something that slows me down, something that’s annoying, a nuisance.

In a hotel in that situation, I have to pay otherwise I’ll fry. Websites are different.

Web services that ask for a ton of profile information before I even get in are missing a trick. It’s a barrier, a chore, a nuisance. Do you really need my home address to start my account? I know it’s easier for you to get my credit card details before I start my free trial, but it’s a nuisance for me so I probably won’t bother.

Let me in quickly with no hassle, and ask for the other stuff later, please.

Business lesson #3 from my summer holiday - Personalisation goes a long way

This is a follow on from Lesson #1 & Lesson #2, read them first for the premise of the post.

Half way through our stay this letter came underneath our door:

And the day before we left, this came through:

Sarah, our rep, was provided with a pre-printed message to add her name to. She also took a few extra seconds for a quick personal message and a smiley face - she didn’t have to. She probably does this for everyone, but it didn’t matter.

I get so many emails that are obviously pasted to tons of people and aren’t written specifically for me, and I instantly take less notice of them. Starting an email with ‘Hey Matt’ is a much better way to gain my respect than ‘Dear valued customer’ or without addressing me at all.

If you’re replying to a support request with a completely canned response, I understand. But if you take 30 seconds to adjust it slightly to wish me luck with my particular problem, or so it makes sense for my issue, those things really go a long way for me.

It all comes down to this: In an age of automated responses, taking the time and putting in the extra effort to personalise is almost always noticeable, shows you care, and makes a big difference.

Business lesson #2 from my summer holiday - Be there if I need you

This is a follow on from Lesson #1, read it first for the premise of the post.

Shortly after we arrived at the hotel, Themis (the hotel owner) invited me into his office where he went over some of the things I should know about the hotel. He gave me a pre-printed card with the hotel contact info on. He added the area code I’d need to use to call from my mobile, and underlined his personal mobile number which he leaves on 24hrs. He told me if I had any problems at any time, no matter how big or small, to call him and he’d sort them out.

At a large hotel, you’d expect someone to be on the front desk 24hrs ready to help if you have any issues, but Themis had given us his personal mobile number if we needed his help 24hrs a day. Gestures like that make you feel like you’re in good hands.

I’d bet that 95% of hotel guests never need to use that number, and of those 5% a tiny minority ever need to call when he’s asleep. I’d also bet that 100% of the guests appreciated the gesture of a 24 hour personal mobile number.

If you provide a service where your customers might urgently need your help, maybe you should consider giving out a number you’ll keep on 24 hours a day. If you stress that it’s only to be used for emergencies and that it’ll wake you up, then it probably won’t be misused. Less than 1% of users will ever use it, but 100% will appreciate having it, and it’ll make them love you a little more.

Business lesson #1 from my summer holiday - Be a ‘Me’ not a ‘We’

A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I booked a last minute holiday with Thomas Cook at the Aeollos Hotel in Halkidiki, Greece. It cost £815, including flights, accommodation and transfers. This was no 5-star hotel, yet it was probably the best hotel experience I’ve ever had.

The hotel was clean and well furnished, but wasn’t huge or impressive. What set it apart from the expensive hotels I’ve stayed at before (courtesy of my parents) was the personal customer experience.

The hotel was run by a lovely couple, Rita and Themis. In a large hotel you never know who the owners are and who ultimately makes the money you’re spending. Large hotels are run by a mass of managers and duty staff who make their wage and then go home. For Rita and Themis, their small hotel is their life. Besides a couple of maids and friendly bar staff, they do everything. It’s paramount for them that you enjoy your stay, because it’s them who are immediately affected if bookings dry up, not a higher up unknown.

Lots of successful web businesses are run by one person and have a small group of users. These businesses use ‘We’ and ‘Us’ on their marketing sites and support emails instead of ‘Me’ and ‘I’ because they think pretending to be bigger makes them appear better and more impressive. Maybe they’re right, a web service with multiple employees must make enough money to pay those employees, so must be successful right? That creates instant credibility.

However, a real ‘we’ is often a large, faceless company. It might have multiple support staff who simply work for their wage and then go home. They do their job and never go above the call of duty. You don’t know who they are, and they won’t remember you.

A ‘me’ is a small, faced company. The owner is usually passionate and enthusiastic about their business, because if they weren’t they’d probably be doing something else. Your customer experience is directly proportional to the owner’s income, and therefore usually increases the lengths they’re willing to go to make you happy. You know ‘Jonathan’ because he always sends you the emails, always answers the phone and always helps you out when you need it, and he knows you too. That’s really powerful.

If you run a web business on your own, consider being very open about the fact that it’s just little old you. It’s rarely done on the web because it’s so easy to hide, but personally I think being a ‘me’ is a huge selling point.