Whew … what a week. Thankfully I did end up processing all the photographs from my recent trip to Colorado. But one photograph has kept me inspired throughout a challenging week sans the Canadian election. I guess it reminded me of the challenge I quite enjoyed as I hiked up the Great Sand Dunes. When I arrived, it wasn’t hot — actually there was quite the cool breeze however hiking on sand was a very different experience. There were times when I thought I’d slip and roll down the sand dune… which could be fun in some sense although I wasn’t intending on trying it out…
Great Sand Dunes of Colorado by Ehren Cheung
There were two kids up ahead who didn’t have any water whatsoever. I did end up providing some water to them but I hope they reached the peak — they were certainly determined to 
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It is very rare that I find a company that I am loyal to but the folks at Smugmug have yet to give me a reason not to be. Not only have I been a loyal customer of about 2 years (more or less), but I am a customer that consistently recommends them as a photo sharing service to anyone I know. Not everyone listens to me but that’s beside the point. Despite the fact that I pay more for a subscription with them than I would have if I went with any other photo sharing service out there, they have been able to constantly remind me that going with them was a the BEST decision. To provide a quality product is standard, same goes for the service, but to give your customers reminders and new reasons why choosing and sticking with them was the BEST decision … that is going beyond good customer service.
Recently the folks at Smugmug began to offer free camera straps and stickers. I didn’t really need the stickers or have any place for them so I just requested a camera strap. I wasn’t sure if they had enough but I would not have even minded to pay for one! My reasoning was that I’d rather carry around my camera promoting Smugmug than the signature Canon EOS Digital logo. You might ask, “Aren’t I loyal to Canon?” Not quite, I think Canon has manufactured and designed a great camera, and I think their cameras and lenses are superior in technical specifications to other manufacturers but ultimately the loyalty that I carry is to the product, not the company and the people working at the company. I would recommend specific cameras to different people, but in general I don’t feel the urge to go out and tell people to buy Canon.
Recently Smugmug sent me the camera strap, and it gave me yet another reason why I love them — the camera strap was absolutely more comfortable than the common strap that comes with the pricey Canon SLR camera. Now that is going beyond good service and simply responding to your customers. It’s about identifying things that your customers may not notice or be aware of in the present, but would definitely appreciate in the future. Take a look at my own Smugmug gallery.
The new smugmug camera strap (photo courtesy of Smugmug)
Disclosure: The links to Smugmug in this post are affiliate links with my referrer code (RbSbhKjJlwh4k) — yes I will receive commission and yes you will receive a discount by using the code or link.
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