TasteCasting-Phoenix, July ’09 from mark smith on Vimeo.

My home refrigerator/freezer decided to stop working this weekend. Of course the warranty just recently expired, so I’m anticipating a substantial repair bill on a fairly new home appliance. I contacted Dino’s Appliance Service Center in Phoenix. They repaired our two year old dishwasher a few weeks ago and did a nice job (I’m beginning to think our kitchen is jinked).

The technician was right on time, very pleasant and jumped right in. After a quick diagnosis, he informed me that it was one of two things that was causing the problem, either a faulty relay switch or a bad compressor. He said “if it’s the compressor, you may want to be sitting down when I give you the estimate.”

He discovered it was the relay switch and said he had one in his truck and that he would just give it to me. He installed the switch and had the refrigerator back in place in about five minutes. He then proceeded to leave and I asked him how much I owed him. He replied, “because you have to replace all of your spoiled food and it put a damper on your weekend, there’s no charge.” Needless to say, I was stunned.

So, I’m “speading the word” about Dino’s Appliance Service Center in Phoenix. Hopefully my need for appliance repairs has come to an end, for awhile, but they certainly have a loyal customer if the need arises.

Phoenix TasteCasting’s first tasting took place at NYPD Pizza last night. What a great inaugural spot for meeting new people, experiencing a bit of New York, and eating and eating and eating!

If you’re from New York, and homesick for an authentic Brooklyn-style pizza experience, then drive to NYPD Pizza tonight for your fix. Not from New York, then do yourself a favor and transform yourself out of the Arizona heat and into a neighborhood pizza place with tons of pizzazz.

 Our Host

Nikki West, the Director of Operations, was a gracious host. She pulled up a chair, had dinner with us and shared great stories about the restaurant with each course.

The pizza dough is made with New York filtered water. They swear it makes a difference. We agree. And they serve New York filtered water to guests.

Every pizza is hand tossed the old fashioned way and baked in an old fashioned stone oven.

The marinara sauce is Greg Ziegler’s mother’s recipe. And rumor has it that she routinely checks in with the restaurants to make sure they are making it the right way. Now that’s quality control.

The Feast

And what a feast it was! We started off with Garlic Knots that are brushed with garlic, sesame and Romano cheese and baked with that delectable homemade marina sauce on the side. If I knew there was so much food coming, I would have limited myself to one. But I’m a sucker for fresh baked warm bread.

Then came the wings. We had two kinds – Honey BBQ Wings and Upstate Style Wings. My husband’s family is from Buffalo New York, so as you can imagine, there are many discussions about wings and sauce around our house. I asked Nikki if they use Frank’s Hot Sauce (since the New Yorkers in my life are die-hard fans of Frank’s Hot Sauce). NYPD makes their own sauce (no bottles and cans for these folks). And dare I say…their sauce might have been even better than Frank’s! We were served the medium sauce – but I’m going back for the Hell’s Kitchen version.

While I’m a purist when it comes to wing sauce, the Honey BBQ wings were great. Think BBQ sauce and honey. They were great.

And then came the salad. We had two kinds – the Chelsea and Antipasto.

The Chelsea had sun dried tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese, sliced almonds, bacon, tomatoes and cucumbers topped with their own dressing, which is a combo of house vinaigrette and ranch dressing. Heaven help me. Again, if I knew there was so much food coming I would’ve had just a little sample.

The tossed Antipasto was seriously the best I’ve ever had. Maybe it was the marinade. We were served a huge portion of this salad — loads of marinated vegetables like mushrooms, pepperocinis, tomatoes, onion. 

And then came the pizza. We had the Brooklyn Family pizza with pepperoni, sausage and fresh basil and the Pizza Blanca (a white pie) with olive oil, crushed garlic, ricotta, mozzarella and Roma tomatoes. At first, I tried to be all prim and proper and use a fork and knife. Maybe it was the music or possibly the NY water in the crust, but I said, “Fagetta ‘bought it” (to myself of course) and picked up my slice, folded it and indulged. Now that’s the way pizza should be eaten.

And the feast continued. Calzones were served. The Al Capone was filled with sausage, pepperoni, onions and a cheesy gooey combination of seasoned ricotta cheese and mozzarella. And that heavenly homemade marina was served on the side. Just when I thought I would burst, we had traditional baked New York Ziti with sliced meatballs. The meatballs were a huge hit with the group.

Now, we’ve slipped into a food coma – a happy, blissful place. And then came the San Gennaro Zeppolis. These fried little nuggets of tasty pizza dough are topped with powdered sugar and served with Chocolate and Raspberry dipping sauces. We ohhh’d, we ahhhh’d. I’m going back for these!

As were getting ready to leave, a couple (Debbie and Bill) came up to our table and shared a story. They were celebrating their 1-year wedding anniversary because their first date was at NYPD. Debbie went on the say that Bill had just gotten out of a comma due to a serious bike accident. So this evening was special for them on a lot of levels. A sweet ending to our evening.

 From the exposed brick on the wall, to the Sinatra music in the background, for a brief time we left Arizona and were sitting at a neighborhood restaurant among friends indulging in wings, pasta, and pizza and telling stories.

Thank you NYPD for inviting us in and treating us like family.

Locations/Hours of Operation for the ten Phoenix locations:

Sun-Thur:11-9:30
Fri-Sat:11-10

Some places deliver – check them out on line at www.aznypdpizza.com or follow them on Twitter: @NYPD_Pizza or on Facebook: NewYorkPizza Department

Business-transforming solutions. Market-changing innovations. Odd-defying creations.

We build productive, profitable and lasting relationships between businesses and their customers.

Productive relationships let businesses learn from their customers; and customers know they are being heard.

Profitable relationships create value for both sides. Businesses enjoy return business and customers benefit from a product or service they can rely on.

Lasting relationships stand the test of time. An overnight success is nice, but a lasting one is even better.

Rule #1: If you want to win, you have to let go.

It’s the same game that’s been played for years: the struggle for customers. And it used to be that the company with the biggest advertising and media budget won. Not so today.

Small businesses can now compete with the heavyweights by leveraging strategic marketing tactics, word-of-mouth inspired initiatives, and creative executions. And they don’t need huge media budgets to mount them.

Yes. The rules have changed. So has the game. And as long as you learn to let go of the old ways, you’ll stand to gain much more in return.

Rule #2: Customers don’t like to be pulled at or chewed on.

They’re called “targets” because companies want them. But customers are people – like you and me. We don’t like to be bothered. A direct mail piece has to be pretty spectacular to survive the trip from my mailbox to the countertop without being tossed into the trash. I confess (please forgive me my advertising brothers and sisters) that I enjoy hitting the forward button and cruising past erectile dysfunction spots (but I do stop for any and all Apple spots). And the very day that the Do Not Call Registry started to take names, I was first in line. But that’s me. I’m sure most people are even more annoyed by interruptions of their daily life.

What we do like are our DVRs and TIVOs; our favorite blogs and social sites; Google Reader; our satellite radio and podcasts. We like having more choices; and we really like having more control.

You earn your customers’ affections by being their friend. And to be a friend, you have to act like one. So don’t bite.

Rule #3: It’s good to share.

So now that consumers hold more power and influence than ever before, it’s not enough to wow them with a great tv spot; to entice them with a slick print ad; or to entertain them with a funny radio spot. Sure, you’ll get their attention for a while, but it doesn’t mean you’ve earned their trust or loyalty. Don’t get me wrong, advertising is important. When well done, it generates awareness and builds your brand. But it alone does not increase sales. What does – is something more powerful: loyal customers.

Helpful advice. An interesting story. A valuable tip. When businesses share with their customers, customers share with their family, friends and acquaintances, and they share  with their circle and so on and so on.

This is the power of word-of-mouth.

Businesses that win in the marketplace are those that win the hearts and minds of their customers.

The Wonderdog Way

#1 Finding your customers.

Before you can begin planning or implementing marketing tactics or advertising executions, you have to ask the all-important question: Who are my customers? Why do you need to ask this question? Because in order to really understand your brand, you have to know how it’s being perceived. Since your customers know yours best, they can offer key insights and helpful feedback.

But first, you have to find them. And this may seem obvious, but there’s more to it than turning to your database for answers. Having their addresses will only get you so far – an area code won’t help you understand what makes your customers tick. There are millions of micro-communities and special interest groups online and off. Chances are, your customers belong to one if not more. Once you find them, it’s time to start asking questions.

@Wonderdog
We conduct in-depth searches online and off to pinpoint your customers. Through one-on-one discussions, on-line surveys and social media site canvassing; we discover what your customers are thinking and saying about you. This enables you to truly understand how your brand is being perceived and provides key insights that allow us to effectively communicate with your customers. This discovery process has helped numerous clients understand their customers and, in turn, understand what they need to do as a company to gain their loyalty.

Real life example:
By conducting interviews with customers and internal staff for an award-winning Arizona casino, our team uncovered some very interesting insights from customers who preferred traveling more than 2 hours out of their way rather than patronizing the many local casinos in their area. What we found out helped us create a series of spots that captured what they found so special about their favorite casino.

The Wonderdog Way

#2 Befriending your customers.

Making friends isn’t as easy as you think – especially with today’s media-savvy, highly-cautious, and super-cynical consumer. So how do you do it? It’s just like any relationship – you build it based on honesty, integrity and mutual respect.

@Wonderdog
We develop comprehensive marketing plans that create a loyal following for our clients. Plans consist of word-of-mouth inspired programs, branding initiatives and creative executions that enable businesses to reach out to customers, make a connection and build on that to promote long-lasting, value-driven relationships.

Real life example:
For a national coffeehouse franchise, our team was responsible for developing and creating sales-building programs, best practices and processes to grow sales and brand equity at the store level.

The Wonderdog Way

#3 Engaging your customers.

Every relationship requires some give and take. By giving your customers reasons to care, to stay interested, to keep connected, and to do business with you – you benefit from their honesty, their insights and their connections. In turn, your customers give you their loyalty while enjoying the benefits of your product or service. When it’s good for each party, everyone wins. And when that happens, long-lasting relationships grow and prosper. This is what it means to be a customer-centric business. And in our opinion, it’s just smart business.

@Wonderdog
We believe that communication is key:  Through strategic, insightful and honest messaging and integrated marketing campaigns, we help businesses create customers who aren’t just loyal today – but are loyal for life.

Real life example:
We helped an international corporation take its homebuilding division to another level and dominate a national region through market specific work. How’d we do it? By working closely with our client, our team used feedback from customers to create an integrated campaign that distinguished them from a host of other homebuilders by speaking to the desires and needs of homebuyers.