From time to time, we have the good fortune to work with companies that really go above and beyond to help us become successful.  These outstanding companies remind us, and drive home the need for our agency to provide the best possible customer service to our clients and affiliates, and Wes Moore at iPlayerHD is just one of these companies.

When we were finishing up the 12 week curriculum for our affiliate manager training program, MyAffiliateCoach, we were using MotionBox to serve all our videos.  Each module has an intro video and many have bonus videos and other video educational elements to it.  We had spent months putting it together and, at the time, were very happy with MB’s service.

Then, just as we were about to announce the launch of this service, MotionBox was acquired by Snapfish and let us know we had ten days to move our videos and that our account “may not be available” after a certain date.  As you can imagine, that sent us scrambling as we were planning on using this service for the duration and now had to find something completely new.

In walks Wes Moore, founder of iPlayerHD.  I believe that Wes contacted me through a twitter post, or possibly a frantic email to his help email.  What transpired after our initial call was nothing short of the best customer service experience we have had in a long time.  Wes spent a significant amount of time in the following two weeks to not only make sure that we understood how to use iPlayerHD in our MyAffiliateCoach program, but also that all the videos (about 28 in all) were encoded, embedded and ready to go for our launch on August 1st.

Wes actually encoded the first 15 videos for us, loaded them in iPlayerHD and sent me the embed code for each one.  What I thought would have taken me two weeks, and pushed back the launch another month, took only four days.  Wes’s help and instruction was vital for us launching when we did.

Not only did he help get this done, he helped get this done while I was out on vacation.  I know this is a bit of a cliche’, but he really went the extra mile and I really appreciated the help.

The product itself is pretty awesome.  We use it in our blog announcement and our presslift announcement as well as each module and bonus modules.  It’s a great way to serve video, pretty much anywhere.  Great product Wes!

I asked Wes to tell us a little more about his product for this post:

“Over the years, I have launched many companies and among those companies,  iPlayerHD is my clear favorite. When asked why, my answer is simple: iPlayerHD has made a complex problem simple and an expensive solution inexpensive. Using iPlayerHD’s video hosting platform, any business or organization can easily and affordably deliver high definition videos to their audience in an ad-free environment ensuring their message is the focal point of the viewing experience.”

When someone makes an impact on us, goes above and beyond and really strives to help us be successful, I like to tell people about it.  Wes, you did an awesome job and we can’t thank you enough.  You turned a stressful situation into one that ended up working better than we had imagined.  Thank you!

If you are looking for a video hosting and serving solution, please check out iPlayerHD and let Wes know that JEBCommerce sent ya.

I was reading an article on InternetRetailer.com this morning titled Penny’s billion-dollar bet.  Penny’s, one of the earliest adopters of ecommerce among large retail chains, has experienced flat sales the last few years.  They are now planning and investing in a new ecommerce platform to grow their online channel to over 2.5 Billion.  Yes that is a “B”.  (when you get into Billions and Trillions, that just boggles the mind doesn’t it.

The article brought to mind something I’ve learned and been told over the years.  I can’t exactly remember who or where I heard it but it’s stuck with me.  In down times, you prepare, you plan, you build for the future.  Right now the economy isn’t all the great, but do we just sit here and take it?  Have you been doing that?

Now is the time to plan, to invest, to build your next big thing.  Now is the time to push forward your new ideas.  This concept also plays out historically.  Many of the large and successful firms we all know today, were started during the great depression.  Did you even know business were successful then?  The difficult economic times aren’t always dismal and dreary.  They can be the perfect time to try out your ideas.  If your next big thing works during this economic climate, imagine how it will be when things turn around.

It’s almost counter-intuitive, to invest millions, maybe hundreds of millions when no one is buying, you are facing increased pressure from Amazon and other retailers and this general economic malaise.  But JCPenny doesn’t see it that way.  Now is the time to re-tool, revamp and position yourself for the future.

A couple questions for you - are you cowering in the corner and just trying to survive or are you like JC Penny, investing in the future to build your business.  What have you been avoiding that could lead to a more successful venture in 2011, 2012 and beyond?

I’d love to hear your comments.