Pzizz... The Art of Sleep and Relaxation

I am not generally prone to commercial endorsements but I am about to make an exception for two very important reasons.

1. The product works, at least for me, and,
2. When I encounter exceptional customer service in a world where such service is the exception rather than the rule that it should be, I believe it is something that everyone should know about. Here's the story:

About a year or so ago, I was reading 43 Folders, Merlin Mann's productivity blog (excellent resource, multi-taskers...). Merlin was waxing poetic about a downloadable "power napping" program called Pzizz. It combines soft, soothing music and natural sounds with a gentle voice-over suggesting methods of relaxation and reinforcing the value of rejuvenating relaxation. Being a person who is always going in 3 or more directions at the same time, and also interested in finding ways to focus better, I bought the program, downloaded it onto my new iMac and started creating nap-tracks from 10 to 40 + minutes in length. Pzizz allows the user to choose how much, if any, voice over to include in combination with the music -- very customizable. The nap-tracks can be played on your computer speakers, burned to CD and played on your audio system, or directly downloaded to an iTunes playlist. My preference has been to drop them into iTunes, pop them onto my iPod, and use them with by noise-canceling headphones while flying (I commute frequently between Florida and the northeast), at the hotel, or at home when I feel like I could use a quick refresher nap.

Starting last fall -- September/October or so, I started having difficulty sleeping well ---- managing for the last 6 months only a few decent hours of sleep each night (folks prone to poor sleep tend to sleep even more poorly as they age). The Pzizz "Energizer" napping program has helped me rest and re-energize enough to manage my busy life. Several days ago as I was stretched out on my favorite leather recliner under the headphones, it occurred to me that Pzizz had a "Sleep" module in addition to the Energizer map module (one focused on putting you into deep, long sleep without the beeps at the end that bring you back to your day). So off I went to the Pzizz website, and sure enough they have both modules available. So I drop the very reasonable cost of the Sleep module, and at the same time agree to upgrade my Energizer nap module to the latest version (Pzizz has an unlimited upgrade program when you purchase their products).

After downloading the modules, you receive an e-mail from Pzizz containing your license numbers, which you must enter into the proper place in the program to enable the use of the modules. Mine contained one license number (for the Sleep program, which worked perfectly) but none for the Energizer, which was now disabled. I shot an e-mail off to the company through their website asking about the second license number, and proceeded to create a Sleep track to use that evening. Regarding #1 above, I had the best night's sleep that night that I've had in recent memory (I woke up long enough to take the headphones off and go back to sleep). That's a very big deal to folks who know what it's like to not sleep well. The three nights since have been equally peaceful.

Regarding #2, I received a very fast response from the President of the company indicating that my original purchase was not in their database, and requesting that I provide additional information (an original e-mail if I had it, or information on a third party vendor). Well, I had neither -- and responded that I would still be happy to pay the balance of the package discount price for the two modules. The response? An e-mail containing a new license number for the Energizer and a note from the President in response to my subsequent thank-you note that it was possible that it was their error, they believed me, and were more interested in a happy customer than an additional nineteen bucks. How often do you get that kind of customer service in this world of drive-by, squeeze the buck out of the rock retailing??? Hence my need to spread the word. Visit their website -- take a look -- try the free trial -- do the research -- read the reviews (other than mine). You'll be glad you did.