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“It’s better to keep your mouth shut and have people think you’re an idiot, than open it and remove all doubt.”
- Shelly McClanahan (my mom)
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Archive of Life
Having a VALID opinion
Monday, January 30th, 2012Honesty
Monday, January 23rd, 2012| “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” – Albert Einstein | |
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Customer Service – Steve Jobs is Gone
Wednesday, January 18th, 2012Mr. Jobs wouldn’t be happy.
Last week (more than 7 days ago) I was at the gym and the screen on my brand new iPod Nano quit working.
That evening I called the Apple help desk to figure out what to do. After waiting on the phone for 17 minutes I was connected to a helpful individual who walked me through a bunch of trouble shooting and concluded that I needed to talk to someone else.
Instead of transferring they indicated this individual would call me the next night (at home). 30 minutes later my phone rang and they were ready to talk.
I was OK with that because I wanted to get the issue resolved. The individual indicated that they needed to replace the iPod and gave me 2 options – have it shipped to my house or visit the iPod store and pick up a new one (which would be quicker).
I chose the second, scheduled an “appointment” and visited the store (actually my wife did).
At this point they told me that the iPod was broken (news flash) and they needed to order a part (doesn’t the whole thing have about $2.46 worth of materials). They indicated they would call me when they received it and would have the part overnighted.
That was 5 days ago.
Apple is lucky. They dominate the market for MP3 players (today…. Check back in 2013 – think Google + Android + Pandora).
Your business is not Apple. You can’t afford a customer service train wreck like this.
What processes do you have in place to ensure that you exceed customer expectations every single time?
Why You Shouldn’t Vote
Monday, January 9th, 2012As we prepare for another presidential election, there’s no doubt that you will see multiple PSA’s suggesting that everyone should get out there and vote! Many will claim that it is an outrage that less than 60% of the voting age population goes to the polls in a presidential election year.
Baloney.
I would feel a lot more comfortable if the percentage were down around 10% and here’s why.
The average American is intellectually lazy when it comes to politics.
Their voting decisions are based almost entirely on emotional perceptions. Worse, those emotional perceptions are based on sound bites, commercials and 90 second profiles on the evening news.
For example, I was having a conversation with a friend of mind the other day about who he was going to vote for in 2012. He is extremely sharp, very successful and thoughtful. He told me that he couldn’t vote for any of the Republican candidates. When I asked why he stated that his opinion was formed by watching the debates.
The debates!
The debates are the last place anyone should go to learn about a candidate. Every candidate is forced to state their opinions in 30 second blurbs that they know will get replayed a thousand times on You Tube or the nightly news. As a result, instead of having a meaningful conversation about any topic they repeat a campaign theme they hope the average voter will pay attention to when surfing the internet or flipping through channels.
So, unless you are going to really begin researching the candidates and their opinions, I recommend you stay home in November.
Passion
Monday, January 9th, 2012| “The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” – Mitch Albom
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Current Opportunities
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012“Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand.” – Bruce Marton
As you prepare for another New Year, instead of focusing on the challenges ahead, ask yourself – “What am I going to do with the opportunities I have been given?”
Holiday card, to send or not to send?
Tuesday, December 20th, 2011For the second year in a row, our firm didn’t send out Christmas cards.
It’s not that I’ve turned into Scrooge or don’t get into the holiday spirit. I love the season.
I just find it to be a complete waste of time. You buy a “Seasons Greetings” card, have your staff sign it and then place it into an envelope with a printed label, and mail it to your entire database.
And guess what happens when it gets to the recipient? That’s right –it goes directly into the garbage.
In a world filled with clutter, what are you trying to accomplish with this correspondence?
Do you send the letter just because you’ve always done it? Do you really think you clients keep a running total of all of the holiday cards they receive each year?
Your goal is to stand out not blend in.
Keep that in mind the next holiday season.
You can have anything you want!
Monday, December 19th, 2011| “You can have anything you want if you will give up the belief that you can’t have it.” – Dr. Robert Anthony | |
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Focus-One day at a time
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011| “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu
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