March 2008

On this month’s menu:

Ø I’ve Called to Say Nothing!
Ø Ring Ring
Ø Yipes, Grown-Ups!
Ø Virtual Worlds
Ø More on BEEs
Ø Have You … ? The next instalment
Ø Circulation Details
Ø And finally



I’ve Called To Say Nothing!

So why would anyone call to say nothing? Because it gives us the opportunity to tell a customer that we are ‘on the case’ even if we don’t have a conclusion to whatever we might be doing. Let me give you an example.

I was trying to arrange some business insurance. I called a broker, discussed my requirements and was sent a proposal form. I filled this in, sent it off and waited … and waited. What am I to think? Has Royal Mail lost it? Has the broker lost it? Is anyone doing anything? I phone them. Apparently they were still awaiting a response from the insurance company. Several days go by and I get an emailed quote. I email back a query. Several days go by … OK, you’ve probably got the picture! If the guy had sent a very brief email to confirm receipt of my proposal, query etc and said that it would probably take ‘x’ days to get a response, I would have been relaxed. By the end of the process I was left feeling that I didn’t matter to them. In the end, to move on, I did the business with them but have made a note in my diary in plenty of time to find another provider for next year.

In my view it is better to over-communicate than under-communicate. That way the customer knows that you are actively working for them and they will be reassured. We tend to do business with people we know and trust. Frequent communication is a way of building trust and a sound relationship with the customer.


Ring Ring

Continuing on the phone theme, I was at an event this week where the general manager of a large 4-star hotel spoke about customer service. He told us how he was in the hotel’s reception area on one occasion when the phone rang. All of the reception desk staff were dealing with guests checking out, so he answered the call himself. It was for a group booking that was worth £15,000. As he said, if he hadn’t answered the phone the caller might well have tried one of several other hotels in the same area, and the business would have been lost.

This is a good example of how everyone in a team should be able and willing to step into the ‘front line’ when necessary, regardless of status or job description.


Yipes, grown-ups!

I cannot recall where I saw it, but some time ago I came across a cartoon showing a man about to enter a room full of strangers. Pausing in the doorway he surveyed the scene in the room and let out the cry of, “Yipes, grown-ups!” Apart from the fact that I don’t know anyone who goes round saying ‘yipes’, this struck a chord, as it will I suspect, with many people. Small business people (all those under seven foot six) will be only too aware that networking is vital to develop contacts who can help with their businesses. Yet the very word ‘networking’ is enough to make most of us go wobbly at the knees.

I have found the solution, I don’t do networking. I go partying instead! I have found that I now enjoy business events because I do not regard them as networking, but more as one would a party. It’s a lot more fun going to a party than a networking event and it takes away the pressure that one might otherwise feel to exchange business cards with as many people as possible. I don’t make any attempt to sell my services and sometimes I’m even a bit vague about what I do – I find that explaining that I’m ‘a specialist provider of miscellaneous services’ is a good ice-breaker.

Networking isn’t about a quick sell, it’s about building relationships and looking for ways to help others. The return is likely to be long term, but that’s OK. It’s an excuse for a bit more partying!


Virtual Worlds

Hands up everyone who thought those who had a Second Life virtual presence were spotty 17 year olds or sad people without a real life. OK, so that’s all of us then. By the way, apologies to any spotty 17 year olds or sad people without a real life who happen to be reading.

Seems that we are wrong. The real future for virtual worlds, of which Second Life is the best known, and apparently, the easiest to use, is for business. When companies such as IBM and Addidas have a presence it is indicative that it is serious. And did you know that Sweden has a virtual embassy?

Virtual worlds can be used for concept testing and prototyping, for brand promotion and for town planning. It is predicted that 80% of active Internet users will have a virtual presence by the end of 2011. Sounds like I should get myself a virtual office.

If you want to give it a try, go to http://secondlife.com. Send me an email if you would like a copy of my notes from a seminar that I attended on the subject.


More On BEEs

Last month I mentioned BEEs - Bureaucratic Evil Empires. I am indebted to my friend Trevor Gay for this extract from Richard Branson’s book, ‘Screw It, Let’s Do It.’

“Then there are those silly little rules that someone has invented for baffling reasons. I always think that if you set up quangos or committees, they will find something useless to do. The world is full of red tape, created by committees with too much time and an overbearing desire for control. Most red tape is a tangled mess of utterly useless, nonsensical jargon. If I want to do something worthwhile – or even just for fun – I won’t let silly rules stop me. I will find a legal way around the rules and give it a go.”

Quite so Sir Richard!


Have You?

Here’s the third instalment of Tom Peters Top 50 ‘Have You …?’ questions. By the way, perhaps I should explain his references to ‘weird’ people. In this context he means people who do not conform to the norm for the business, people who can bring a fresh, different and maybe, challenging, perspective to a situation.

Have you in the last month invited an interesting-weird outsider to sit in on an important meeting?
Have you in the last three days discussed something interesting, beyond your industry, that you ran across in a meeting, reading, etc?
Have you in the last 24 hours injected into a meeting "I ran across this interesting idea in [strange place]"?
Have you in the last two weeks asked someone to report on something, anything, that constitutes an act of brilliant service rendered in a "trivial" situation—restaurant, car wash, etc? (And then discussed the relevance to your work.)
Have you in the last 30 days examined in detail (hour by hour) your calendar to evaluate the degree "time actually spent" mirrors your "espoused priorities"? (And repeated this exercise with everyone on the team.)
Have you in the last two months had a presentation to the group by a "weird" outsider?
Have you in the last two months had a presentation to the group by a customer, internal customer, vendor featuring "working folks" 3 or 4 levels down in the vendor organization?
Have you in the last two months had a presentation to the group of a cool, beyond-our-industry idea by two of your folks?
Have you at every meeting today (and forevermore) re-directed the conversation to the practicalities of implementation concerning some issue before the group?
Have you at every meeting today (and forevermore) had an end-of-meeting discussion on action items to be dealt with in the next 48 hours? (And then made this list public—and followed up in 48 hours.) (And made sure everyone had at least one such item.)
Have you in the last six months had a
discussion about what it would take to get recognition in a local-national poll of "best places to work"
Have you in the last month approved a cool-different training course for one of your folks?


Courtesy of www.tompeters.com


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And Finally

The hotel manager mentioned previously recounted a story about an accountant who had died, age 65. When he got to the gates of heaven he was greeted by St Peter. “Welcome,” said the saint, “you are our oldest ever new arrival”. “But I’m only 65,” said the accountant. St Peter consulted his records and said, “Well, according to the hours that you have charged for, you are 135.”


Enjoy your month!

David