Jul 29
I was closely watching the exchange in the US over the debt issues and President Obama supported the Gang of Six plan to reduce trillions of debt over 10 years. In a news debate on TV, the panelists claimed it was led by somebody with whom the President had a close relationship over the years. No surprise.
Now apply this to technology and to every walk of life. Despite the new platforms and tools now at our disposal, doesn’t business still get done when people make a connection with each other and find a situation that benefits both parties? Hasn’t it always been the case, and will it not always be that way? I think so.
I do enjoy the US – such good service and huge choice of everything you care to buy. Little wonder that so much innovation stems from there. It seems to have this knack of combining ideas and people to create some of the most innovative and forward thinking applications of technology.
Look at the image above. In a Brookstone store, I found this cushion; it was a remote control embedded within the softest material. Tacky in some respects, ingenious in others, but it sells! The US has such a willingness to try things, to embrace failure as a step in the right direction; as one leading author claimed, “By failing in a project or task, that is one less mistake that can’t happen next time.”
I enjoyed being a part of the Service 800 event where the theme was excelling in customer service. I had a chance to present to the group and engaged in some interesting conversations with individuals from 3M, GE Healthcare, Lexmark, Siemens and others, as well as some quite brilliant personalities from CompuCom. Some of these great people were kind enough to share a testimonial for me (see the tab above). Europe can benefit so much by watching and learning from these service experts.
Feb 18
Spent most of this week in Dubai, working with a new reseller partner to help grow the region. Only two blog posts ago, I talked about companies’ ‘secret weapons’ and this team is impressive. They surrounded us with a circle of dynamic and motivated individuals who are chomping at the bit to make a difference. I sense this partnership will do well, they are keen to succeed. I also had the most pleasant check-in experience via Emirates Airlines. I checked-in myself, printed my own luggage tag and boarding card, all at a kiosk and weigh-in counter utilising the latest technology – quick, effortless and impressive. We can all learn from this experience – I felt it was the best customer service, I had to do it all myself, yet it was more satisfying when it worked.
Jul 06
With technology so powerful, how can we use it to create what Tom Peters calls the “Two-Cent Candy Phenomenon?” Small differentiators, such as a store with a box of two-cent candies at the checkout, or a jar of sweets at the immigration desks at Singapore airport. Small touches that are so memorable. So many ways to add a touch of ‘wow’, how can technology help us by adding ‘small gestures’ to our business?
May 18
With a population of 1.1 billion people, it is reassuring to hear Vineet Nayar, CEO of leading IT services company HCL, place such importance on putting employee satisfaction first. He said, “If an employer doesn’t get it, then individuals will simply go and work for someone else.” I say, the holders of the intellectual assets will wield the most power, yes, those with the skills.
Our new currency, our ‘stock market’, is made up of human resources. If we don’t have the skills on board, the technology will not work by itself!
Feb 17
This quote came from Business Week in 1953, from the Tupperware company, and it still rings true today, as it will 100 years from now. This is as simple as it gets for me:
“If we build the people, they will build the business.”
Jan 18
Research was carried out by a leading supermarket to establish connections between products. It was discovered that beer is often purchased at the same time as baby products, in the early evening. This tells me that guys are sent out to buy necessities for a newborn baby and pick up a six-pack preparing for the long night ahead. What it really tells me is that we must use technology to slice and dice the customer database and data at our disposal in ways that are not obvious, to find new connections and alternative collabrations.
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