I don’t normally post about speaking engagements, conferences or training sessions that I’m conducting, but there are a bunch of upcoming events that I hope interest people. Along with that, I have discounts and free tickets to give away–so why not do it all at once?!?! 1. Product Strategy for Designers I’m doing a 2-day […]
Customer Support is the Ultimate Learning Experience
Last week I read a great blog post from the CEO of FullContact, Bart Lorang, about his company’s experience providing customer support. And then on Friday night I had one of the worst experiences ever at Pipa Restaurant in Halifax. I’ll never be going back there. Both the blog post from Bart, and the horrible […]
Enough Free Content
I produce a fair amount of content, and I give most of it away for free. I’m writing a book, and although the book costs money, it’s basically free (~$16 for the hard cover and ~$10 for the e-book); priced so low that it really shouldn’t be an issue for people. Plus it took over […]
How To Find Perspective and the Right Focus for Your Business
It’s amazing how often something is obvious to one person and not another. Granted, in some cases it’s because nothing is actually that obvious, the issue at hand is murky and no one really knows what they’re doing. That happens more than we’d like to admit. But in a lot of cases there are reasons […]
Device Addiction: How the iPad Changes the Way Kids Interact with Technology
The iPad is an addictive device. So was the iPhone (and iPod Touch), but the iPad takes device addiction to a new level. For kids, that’s mostly because of the size (vs. iPhone): it’s bigger, easier to handle, and the graphics look fantastic. I think the iPad will fundamentally change how children interact with technology. […]
Efficiency isn’t a Sellable Value Proposition
When ranking value propositions to pitch customers, efficiency should be at the bottom of the list. It doesn’t mean enough or have enough real value to inspire purchasing decisions. For starters, efficiency means different things to different people. Who will be more efficient? Is it the person using the software, or are the efficiencies realized […]
Enterprise Software Should Be Fun
Where does it say that enterprise software has to be boring, complicated and painful to use? Dave Concannon asks a much less rhetorical question in his blog post: Can Game Mechanics make Serious software “sticky”? There are two things I loved about Dave’s post: He talks about being addicted to MUDs. (Who wasn’t right? Hell, […]
How To Implement a Proactive Customer Support Strategy
I’ve said before that great customer support has to be proactive. But what exactly does that mean? The goal of proactive support is to identify and resolve issues before they become problems. In some cases you can be so successful with proactive customer service that you can solve problems before customers even realize they exist. […]
Creating Customer Touchpoints
When was the last time you played Red Rover? The game is quite simple. You create a chain of people who hold hands (roughly at arm’s length from each other) and the other team tries to break the chain of people. Breaking through the chain is usually quite easy. The connections just aren’t that strong. […]
Great Customer Service Drives Revenue and Profitability
Too many people look at customer service as a cost center, when it really should be a profit center. I recently read B-A-M!: Delivering Customer Service in a Self-Service World and it’s an important refresher and reminder of the importance of great customer service. Customer support is something I’ve obsessed over for many years. The […]
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