Great & Small

168 Hours. How Are You Going to Spend Yours?

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

One hundred sixty-eight hours. That’s how many hours there are in a week. And the cool thing is that no matter who you are, everyone gets the same amount.

It sounds like a lot of time. You could watch 84 movies. Drive from Cleveland to Disney World 10 times, or from New York to Los Angeles 4 times. You could read the entire Bible out loud more than twice, or ride a roller coaster 3500 times. Just think of all the things you could do in that time!

The reality is, though, that most of us don’t spend our time nearly as effectively as we could, or in doing the things that we really want to do. And “spending” really is an accurate description – time is very valuable. But unlike money, you can’t store it away in the bank to use later (and it certainly isn’t going to earn interest).

However, you can invest your time, and doing so can pay some pretty big dividends. I’d recommend some of the following options as “solid investments” right now:

Education and Experience

Time that is spent learning is never wasted. Even if the knowledge or experience that you acquire isn’t used exactly as you had intended when you started, it can still be very valuable later. For example, you might spend a lot of time going to school to be a veterinarian, and you end up managing a software development and consulting company. That wasn’t time wasted – that was time learning how to deal with customers, how to run a business, and how to think through problems that are presented to you.

Exercise and Fostering Good Habits

If there is one area where you can invest time and actually see some dividends at the end of the day, this is it. Taking care of yourself needs to be a priority because it will give you more time both now (fewer illnesses) and in the future (hopefully, more hours to spend).

Family and Friends

Economists have actually proven that people who are happier tend to be more productive. A variety of other studies have also found that people with a strong social network tend to be happier. So, it is definitely worth your time to make time for the family and friends who help provide you with support as you go about your daily life.

Planning

Making effective use of your time isn’t something that just happens on its own. Too often, without a plan, we fall into that same rut of watching a mindless television show or whiling away the hours on the internet. With a little planning, you can spend those hours on something more productive, or enjoying some cool experience.

Evaluating How You Spend Your Time

This is the most important one, if you are really serious about making the most of your time. If you don’t know how your time is being spent, it is very easy to lose it to mindless activities or things that aren’t really meaningful. It is also essential that you learn how to focus your time on things that are important to you. Evaluate each project, activity and relationship carefully. Is it worth the time that you are going to spend on it? If it is, embrace it whole-heartedly and enjoy the time that you are giving to it. If it isn’t, invest a little bit of time in learning how to say “No.”

I hope the time that you spent reading this post was worth the two minutes that you invested. How are you going to spend the other one hundred sixty seven hours and fifty-eight minutes this week?

Translating Your Successful Business into an Online Victory

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

You Know More Than You Think You Do.

In recent years, as the internet has evolved, it has become fashionable to be more “personal” to your online customers. Unfortunately, many businesses struggle with this idea, and they lose their company identity in the process.

Dealing with customers over the internet is, on the surface, a lot different than traditional customer interactions. Companies need to connect with their customers, many of whom they will never meet in person. This becomes even more of a challenge due to the fact that many customers will make a purchasing decision based on an initial perusal of the company’s website, without ever communicating with a human being. So, a company’s website needs to not only display critical information, but do it in such a way as to create a relationship with the customer.

Problems arise, however, when companies make the assumption that the internet is a whole new way of doing business with its own rules and expertise required for success. It is this assumption, that traditional business practices do not apply, that is a recipe for disaster, and one that too many companies follow whole heartedly into online failure.

If you have built a successful business, you know what your customers want and why they do business with you instead of your competitors. A challenge for online businesses, particularly those in the retail space, is that internet customers are more demanding when it comes to price. It is true; many online retailers offer merchandise at a much lower price than their bricks-and-mortar competitors. However, most of the stores that do so are strictly online operations. Think of them as the Dollar Stores of the online world. And certainly, some of your products may be found at Dollar Stores down the street already, yet your customers come to you instead. In order to be successful online, you need to determine what already sets your business apart, and figure out how to communicate that effectively to the customer through your website.

One of the worst things that a company can do is to turn over all of their online operations to “someone else,” because they think they lack the expertise to implement an online solution. This may be an outside consultant that lacks the familiarity with the business and what makes it unique. This might also be younger internal staff, who lack the business experience required for this task. At best, this approach yields a bland site that serves as nothing but an internet listing for the business. At worst, the site that is created is detrimental to the core business practices of the company and diminishes the professionalism of the enterprise.

You’ve all read about “kids these days,” who will post anything (and yes, I really do mean ANYTHING) on their Facebook and other pages. Unfortunately, many of these “kids” are otherwise perfectly upstanding professional adults who know how to act appropriately “out in public.” And yet, because of the disconnect that is inherent in the internet, these folks suddenly start posting things that they would never share in person. This may simply raise some eyebrows in the office when someone stumbles across a personal Facebook page touting an employee’s Saturday night activities. But when that same page identifies the person as a member of your management team, it can impact your business. (And seriously, there are privacy settings. Learn how to use them.)

The tendency to “post anything” often crosses into business sites as well. Remember, you are trying to connect with your customer, so it makes sense to try to speak conversationally and to be more personal in your communications. However, the rules of professionalism should not be thrown out just because it is the internet. Nor should you aspire to create a new online personality that diverges from your successful offline image. Your online image should be carefully crafted to match the successful business personality that already appeals to your customer base.

So what is a business who wants to create a successful web presence to do?

First and foremost, identify WHY you need an online presence and what your goals are for the site. “Because everyone else has one,” is not any better reason for a company to set up a website than for the six year old who wants the latest toy. Do you want customers to find you more easily? Do you hope to generate additional sales? Do you want to connect with existing customers and increase their loyalty to your business? All of these are perfectly valid reasons; you as the business owner need to decide what YOU need from your website.

Once you have established why you need it, you need to find someone qualified to build it. Some companies are lucky enough to have internal staff capable of creating a successful site. However, do not assume that because your resident computer expert can build a website that she has any idea about marketing. Similarly, if you are using an outside consultant, you need to ensure that they not only understand how to build a site and basic marketing principles, but also the message and image that YOUR site needs to convey. “We’ve built hundreds of sites,” doesn’t mean that a company understands that each site needs to be unique for each customer (and probably indicates exactly the opposite).

At the end of the day, in order to build a successful online presence, you, the business owner/management team, need to take an active role in the process. You may not know the first thing about building a website, but you DO know your business, and it is YOUR vision that needs to drive any effort that shares that vision with customers. Find a partner, internal or external, that will work with you to understand your unique goals, and that will customize a solution to get you there. Create that conversation with the customer, but keep it professional, just as you would do on the phone or in person. And always remember, you know more than you think you do.

Why My Kids Will Be Eating Spaghetti-Os (Just Not This Week)

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

Campbell’s Communication is MMM MMM Good.

I’m a working mother, which means that I juggle a lot. Balancing good nutrition with convenience isn’t always easy, but I really do my best to provide healthy meals and snacks to my kids. And then you throw in the issue of food safety (Glass in the baby food? Pesticides on the fruit? Are they recommending oatmeal this week, or did they decide that it caused cancer?), and simple things like putting dinner on the table get really complicated, really fast.

So I probably have your sympathy, and likely some nods of understanding, but why, exactly am I talking about this?

This is actually a follow up to my discussion the other day on company communication, specifically how far BP was off the mark in its Chairman’s statements about their commitment to the residents of the Gulf Coast. But as much as BP was an illustration of how to do it wrong, the Campbell’s recall last week was an excellent example of how to do it right.

First, the facts. On June 15, an employee at their Texas plant noticed a bulging can of Spaghetti-O’s. That triggered an immediate investigation, which discovered that one of the cookers wasn’t getting things to the proper temperature. Since the last confirmed date that the cooker was operating properly was in December 2008, the company issued a recall on June 17 for ALL of the products that may have been affected, which amounted to some 15 million pounds of Spaghetti-Os.

In an interview I heard with a Campbell’s representative, the conversation went something like this:

Reporter: So, you’ve decided to issue a massive recall on Spaghetti-Os. How much are you recalling?

Campbell’s: All of them.

Reporter: All of them? Why such a massive recall? You only discovered the problem a few days ago.

Campbell’s: Well, Mary, we couldn’t verify when the cooker stopped working. So, we recalled everything back to when we were sure it was ok.

Reporter: So, how many illnesses are we talking about here? (Said with the anticipation of someone who knows that bigger disasters make for better stories.)

Campbell’s: Not a single case.

Reporter: You are issuing a massive recall, without a single illness? (You could literally hear the reporter’s jaw drop.)

Campbell’s: That’s correct.

Let’s summarize: Immediate reaction to identify and address the problem. A total product recall within two days, with massive publicity to ensure consumers were aware of the issue. Not a single person affected. The company undertook extensive corrective action, notifying the customer and taking care of the problem before the customer even thought there might be a problem.

You don’t get that kind of honesty and integrity every day. Spaghetti-Os may not make the top of the list on nutrition, but Campbell’s has won my admiration as a business owner and my support as a consumer. Yes, Campbell’s really is mmm-mmm good.

Context Can Make All the Difference

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

New Discovery of Ancient Skeleton Changes Perspectives

In 1974, a team of researchers including C. Owen Lovejoy of Kent State University revealed their findings about an ancient skeleton named Lucy. Lucy was the first “upright” ancestor of humans, based on the work done by Lovejoy and his team. However, the reconstruction of her skeleton, including arms proportionally longer than her legs as well as her very small size (she was only 3 and a half feet tall), led researchers to believe at the time that she was a link between our more primitive ape-like ancestors. They speculated that she was adept at climbing trees, and that humans had evolved over thousands of years into taller and more upright creatures who stayed on the ground.

Fast-forward to yesterday, when a group of researchers including Lovejoy and other members of the Lucy team, revealed Kadanuumuu, dubbed the “great-grandfather of Lucy.” This new skeleton, which dates to four hundred thousand years before Lucy, towers over her at 5 and a half feet tall. He also provides clear evidence that humans have been walking upright for far longer than previously thought – an amazing 3.6 million years – nearly a million years before the first documented stone tools were put into use.

Amazing as these discoveries are to the field of anthropology and our understanding of human life and evolution, there is another important lesson to be learned here: context matters. Thirty-four years ago, Lovejoy and his team reached the conclusion that Lucy was closely related to chimpanzees and “incompletely adapted to upright walking,” based on her stature and conformation. Their conclusions now, in light of the Kadanuumuu finding? Lucy was simply short.

Context always matters. Many times, you draw the best conclusions that you can with limited information. But it is always important to consider the facts at hand in light of the details surrounding them to really get to the best answers possible.

Oil Giant Expresses Commitment to Midgets

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

"I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are really companies that don't care, but that is not the case in BP. We care about the small people."

-Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chairman, BP Oil

It seemed difficult to imagine that BP could do much more harm to the Gulf Coast and its residents. Chalk up another point for adding insult to injury, literally.

And while it is true that Svanberg is not a native English speaker, a point much raised by BP and its supporters, that fact only underlines the very culture of carelessness which has led to this horrible disaster. Svanberg and BP have managed to turn a biological disaster into a public relations one as well, as this comment clearly illustrates.

Most of our businesses, thankfully, will never cause a disaster like the one currently affecting the Gulf Coast. However, managing public relations properly in the face of a mistake is a big deal, and your response as a business owner can make a big difference in the outcome.

Point Number One: Admit Your Mistake and Offer to Correct It. IMMEDIATELY.

I cannot stress this point enough. Mistakes happen. In our business, we have always considered mistakes an opportunity to stand out from the competition. Our policy is to admit our mistakes (hopefully before the customer even realizes them), formulate a plan to correct the issue (both now and in the future), and to ensure that the customer is satisfied with the result. The customers who have had the biggest issues in the past are some of our most loyal customers today as a result.

BP? Not so much. The last month has seen a lot of finger pointing and responsibility shirking.

Point Number Two: Be Proactive and Truthful In Your Communication. Don’t try to Spin it.

Although it is hard to face a mistake, the longer that you wait to deal with it, or the more stories that you try to tell to avoid dealing with the issue, the worse it will be when the matter finally comes to a head. Even if your customers don’t know the facts now, expect that they will find them out in the future. And the more spin that you try to put on an issue, the less that your customers will trust anything that you say in the future, regardless of how factual it is.

Fans of Stephen Colbert are familiar with the concept of “truthiness,” the idea that stating it because you believe or want it to be so is enough to overcome any facts to the contrary. I think the BP folks are fans – no amount of Google Ads or fancy websites are going to overcome the images coming out of the Gulf.

Point Number Three: If You Have to Tell Them How Much You Care, They Already Know That You Don’t.

Talking about how much you care is a great way to dodge the matter of how you are going to fix the issue. Certainly it is appropriate to express your concern to a customer in the initial discussion of the mistake. However, the amount of time that you spend expressing your concern is generally the inverse of how much you really do care (and, more to the point, how much you really intend to do to fix the problem). If you care, your customers should already know it, and your actions will convey this sentiment much more effectively if they don’t.

Now that they have decided that perhaps they are responsible, BP has spent a lot of time talking about how much they are going to do.

Point Number Four: The Little People? Really?

Never differentiate yourself from your customers. Never. Ever. Don’t do it.

Your customers are people, just like you. If you can’t respect your customers, you shouldn’t be in business (and likely won’t be for long). Treat people with respect. They are every bit as important as you are.

Point Number Five: Speak in a Language Your Customers Understand.

Nearly all business these days is international. Even if you own the corner coffee shop, at any moment, a customer from Russia or India or Nigeria might walk in the door. When they do, you need to communicate effectively with them. That means using proper English, without slang or colloquialisms that may not translate effectively.

If your business is dealing with international customers or suppliers on a more regular basis, it is a good idea to ensure that your communications with these parties is correct. Hire someone who is familiar with the language and culture – words are important, but cultural context can be even more meaningful. Your business and your relationships will benefit enormously from attention to detail in this regard.

Along with this, don’t try to be someone you aren’t. Politicians are especially guilty of this, trying to appear folksy in one district and familiar with big business in the next. It is possible to find connections with diverse groups of people without trying to convince them that you have lived among them for the last four decades.

Perhaps after putting $20 Billion in escrow, BP can’t afford to hire a translator to read the Chairman’s statements anymore.

Point Number Six: Listening is ALWAYS More Important Than Speaking.

Effective communication is about listening. You cannot effectively address someone’s concerns until you find out what they are, and you certainly won’t accomplish that if you aren’t quiet long enough to let them speak. Never assume that you know what the customer cares about – you might be surprised if you stop for a minute to hear what they have to say.

BP has had lots of press conferences – have they spent any time listening to people actually impacted by the spill (and not just at the level of their corporate bonus)?

*************************************************************************************

There was an interesting story the other day on NPR, regarding another fossil fuel disaster. This one was in Pennsylvania, where a number of residents are suing over sloppy drilling that has led to contamination of their water supply. The residents are also working with other states to affect policy decisions on similar drilling.

“They thought they'd come in here and we're a bunch of hillbillies who didn't know any better. I guess, maybe we were, but it didn't take us long to learn.”

- Ron Carter, Resident, Dimock, Pennsylvania

and Advisor to the New York Senate Environmental Committee

Agile is the Best Medicine.

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

Last week, I had the opportunity to work at the vet clinic for a couple of days. I am mostly retired from that field now (AARP even started sending me their magazine when I left full-time practice at the ripe old age of 28), but I really enjoy the opportunity to practice when I can. I really miss all of “my clients,” many of whom I have known for nearly all of my life, and being a vet really is one of the best jobs in the world.

It occurs to me, every time I work at the clinic, that Agile is what I have been doing for years, since it is really at the core of good medicine.

For example, one of the patients that I saw was an older German Shepherd. She was having trouble walking and we ended up doing her exam out in the car since she was nearly 100 lbs. (Every vet secretly envisions themselves as James Herriot, treating crazy cases in all kinds of unusual circumstances. And remember, good medicine is Agile!) However, the reason that she came into the clinic was a growth on her hip, which had opened up and which the owner had been treating at home for several days.

There were a lot of options for how to address this case, and I won’t bore you with all of the details. But the first step was to identify the problem and the second to give the owner options for treatment. That sounds a lot like agile development, right? Identify the stories and let the client decide how to proceed, while offering your recommendations as the expert.

The last part of the case was to formulate a plan for the next steps. The owner had elected conservative medical treatment, and so the plan consisted of “Let’s recheck her early next week. If we see this, then we will try that, and if we see that, then we will try this.” We had a plan, but the plan had to be able to accommodate a number of different scenarios, depending on the condition of the patient after our initial treatment strategy. Remember, just like in software development, the end result won’t always be what we expect (as one of my professors used to say, “The dog didn’t read the textbook!”), and sometimes the client will want to take a different approach as the case goes on.

The end result of the case was a very happy client, who was very pleased at having been consulted in the treatment plan and even happier with the agile approach to a very real problem.

Agile just makes sense. Whether you are talking about medicine or software development, you need to have a plan, and your plan needs to be flexible enough to accommodate whatever comes next. And it won’t be what you expected – you can plan on that.

Social Media Has Gone to the Dogs. Well, the Cats.

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

As a veterinarian, I try to stay up with the latest information in the animal world. The American Veterinary Medical Association helps me out tremendously in this regard, with their daily Animal Health Smart Brief, which arrives in my inbox every day around lunch. Many times, it contains important facts, like drug recalls or warnings about a disease outbreak. Other days, there are cool stories about veterinarians doing amazing volunteer projects, or veterinary perspectives on stories making national headlines, like the impact of the oil spill on native bird populations.

But a recent story left me scratching my head. Apparently, thanks to the magic of Sony, cats now have the ability to twitter.

That really leaves me with a lot of questions. What could a cat possibly have to say in 140 characters? Why not my dog? How many owners are now going to be calling their veterinarian, based on the “information” from this collar? Will cats have the ability to follow other cats? If Schroedinger’s cat could tweet, would it still be a cat?

Mind boggling to say the least.

Interestingly enough, that article was followed by another: 5 Social Community Mistakes Hurting Your Business. Among these critical errors, the number one mistake was don’t let inexperienced interns handle your company’s tweets.

Of course not!

Let the cat handle it.

How to Lose a Customer in 20 Minutes (or Less)

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

First, let me say this. It is much easier to keep a customer than to get a new one. Inertia alone is enough to keep most customers – why switch if what you have is good enough? And then there is the evil you know factor – even if a particular company is a problem, chances are that others will have issues as well, and at least you know this company’s quirks.

Even with those factors in mind, I am planning to cancel all of our business banking accounts with Chase. We've been with them for over 10 years, since we started our very first business, but I've had it.

For example, this morning. I called to ask a simple question about a new fee on our credit card.

Now, in the space of 15 minutes, I was transferred 3 times. The first person, in business banking, asked for my mother's maiden name, then said "Give me just one second to verify," and the next thing I knew I was on hold... and the girl who picked up said, "Oh, I can't help you, I'm in the consumer department, you should have called business banking. Let me transfer you.” (I DID call business banking – they transferred me to you.)

Transfer... hold... I finally get some twit in business banking, who needs to verify a password that I simply don't have and don’t ever recall setting up. "This is VERY SERIOUS," she says. No, really? Serious is that I am going to close all of my business accounts with your bank. (NOT said aloud, but said very loudly in my head.)

“Isn’t there some other way to verify?” I ask, as I am pulling up all of the usual information from my files. “Oh, NO,” says the twit. “We HAVE to have the password. It is VERY IMPORTANT.” (This last bit said in the tone of someone who knows that their job is insignificant, but who loves to exercise that little bit of power they have, so as to prevent you, the customer, from getting what you need. Note: eliminate these employees quickly if you want your business to survive.)

At this point, I request to speak with a supervisor, who insists that I just needed to answer some other questions to verify my identity, which the last rep would have done, "if only you had been comfortable answering them." Again, if only she had been willing to ask them.

So, we verified.... including the fact that they needed to start addressing me as Dr. Smith (which I only insist on when I am getting really irritated, and, after all, THEY were the ones who wanted to verify what degrees I held. And what THOSE have to do with answering my question about this new fee, I’m really not sure…). Oh, and we also verified that the space for mother's maiden name was blank in their records to begin with, which explains why the first rep had trouble verifying it (but not why he asked it at all with if that was the case...).

And then the supervisor, who apparently was empowered to grill me about the last 20 years of my life but completely ignorant of any useful information, transferred me to an account rep to answer my initial question, and she hung up on me. (To be fair, I think that she hit a button and disconnected me, but I didn’t call back to ask.)

So, if you follow this simple formula, you too can lose long-term customers in 20 minutes. Or less.

Why Great and Small?

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

The answer to that question is pretty simple. I’m a veterinarian with a blog. What else am I going to call it?

But, then again, maybe the answer isn’t so simple. I am a veterinarian, and I did grow up on the stories of James Herriot. All I ever wanted to be was a simple country vet, healing animals and their humans, and I was fortunate enough to do that for a number of years.

Somehow, though, life intervened, and I became a small business owner. I always wanted to do that as well; it was one of the great appeals of veterinary medicine that you could still own your own practice with all of the independence and self-determination that went along with it.

But my small business wasn’t a veterinary practice, it was an ad network: Lake Quincy Media. My partner (both in life and business), Steve Smith, and I worked for a decade to grow it from a handful of Publisher sites to the largest network of sites focused specifically on Microsoft .NET and related technologies. Then, last year, it (and Steve) became part of The Code Project, and now I run NimblePros, a consulting firm dedicated to bringing agile and lean practices to software development. Definitely not what I was “supposed” to be doing….

And yet, I feel that I am doing EXACTLY what I am supposed to be doing. I am running a small business, in a small community, working with a great team to deliver great results. Small things, but having a great impact on our customers. Part of a small community, yet involved in a much greater world beyond.

And some days, I still get to be a veterinarian. That’s pretty great too.

Getting to Grandfather Mountain

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

How to Connect with Your Customers Through Your Website.

I mentioned the other day the difficulties of connecting with your customers on the web. The problem is, really, that you need to start a conversation and establish a relationship with someone BEFORE you can ever directly communicate with them. That’s a tough thing to do, and one that many highly paid marketing firms fail at (miserably) every day.

The good news is that it CAN be done, and it is often done best by small groups and businesses that are used to dealing personally with their customers. They understand how to communicate with their audience because they do it every day, and they carry that experience over to their websites with a lot of success.

A great example of this is the Grandfather Mountain Stewardship Association, a small non-profit established to preserve Grandfather Mountain, near Linville NC, as a park and educational resource. For those of you not familiar with this amazing park, it features incredible mountain scenery, a mile-high swinging bridge, wildlife habitats, hiking…. It has been called the “Alps in the South,” and it is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.

I have fond memories of visiting with my family as a child, and, since we will be in the area for vacation already, I suggested to my husband that we stop along the way with our two kids. So, I did what I always do when planning a trip, I turned to my computer and found… an amazing website that really connects with potential visitors.

In fact, the Stewardship Association has more trouble than most connecting with potential visitors. Besides the obvious barrier of the web, they apparently face obstacles in the form of narrow, winding mountain roads and GPS units that weren’t made for back-hills navigation. So, this is a group that understands that if they don’t connect with their audience before they have an opportunity to welcome them to the park, their visitors may never arrive.

The result is a fabulous “Getting Here” page that really demonstrates how to successfully connect with your customers on the web. Here is an excerpt:

We recommend against relying on a navigation system or other form of computer generated directions. Computers are machines that do not get car sick traveling curvy roads. Their software programs do not always recommend the quickest, simplest and most-traveled routes. They frequently default to the shortest mileage between two points (often sending drivers through remote areas over very narrow country roads).

Please read through the directions listed below for the route that A REAL HUMAN BEING recommends to get from there to here. We want you to have a good experience at Grandfather Mountain, and that starts by having a good trip to our front door.

Yes, you CAN connect with your customers on your website. And you don’t need to be a high-powered marketing firm to do it. Have a conversation with your customers and interact as “real human beings,” the same thing that you are already doing successfully every day.

As for me, I’m even more excited about our trip now that I have visited their site. And I’ll definitely be bringing along these driving directions and turning off the GPS!

Abracadabra! Bibbity Bobbity Boo! Words really are magic!

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

(And if you put your name on it, YOU are ultimately responsible for the results)

This is a follow up to my post last week. To recap, a third-party calling on behalf of my insurance company asked about my employment status, giving me the options of employed, self-employed, or housewife. Not surprisingly, the last option didn’t sit well with me, especially in light of the fact that they had not asked if my husband was anything other than employed or self-employed.

I realized, however, that I missed a key lesson here for business owners. While I was willing to push the blame to the third-party company – I have otherwise had a good experience with my insurance company – that really wasn’t fair. Ultimately, the insurance company holds the responsibility for the actions of the parties that it hires, particularly when these parties are acting on their behalf and interacting with customers.

This is an important lesson for small businesses, who often subcontract out work because they lack the internal resources to handle certain jobs. Whether work is done in-house or subcontracted, when it leaves your control to go out to the customer, it is your responsibility to ensure the job is done right. This includes the obvious tangible quality control, but also the communication that accompanies the job. If you authorize people to speak on your behalf, you need to be certain that the quality and tone of their communications meet or exceed the standards that you have set for yourself.

As a business, one of the things that NimblePros prides itself on is our ability to communicate with clients. But I will let you in on a little secret here – that ability isn’t a perfect one for any of us, and it is a trained and practiced behavior as much as it is a natural talent. We also recognize that there is always room for improvement and we constantly strive to be better.

So how do we do it so successfully so much of the time?

It starts with hiring the right people. I always emphasize during our recruiting periods that we can teach applicants to be better developers, but that the existing communication skills of the applicant need to be excellent. (Our very first hire was a disaster in this regard; I ended up giving him a Strunk and White Elements of Style book about two weeks into the job. He quit shortly thereafter, saving us the pain of firing him.) Applicants with obvious communication problems don’t make it past the initial screening, and our interview process evaluates applicants on their technical and communication skills. To be successful with NimblePros, you must be outstanding in both of these areas.

The next step is putting your confidence in your team and empowering them to communicate with the client. I want each and every one of my developers to have the ability and self-confidence to speak directly with the customer. (This is apparently nearly unheard of in most developer shops – and with good reason in a lot of cases. It seems those companies didn’t emphasize communication in the interview process.) This seems like a simple thing, and it is, but it avoids a lot of miscommunication by limiting the layers through which a message must pass.

The next step is mentoring. We work with our new staff, explaining our expectations and how we want things to be communicated. And we also help them in their initial interactions with clients – we want to be sure that anything going out the door (or outbox) with our name on it is up to our standards.

However, the real magic is the communication and collaboration within our team. Our senior staff is perfectly capable of writing emails and conducting phone calls on their own, and that is certainly the case most of the time. Nevertheless, there are certain key junctures in our relationships with a client that we rely on the collaboration of our team to get it right. It is not uncommon for us to schedule significant phone calls to clients with multiple members of our team. Each one of them has valuable ideas to share, and it ensures that everyone – including the client – is on the same page. And it is not uncommon to hear, “Hey, can you come and look at this email that I am going to send to the client? I want your input.” Even – perhaps especially – the most senior members of our staff realize that a quick review by another member of the team ensures that their message is communicated clearly and professionally to the client.

Regardless of how good you are at what you do, the success of your business depends on the communication skills of your team. Words really are magic.

Seriously, Housewife?

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

So, a little while ago, I got a call from a firm doing a policy audit for my auto insurance. Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my insurance company, but this is one of those times when the fell flat on their face. We’ll blame it on the third-party company, but I’m still exasperated!

To start out with, the representative insisted on calling me Mrs. Smith. As far as I am concerned, Mrs. Smith is my mother-in-law. I went to school for a long time to be called Dr. Smith – and if you are calling me in the middle of dinner when I am trying to get two kids to the table in time to get them off to Tae Kwon Do, you need to get it right!

But I let that slide in the interests of keeping the call brief, and things were going relatively well (less the arguing children in the background – why do they always wait until you are on the phone to disagree - LOUDLY?) until we got to the question of my employment. Now, I don’t know why it even matters to the insurance company, but I was given three choices. “Are you employed, self-employed, or a housewife?”

Am I a WHAT?! I was floored. (And speechless. Fortunately, I have recovered.)

I respect people who stay at home – I wish sometimes that I had the opportunity to do so. But regardless of my own choices, I have a large number of friends who are currently at home with their children and not otherwise employed, and I know it is HARD WORK.

However, “housewife” isn’t exactly the most acceptable term. It has never, so far as I know, invoked a good impression of the bearer. In the 18^th century, it was used to describe “a mending kit where people usually kept toiletries.” The last century saw it replaced with the warmer, and probably still the most accurate term, “homemaker.” The last few years have just dragged it out to the club and through the mud with “Desperate Housewives,” and reality-ish shows like “Housewives of (fill in the city and locate a handful of snobby women of questionable character and call it television).”

Getting beyond the term itself, the real frustration hit me a few moments later when I realized that while I had been asked the question, my husband had not! No, his choices were “employed and self-employed.” The company had the audacity to assume that as a woman, I would be likely to be staying home, but my husband would not.

I did a little research. No one can agree on the number, but there are at least 200,000 men staying at home with their pre-school children in the United States. Probably more, given the current economy. What about them? Why is staying at home an acceptable choice for a woman and not a man? And what would they be called if it were?

And so, a seemingly simple question has provoked a bit of a tirade on the current societal perception of gender norms, and how one should correctly refer to those important men and women whose primary task is keeping their household running smoothly.

Perhaps I spend too long thinking about these things – insurance companies clearly don’t!

Coincidentally, I had to call the health insurance company today, and they also wanted to confirm some information.

Their only question: Is your daughter still in school?

Pause. What?

My response: Uh, yeah, she’s EIGHT.

Well, SOMEONE has to think about these things.

Banishing Your Customers to the Link Farm

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

Avoiding Hoops and Hang-ups for Qualified Leads

I receive a lot of invitations to “exciting” webinars, as I am sure you all do. Most of them are free, which sounds compelling, except that they cost an hour of my time. And as my time is very valuable, I can’t afford the expense to attend most of them. (Besides, what happened to the good old days when a free seminar at least included dinner while I sat through a thinly veiled sales pitch?)

Today, though, I actually received one that sounded interesting enough to attend. Not only was it worth the hour of my time for the seminar itself, but I was even willing to hand over my name and contact information, so as to allow the presenter to bombard me with more “important information” well into the future.

The initial email was good. It got my attention. Click to register. Easy enough.

Once I clicked, I went o a landing page that looked pleasant enough. A little long, since I had to scroll down to find the boxes to fill in my information, but not too bad. Fill in “name,” fill in “email,” click the “Reserve a Seat” box. Done....

Not done. The page that loaded, which looked nothing like the page that I just left, wanted me to enter the SAME information again. Only now, they wanted “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Email Address,” and “Job Title.” All information which I would willingly provide, except for the fact that I ALREADY PROVIDED IT. And now I was a little hesitant to provide it again, especially since I felt like there was some bait-and-switch going on since the page was so different.

Lesson Number One: Ensure that your users have a predictable experience. Banners and emails should take users to a site that looks similar to the banner/email and the site should contain the information that was advertised. Subsequent pages on the site should also have a similar look and feel, particularly if you expect users to proceed from one to another sequentially in order to complete a task. Users want to feel like they are having a conversation with the same person, not being handed off to the “next available associate” (at some other company).

Lesson Number Two: Keep the barriers to a minimum in order to increase conversions. Any given task should require the least amount of effort by the user to complete. Any additional information required by the page is another barrier, so be sure that “must have” details are the only ones included. If you MUST know more, try actually building a relationship with the client – I guarantee it will be a lot more rewarding. And for goodness sake, please don’t ask for the same information twice!

And yet, I STILL thought the seminar sounded compelling, so I went ahead and continued to register and….

Done? Sort of…. The registration was a success, and I got a nice little confirmation page which at least matched the garish green of the last page. Except that then, the organizers thought it would be useful to send me back to the home page of their site and…. they sent me to a link farm instead. It seems that omitting one little letter from your url makes a big difference between continuing to build the customer relationship and providing your leads with valuable information about kitchen appliances and payday loans.

Sigh. On the bright side, I still have my hour.

Customer Choice Means Customer Satisfaction (in medicine and in agile development)

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

As a veterinarian, my job is to provide medical care for animals. However, my larger role is to provide recommendations and support for the families of the animals for whom I provide care. But my role is NOT to make decisions for them.

(This entry really does pertain to the concept of agile; just keep reading.)

This is a confusing concept for many people. Typically, most people are used to going into their physician’s office, waiting for hours, seeing the doctor for a brief minute, and then being sent out the door with something scribbled on a pad, only to find out from the receptionist (who is well versed in doctor scribble) that the doctor has decided that the proper treatment for your sore toe is an MRI, to be scheduled at the earliest opening (three months from now, at which point your toe will either be better or you will have suffered for months without any treatment).

And while I can offer all kinds of comments about why this scenario is bad, my biggest complaint is that the patient was not involved in the decision-making process.

In any given medical situation, there are a variety of options for diagnosis and care. And while there may be one gold-standard (in this case, the MRI), there is not one option that fits every patient’s situation. Some patients may prefer to try some anti-inflammatory medications to see if those provide relief. Others may prefer to see an orthopedist or to try a special shoe that alleviates the pressure on the toe. And some might like an xray, instead of an MRI, because it is easier to schedule and less costly. Any of these options is a perfectly reasonable one, and the patient should be allowed to decide which option is the best for their own situation.

That is not to say that the doctor should simply rattle off the options and let the patient select randomly from the list. The role of the doctor is to:

1. Identify the Problem (sore toe)

2. Do Basic Diagnostics (physical exam)

3. List Options for the Next Step, along with the Pros and Cons of Each Option

The doctor does not have and cannot have all of the information about each patient’s unique situation, even medically. However, it is the role of the doctor to ensure that the patient (or family of the patient, in my case) does, so that they can make an informed decision. (Sometimes the client cannot make the decision; they need to know what their husband/friend/neighbor/boss would do. That is simply another critical bit of information that they need to proceed to the next step.)

Once the decision is made, the doctor’s job is not done. He has one more crucial responsibility:

4. Support the Patient’s Decision

Obviously, the doctor should facilitate whatever treatment or further diagnostics the patient has selected at this point. However, a more critical piece of this step is that the doctor should reinforce to the patient that they have made a good decision. The doctor has provided only options that meet a reasonable standard of care, so any of the options are viable ones. And while it may not be the one that the doctor would have selected, what the patient has selected is the best option for them.

In all of the years that I have practiced, I have yet to have a client be unhappy about an informed decision that they have made with regard to the care of their pets when they were given the opportunity to make a choice.

Now, this is all well and good for the practice of medicine, but how does this pertain to agile development?

One of the greatest differences between “traditional development” and agile development is the level of customer interaction. In the scenario above, traditional development is a lot like going to your typical physician’s office – the developer takes a cursory look at the customer’s needs and quickly fires off what they think is the best solution to the problem. They often don’t give the customer a lot of choices along the way, and the customer leaves with a big bill and little understanding of why the chosen solution was the best one, other than “trust us, we’re the experts.” And in the end, the customer’s problem is solved very slowly (from their perspective), and, in the worst case, might not even be addressed at all.

Agile does it better. The customer is intimately involved in the process, helping to make decisions about which option is best to address their problem. More importantly, because the customer is working closely with the development team, the developers have a good understanding of the problem that the customer needs to have addressed. Short iterations with the release of operational code at each one mean that the customer is seeing results right away; there is no drawn out waiting period before there is any visible progress on the project.

However, agile developers can still learn something from the steps above. Just like doctors and veterinarians, developers often forget the critical fourth step: reinforce to the client that they have made the best decision for their own situation. Too often, the client’s choice is only remembered when there are problems (as in, “Well, you KNEW it was going to take longer and be more expensive if you wanted us to fully evaluate your legacy code before we started the project”). Instead, reinforce throughout the course of the project why the client made a good decision for them (“The investment that you are putting into this project upfront is going to ensure that we have fewer surprises and delays later in the process.”). The client will be much more confident in the direction of the project, and much happier with the results.

The client WANTS to be happy with the decision that they have made. It is the job of the professional to help them get there. And remember to trust your clients. They know more than they think they do.

Disney Delivers the Magic

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

As I mentioned previously, customer service is one of my passions. As a small business owner, I appreciate the impact that it can have on the success of my company. As a consumer, I am constantly evaluating other companies to see how they measure up. Disney is one of those companies that has it right.

If you have small children, you have probably at least looked into a Disney vacation. Although Mickey doesn’t have the big screen presence that he used to, every child wants to visit The House of the Mouse. My children, ages three and eight, are no exception, and I am happy to report that each of our trips has been more delightful than the last.

Walt Disney’s vision for Disneyland was “a place where children and their parents could have fun together.” Walt himself was intimately involved in all aspects of the construction, and the original 8 acre site evolved into 160 by the time Disneyland opened in California in 1955. Now that has become over a dozen separate parks on 3 continents, a cruise line, and adventures around the globe. Not too shabby for a place of which Walt once said "I could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible, because dreams offer too little collateral."

But for all of the fabulous rides, attractions, and shows, the thing that really sets Disney apart is the people. Disney cast members, as they are called, are empowered to provide superior customer service. And they do so consistently, with a smile on each and every face.

Two years ago, our fairy godmother was Kathy from the Beach Club Hotel. On the morning of our big Princess breakfast, we discovered that our daughter’s Cinderella gown was much too long – a royal disaster! My husband rushed to the hotel shop, looking for sewing supplies or pins or anything that might work, but they had nothing for sale that fit the bill. Not to worry. Kathy, who was working at the shop that morning, reached into her pocket and pulled out 4 safety pins. Crisis averted, and our happy princess went on her way to the ball. Just another magical day at Disney.

This year, we were lucky enough to sail for a week on the Disney Magic, which was a fabulous experience in and of itself. But what made it truly magical were the cast members. We had the opportunity, over the course of the trip, to really get to know several of them. The highlight of our trip really was Passayu, our assistant server. From hats made out of the table napkins to a new origami project at every meal, Passayu delighted our children (and the adults!). Each and every cast member that we encountered conveyed the same joy at being a part of the Disney experience, and went above and beyond to ensure that “their guests” were having a magical voyage.

And these are just two examples. Over the course of our many trips, I have observed and experienced countless acts of kindness from the cast members. I recall our first trip to the Pooh character meal at the Crystal Palace in the Magic Kingdom, where Pooh and his assistant spent extra time with a young disabled man whose father told them that the “silly old bear” was his son’s favorite. The son lacked the ability to say so himself, but the pure joy was evident on his face. A few years ago, we were in line when a child ahead of us lost his family’s photopass, and with it the ability to retrieve all of the vacation photos taken in the parks over the previous week. Cast member Clancy kept a smile on her face while she simultaneously recovered access to the photos, calmed the irritated mother, and entertained the distraught young man and his brother. From encounters with princesses who make each child feel like royalty to maintenance workers who clean up with a smile on their face, Disney does it right.

We Are the Truth: Adoption Blogger Day

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

An amazing thing is happening today. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people across the world are coordinating to blog about one topic. More amazing, though, are the stories behind each of these individuals, and how their lives have been touched by the miracle of adoption.

I am proud to count myself among that group. Because of adoption, I have a little sister. Because of adoption, I have a son. Life is an amazing journey, and somehow those who are meant to be in our families find their way home.

When my husband and I were struggling with infertility a number of years ago, we looked into adoption. Perhaps because my sister was adopted, it seemed like a perfectly logical option. And when our daughter was born, we kept those plans in our mind for the future. We knew that someday we would go to Russia to expand our family.

Why Russia? The trite answer, given reflexively by most adoptive parents, is “that is where our son was.” And true enough, we did find him there, but it was a bit more considered than that. My husband’s great-grandfather was Russian; my grandmother is Polish. We had a Russian cousin through adoption. We felt comfortable with the process, and we knew there were children who needed homes. Most importantly, the agency that we had found years earlier had a very strong Russian program.

In speaking of adoption, I cannot stress enough the importance of a good, ethical agency. Certainly, a good agency will ensure that your interests are represented and your concerns are addressed. But a great agency will ensure that the CHILD gets a stable family that is well suited to his individual background and circumstances, and will be first and foremost an advocate for that child.

One of the biggest responsibilities of the agency is to be sure that you are prepared for something that you can never quite be prepared for: parenthood. But parenting an adopted child, we were told, was to automatically be parenting a special needs child. ANY adopted child is going to have some additional challenges that come with being placed in a new family. Add to that the issues associated with institutionalization and limited circumstances in the baby homes, and you were in for a challenge, no matter how perfect your child might otherwise be.

(Put yourself for a moment in the child’s position. You have a home, and people that take care of you. But all of a sudden they abandon you, and you are taken away by strangers who don’t speak your language. You go on a long and scary trip. You are fed strange food, and forced to stay in a strange place. No one can really explain to you what is going on, and you feel all alone. What is happening to you? What did you do to deserve this? Even as adults, we understand the mechanics of the situation, but there is an adjustment period for ALL involved.)

And so we prepared. We met all of the agency requirements. We did the readings assigned with our homestudy. We read every book we could get our hands on, we talked to other adoptive parents, and we went to a preadoption seminar held by Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. (I have said many times, during the seminar and since, that I wish they required it for EVERY parent – I learned so many things that I should have known when my daughter was born!) All of the preparation taught us two important things: there will be surprises with ANY child, and there are always resources to help you deal with whatever issues do arise.

Then, all of a sudden, we were on our way to meet our son, a few hours outside of Moscow. We were nervous and excited, like any new parent. What would he be like? Would he like the toys we were bringing? Would he like us?

One of the biggest myths of Russian adoption is that these are unloved and uncared for children. In our experience, nothing could be further from the truth.

We were introduced to a chubby baby (yes, chubby!), in a music room with a piano and a circle of little chairs painted in a typical Russian pattern. On the wall was a handpainted mural, with forest creatures in traditional Russian dress, playing the belalaika and an accordion. The staff obviously cared for the children very much, and did the very best with the resources that they had available to provide for them.

Subsequent visits (we made 3 trips in the span of about 6 weeks) only reinforced our awareness of how much Russians – nearly all Russians – care about children. Even the most stoic among them would light up when a child was present. Grandmothers on the street are likely to comment on your child (particularly if they are not well bundled!), and children are really considered a national treasure. So, it is very difficult for Russians to see those children leave to be raised in an alien environment far from home.

It was actually on our way home that we had one of our favorite memories of the journey. We were all exhausted, having spent several days rushing around doing necessary paperwork and trying to take in a bit of Moscow. Our son, having been in a car only a few times in his first year of life, had spent several days being shuttled here and there with strange people (his parents) who didn’t speak more than a few words he understood. (And even then, “please”, “thank you”, “good”, and “How do you get to Tverskya Street?” only go so far.) After some last-minute drama, we’d made it on the plane, which was yet another new and scary experience. Sleep was out of the question, and it looked like it was going to be a really long flight for everyone. But then an angel intervened, in the form of a Russian businessman. He passed by our seats and stopped to smile at our son. He spoke to him in Russian, calming him down, and then asked to hold him. In a few minutes, he was introducing him to all of our immediate neighbors, who were all smiling and talking to him as if he were their own grandson or nephew. There is no doubt in my mind - Russians DO care about these children.

In the three years that have come and gone, we’ve had some challenges. Certainly, they have been minor in comparison to some. However, in each case we feel that the preparation we did prior to the adoption has helped us to work through the situation (whether it was adoption related or not).

Our son is now almost four years old. He loves the movie Cars and he adores his big sister. He is inquisitive and wants to work on the computer like his father, and he likes animals and enjoys reading like me. He likes to help around the house, and he told me tonight how each of us in the family are his best friends. He even looks just like his sister – I have to stop and look carefully at pictures of each of them as toddlers, because it is hard to tell which is which. There is absolutely no doubt that he is – and was meant to be – our son.

Last year, a relative gave me a plaque with the Adoption Creed: Not flesh of my flesh, nor bone of my bone, but still miraculously my own. Never forget for a single minute you didn’t grow under my heart but in it.

Families come in all different shapes and sizes, and each one has its own unique history. All of them take work, and being a parent is undoubtedly one of the most difficult jobs you can have. But each one of them is built with love. I am grateful to have my son through the miracle of adoption, because I can’t imagine my family or my life without him.

UN-believable: Four Lessons in Customer Service. Or Not.

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

So, as I was finishing up my last post on customer service, I was waiting for a service person at my house. So, let's do a little case study, shall we, about what went wrong.

First, some background. Over the weekend, my washing machine flooded the laundry room and the basement below. A real inconvenience, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. My insurance company gets REALLY high marks for customer service (USAA – if you are military or prior service, you need to check them out!) and arranged for a company to come out that night to start the drying out process.

The weekend went fine. We were dealing with “Frank,” who came out twice over the weekend. Both “Frank” and “John,” who came out Monday to check things, promised to have “Bill” call us to set up an appointment for Wednesday (today) to fix some carpet that had gotten wet. No problem, except that yesterday came and went with no call from Bill. I left Frank a voice mail this morning, but no reply. (Had I checked my machine at home, I would have realized I had two calls from Bill this morning, asking where we were for our 9:30 appointment.)

So, Customer Service Lesson One: Do what you tell the customer you are going to do, particularly when they expect you to call or follow up in a certain time frame. This one is pretty easy to grasp, but apparently really hard to actually accomplish.

Customer Service Lesson Two: Establish responsibility within your organization, and follow up. Don’t assume “someone else” is going to take care of it, because they are assuming the same thing, and that excuse doesn’t go far with customers who just want the job done.

In this case, Frank gets high marks for his mistake correction. He finally calls me back, apologetic for missing my initial call, and extremely sorry that the appointment wasn’t communicated to us. He also gets points for specifically saying that he knows that it was their problem, and that we should have been called. (The right thing to do in customer service, but typically one that is forgotten.)

So, at this point, I am not terribly irritated, I have rescheduled my day, and no problem. Customer crisis averted.

Unfortunately, not really.

First we talk about rescheduling the appointment. I explain that later today won’t work because I am at work, and it will have to be tomorrow. Ok, Frank sets up the appointment for 2 pm tomorrow.

But now there is a problem. Frank NEEDS to come out to get a linoleum sample so the floor can get fixed. It HAS to be TODAY. I explain again that I am at work, and that tomorrow (when I am home already) would be a lot better. Frank insists.

Customer Service Lesson Three: Don’t impose arbitrary deadlines on your customer. I’m pretty sure that no one is going to die if Frank doesn’t have his sample today. One day will delay things by as much as… perhaps a day. Perhaps not.

But, fine, let’s keep Frank happy and expedite things. I review my schedule and tell Frank I can run home for a few minutes at 3:30. Frank tells me that won’t work, because he has another meeting at that time, and it has to be earlier.

Customer Service Lesson Four: Respect your customer’s time. I appreciate that he has another meeting. But if he is asking me to meet arbitrary deadlines, it is really pushing it to also ask that I arrange things around his schedule. I was at work. We were pretty clear on that point.

However, I’m a nice person (regardless of what you might have heard to the contrary), and I agree to meet Frank at 2:30, being very clear that I am leaving work to do so and it has to be quite swift. No problem, two minutes, he says.

And since I am a nice person, I left work so that I could be at home at 2:15, so Frank didn’t have to wait. And, at 3:10, Joe showed up. “Oh, Frank sent me. He said between 2:30 and 3:30.”

At this point, all I can tell you is to please refer to the lessons above. Clearly Frank and Company haven’t learned any of them. The result is an unhappy customer (who is likely to be highly critical of anything that they do going forward). As I’ve said before, it’s not that !@#($&*$ hard!

(Oh, and did I mention that as Joe was leaving, Bill was calling to reschedule? At least he called.)

It's Not That !@#($&*$ Hard!

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:55 GMT

That was the other name I was considering for my blog. “Great and Small” seemed easier to spell consistently, so it won out. But it doesn’t convey nearly as much passion about one of my biggest frustrations as a consumer and as a small business owner. I am talking about customer service.

Customer service is one of the most critical parts of any business. It is what makes some companies shine, others mediocre, and many just plain stink. It is the thing that customers remember long after the purchase, and the thing that brings them back, bringing their friends and neighbors with them. And it doesn’t cost you a thing (unless you do it badly).

Customer service starts with the first interaction the customer has with your business. Do you welcome the customer, with your sign or webpage? Is the person that answers the phone or the door doing so with a smile on their fact, happy to be with your company and delighted to share the experience? (Yes, answering the phone with a smile translates into an entirely different tone in your voice – try it sometime!)

Customer service continues through the sales process. Do you make it easy for the customer to find what they need and to make decisions? Do you offer assistance (but not so much as to be pushy), and do you educate the customer on their purchase (and not just on your own products and services)?

And customer service doesn’t end there. Do you deliver what you promised? Do you follow up to ensure that the CUSTOMER thinks you delivered what was promised (and hopefully then some)? Do you ensure that even if the customer doesn’t buy from you, that you have made the experience a pleasant one, so that they might consider you in the future or recommend you to others?

What if there are problems? Do you address them promptly and pleasantly? Our staff loves mistakes – it gives them the opportunity to really shine. That is not to say that we encourage them – we’d much rather exceed the customer’s expectations the first time. But customers remember when a company goes above and beyond to correct a problem – probably because that is so rare these days.

Customer service is one of my favorite topics, and it is a critical element in every successful small businesses. So often companies get too wrapped up in what they do; they forget that they are providing their product or service for the benefit of the customer. They don’t expect the best from their employees, and they fail to show their customers the respect that they deserve. (Which is not to say that the customer is always right, but they are always entitled to respect). And although they may be good at what they do, the business suffers horribly.

So pay a little attention to your customer service. It doesn’t cost you a thing, and it can have a huge impact on your business. After all, it really isn’t all that!@#($&*$ hard.

Now Hiring: Board Gaming Experience is a Plus

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:54 GMT

One of the absolute joys of owning a small company is that you get to set the rules. One of the rules at NimblePros is that Wednesday, after our company lunch, the entire team plays a game.

Now, I know some of you in Corporate America will laugh (those of you who aren’t crying), but this is something that is critical to the success of NimblePros. Not only does it help to build a strong cross-functional team, but it also is essential for recruiting.

Think about it. The whole idea of Agile is built on the concept of good communication and a cohesive team. How can you effectively communicate with your other team members if you don’t really know them? Playing a game together offers an ideal opportunity for people to step outside of their normal business roles to interact on a level playing field. It allows individuals who may not work together on a daily basis to get to know each other and to learn how to communicate effectively with one another. And it allows team members to build a sense of unity, so that “working towards a common goal” seems more like a real purpose than a bunch of empty words on a company mission statement.

The best games to start with are ones that are cooperative in nature, at least to some degree. At NimblePros, we like Word Blur, since it requires you to work on a team to communicate a mystery word using a pile of single word tiles. Werewolf, also known in some circles as Mafia, is another popular option, since it requires the entire group to interact closely. If you want to illustrate how hard it really is to communicate, Telestrations, a cross between Pictionary and Telephone is a good choice, and if you are a serious board gaming group, Pandemic is awesome. In short, it should allow the group to interact, not be too adversarial, and create stories that are handed down as office lore for years to come. (“Oh say green” or “naked cheese grater” anyone?) And it needs to make you laugh.

I also love these games from a recruiting standpoint. I love being able to tell interviewees, “Yes, we REALLY DO play a game every week, not just for interviews.” More importantly, though, watching potential employees playing a game with the rest of the team tells me a tremendous amount about that individual. How do they think? What are they like as a person? And, most importantly, how do they get along with our existing team? If you are bright, eager to learn, and work well with our team, you will probably thrive in the NimblePros environment.

And game playing is a great perk for our current employees. I want a staff that enjoys what they are doing professionally, but I also want them to have FUN. As it happens, whether by accident or design, NimblePros has cultivated a staff that enjoys playing board games. They get together on a regular basis outside of work to play, and we have company game nights to get spouses and significant others involved too. We’re not a huge corporation and we don’t have a company jet to fly the staff to Hawaii for a company retreat (yet). But we can offer the opportunity to play games at work, and to be part of a really exceptional agile team.

So, as you are building your own agile team, don’t forget to include some fun and games. Weeks of daily scrums won’t build the level of cooperation and good communication that a few rounds of Telestrations at lunch can achieve. And if you are ready for something more, check out our careers page at NimblePros.com. We’re hiring, and board gaming experience is a plus!

The Death Star was an Agile Project

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 20:25:54 GMT

Did you know that the second Death Star was an Agile Project? Yes, as odd as it may sound, the Empire was one of the early adopters of Agile. Who knew?

It’s pretty clear, as Darth Vader boards the new Death Star that the project hasn’t been going well. Development is running behind schedule, the managers are blaming a lack of workers, and, quite frankly, upper management doesn’t care. They just want the thing done, as do most clients who are tired of paying huge development costs with nothing to show for it. Oh, and they have plans to demo the thing at an upcoming event, so it HAS to be ready by the deadline.

Enter Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith and Project Manager. He is here to put this thing back on track. The Client (in this case, the Emperor), doesn’t want to hear any more excuses. They want results, and they wanted them yesterday.

So, Vader takes an Agile approach. He prioritizes the features list (“Look, we really need the big laser thing; our customers will just have to come to us at first.”), and he works in vertical slices. At the end of the movie, it seems to have paid off. There are still huge pieces missing and construction is nowhere near complete, but “Those weapon systems are operational!”

And clearly this comes as a shock to the Rebel Alliance, who were used to the old waterfall design and construction process for Death Stars. They had no idea that the weapons systems could be made to work before the outer shell was completed and the contractors had signed off on all of the items in the final walkthrough. (Remember, the faster you can get SOMETHING completed, the faster your client can start benefiting from that new feature.)

Of course, in the end, it didn’t work out well for the Empire. But that was more due to a lack of flexibility on the part of the client, rather than a failure of the product. (Remember to be Agile the next time you are commanding an intergalactic battle.)

Now, if only most Project Managers could have the presence and command the respect that Darth Vader did… “You WILL be Agile….”