Losing any sleep yet?

What a crazy time to own or run a business. We have banks failing, stock markets on a rollercoaster ride, credit tightening, homes all around you with mortgages in default - wow. Hey, let’s toss in a Presidential election just for a little comic relief. “I can see Russia from my house.” So funny in a sinking, mortifying kinda’ way…

Even if you aren’t personally wrestling with those specific financial issues, everyone will be impacted. From CEOs to Small Business Owners to pipe fitters to pool cleaners to consultants, we will all feel the effects of the financial morass that we are digging out of. The question business owners are asking themselves all across the country (across the world) is “what do I do now?” 

Smarter people than me are providing advice daily in this crazy mixed up world we have inherited\created. All I can do is look at my situation and that of my friends, family, and clients and base my decisions on that. Can I predict what the impact of bail outs, credit swaps, or the selling of derivatives might be on the global economy? Yea, sure I can - I’m a rocket scientist in my spare time.  

“I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men.” - Sir Isaac Newton

 What I can do is not hide under a rock. I can remember that my investments are supposed to be long term and the long term outlook for them is still good. I can be thankful that my wife and I don’t need the money from our house and portfolio right now. I can remind myself that I am working and providing value to my clients. And I can help those around me find level ground - and the time to take a breath.

Lift your head up, take a deep breath and remember - you have employees and customers that need you. They have some of the same questions and need your guidance. Protect your business, do what needs to be done, and prepare for the ride back up when the economy begins to recovery.

“I’d like to use one of my lifelines Katie…”  And don’t forget to laugh once in a while!

Landline Blues

I was reading an article online about the upcoming election and recent poll results (don’t worry, this isn’t a political post). It was just another in a series of endless articles spewing numbers that we are supposed to cling to. I also read a couple of posted comments and found an interesting thread that discussed a question I hadn’t considered.

“…hardly anyone in my age bracket (18 to 30) has or uses a landline. What does that say about the accuracy of these phone polls?”

Of course, as too often happens, the posters went on and began arguing how the poll doesn’t reflect this or that and quickly degenerated into a flame war but it aroused my curiosity. I know several people that no longer use a landline and not all of them are members of that elusive 18 to 30 demographic.

Since this thread started with statistics here are some from a recent CDC study:

• More than 32 million American adults, about 16 percent or nearly one out of every six homes, have now ditched their landlines for cell phones, up from 5 percent in 2004, according to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Article
• The trend is strongest among young adults: 34.5% of people 25-29 years old lived in households with only wireless phones. For those 30-44, the rate drops to 15.5%. It’s 2.2% for those 65 and over.

This trend strikes me as another tipping point in the way our customers and market are changing. As recently as 10 years ago, if you wanted to market to people you mailed (snail mail) them something, called them at home or at work, advertised in the paper, or put up a billboard. The information you collected on people was focused and not complicated.

Today we have the internet, email, SMS, social networking sites, blogs, do not call lists, spam filters, privacy rules and hundreds of new ways (and rules as to how) we interact with our customers and prospects. These touch points and rules all fundamentally change the way we have to capture data, store data, and interact with it.

How are you handling this change within your business? Have you adjusted your business process to accommodate these challenges? Or are you and your team still working from outdated information stored in multiple spreadsheets, applications, and restaurant napkins?

BlackBerry Speak

Let me start by saying - I am a huge BlackBerry (or Smart Phone) proponent. Many years ago, the President of a previous employer and I tested an early BlackBerry unit. It was a 2 week trial and we would decide at the end whether to roll them out to our consultants and sales team.

During the test, coincidentally, we were both on the tarmac at the same time getting ready to fly somewhere (him coming back west and me flying east) when an angry customer email came through. Because we both had a BlackBerry, we were able to defuse a huge potential issue with our biggest customer in minutes - before our flights took off. Needless to say, we rolled out the units to our team immediately and I have been a fan ever since.

The addition of all those extra hours in the work day and the “always connected” paradigm is a two-edged sword. From a business and customer service standpoint there are few rivals to improved process and rapid response. From a management and personal time aspect, there is a new headache to control. (My wife has a collection of pictures of me in vacation spots checking my BlackBerry - Italy, London, DC. Thank God she understands me well enough to only bring it up once in a while!)

There is another downside to BlackBerry and PDA use - “BlackBerry speak”. Those of us with these addictive gadgets become so used to dealing with emails and responding on the fly that we fall into a shorthand of sorts and don’t always give BlackBerry email responses the measured thought and “fullness of words” they deserve.

There is a time to be quick and direct - and a time to provide a careful, thoughtful response. Customers appreciate a rapid response but not when it might be short to the point of sounding rude. Same thing applies with your internal team. A shoot-from-the-hip answer may meet some speed requirement but cause more problems due to its perceived tone, confusing answer, or lack of focus.

Lastly, we often find ourselves so focused on the email and response process that we forget that what might be best is a good, old-fashioned phone call. Instead of trading multiple emails and creating confusion, a quick call can go a long way to a great customer service experience.

Pick up the phone, call your best customer - or your favorite consultant - and ask them to lunch.