Good Sticky and Bad Sticky

Sticky refers to how long a person stays on your website. It also refers to how difficult it is for a customer to stop doing business with you or switch to another provider. Obviously the stickier we are the better—but not all stickiness is created equal. For example, I have 2 months left on my contract with Verizon and would really like to switch to ATT so I can get the new iPhone. But I will have to pay a cancellation fee ($175) even though I’ve been a high dollar customer for years. Will I stick? Maybe—but I won’t be happy about it! Sticky shouldn’t be based on contracts and threats. It should be based on providing such a level of service, such value, such benefit to the customer that it becomes a true loss to switch. Now that’s a sticky I can live with.

When congressmen and senators voluntary put themselves under the same Healthcare program as tne AVERAGE American then and only then will I believe they are serious about Healthcare Reform.

How is Cash for Clunkers like the sub-prime mortgage fiasco? They are both government programs that end up tempting people to buy what they cannot afford and will most likely lose. Here's how it works. Many who buy cars on this program will end up having their government payment to the dealer disapproved. When that happens the dealer will come after the new owner who, in many cases will not have the cash or credit to pay the difference. The car will be repossessed, the person's credit ruined, and their trade in (destroyed by the dealer by federal mandate) will not be returned. Sounds like another disaster.

Joe Klein, Time magazine, slams republicans for dishonesty in the Healthcare debate. Perhaps true but somehow I'm not sure I see the Democrats as paragons of virtue and truth. Realistically we need to vote all of them out and elect an entirely new Congress.

Beware Fatigue of Heart

It’s one thing to be tired in your body or to be tired in your mind---but if you become tired in your heart it becomes nearly impossible to go on. Protracted hard times tend to make us tired deep inside and the fire burns low (and seems to go out).

So, how do you deal with heart fatigue? Here are a few things I’ve learned from some wise folks…

1. Spend some time remembering good times in the past.
2. Make a list at the end of the day of at least 3 things you are thankful for.
3. Spend time with a good friend who you can trust and open up to.
4. Watch a stupid, funny movie (like an old Pink Panther movie or the Three Amigos or Wild Hogs or something mindless); be sure to laugh out loud.
5. Set 1 achievable goal for each day. Forget next week or next month—how about just tomorrow?
6. Look around for someone to encourage; believe me, you are not alone.

So, how do YOU suggest people deal with this?

The Daily "5"-like a huddle in football game, every team needs to hold a daily meeting to update on priorities and key communications. Everyone should stand and a tight time limit should be enforced. The busier you are the more you need this.

Never Underestimate America

TeaPartyCommercial.wmv

Does It Scare You?

Please read, even if you are an Obama fan. It is legitimate, written by respected, Lou Prichett, formerly of Proctor and Gamble. Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America 's true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world's highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as "partnering." Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.
_______________________________________________________
AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA
Dear President Obama:
You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me.
You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.
You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.
You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.
You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.
You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don't understand it at its core.
You scare me because you lack humility and 'class', always blaming others.
You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.
You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the 'blame America ' crowd and deliver this message abroad.
You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.
You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.
You scare me because you prefer 'wind mills' to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.
You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.
You scare me because you have begun to use 'extortion' tactics against certain banks and corporations.
You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.
You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.
You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.
You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.
You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O'Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.
You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.
Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.
Lou Pritchett
TRUE - CHECK: http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/youscareme.asp
This letter was sent to the NY Times but they never acknowledged it. Big surprise! Since it hit the internet, however, it has had over 500,000 hits. Keep it going. All that is necessary for evil to succeed is that good men do nothing. It's happening right now.

The 11 Million-0-3 Rule

Check out this first in a series of YouTube videos about terrible customer service:

Great Illustration of Uncommon Service

Thanks to Tim Nieman for sharing this:

The following story was told by my friend Phillip Van Hooser, in his book titled: Willie's Way. I really like it and hope you will too.

The conversation was pleasant. Earlier in the day I had presented a service professionalism training program for the Georgia Club Managers' Association, a group of managers representing some of the finest city, athletic, golf, and country clubs throughout the state of Georgia. Now I found myself dining with nine of the most highly respected leaders in the field of club management. Somewhere between the appetizer and the salad, Manuel de Juan, general manager of the host, Capital City Club, spoke.

“Phillip, I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation today. I especially enjoyed the stories you shared to illustrate your content points. As a matter of fact, at one point during your presentation, I almost interrupted you to share one of my stories I thought you might enjoy.”

He said, “The occasion was Easter Sunday and the day found more than 500 club members and their guests crowded into the overflowing Capital City Club restaurant. As they waited to dine, a club member and his four dinner guests approached the bar where they were greeted by the head bartender, Bob, who quickly began to take and fill each drink order. Everything progressed as might be expected until one of the guests placed an order for a specialty drink.

'I would like a sazerac, please.'

'A sazerac?' Bob asked curiously. 'Sir, I'm sorry but I'm unfamiliar with that particular drink. However, if you'll share its ingredients with me, I will be happy to make you one.'

'That's the problem,' the guest explained. 'I was in New Orleans on business recently and I stayed at the Fairmont Hotel. During my visit, I went into the hotel bar and the bartender suggested I try the house specialty, a sazerac. I remember the name of the drink because it was the same as that of the bar. Anyway, I tried the drink and I loved it.

Since then though, whenever I've tried to order it in other bars around the country I always get the same response, 'never heard of it.' I was hoping a place like the Capital City Club would be different. But never mind. Don't worry about it. Just give me a Bloody Mary instead.'

Bob filled the revised drink order, and as soon as the guest left the bar to rejoin his party, Bob took his break and headed straight to the nearest telephone. He called information and requested the number for the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Once connected to the Fairmont, Bob asked for the Sazerac Bar. Within seconds, Bob was talking directly with a previously anonymous professional colleague in a bar several hundred miles away.

'My name is Bob and I am the head bartender at the Capital City Club here in Atlanta. A few minutes ago I had a gentleman order a sazerac. He told me he was introduced to it while visiting your bar. I was wondering if you would be willing to share the recipe with me so I can fill his order?'

Bob's New Orleans counterpart was happy to oblige.

Within a few short minutes, Bob confidently approached the guest's table. Imagine the guest's level of surprise, satisfaction, and sheer delight when Bob said, 'Excuse me, sir, but I have your sazerac. I hope it's to your liking. I have taken the liberty of writing down the ingredients on this index card so you can have them with you in your travels. I hope you enjoy your time here at the Capital City Club. I'm glad I had the opportunity to serve you.'

One of my favorite definitions of listening is from Jim Cathcart. He said listening is wanting to hear. And you see, Bob wanted to hear...and he did. Great service is always about wanting to hear.

Service Lesson Learned:
Surprise...and delight!

Warnings from Abroad

When people from Canada, the UK, and Russia warn the US NOT to move toward government controlled healthcare is there a REASON we refuse to listen????

Knee Pad Email

Check this out. Even the great Amazon.com can do the knee pad every now and then.

Amazon CEO: Deleting Your Kindle Books Was “Stupid, Thoughtless”

from Mashable! by Pete Cashmore

4 people liked this

In response to Amazon’s controversial move last week to remove specific copies of George Orwell books from Kindles, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized on the Kindle forums today, calling the decision “stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles”.

The move resulted in a small backlash last week as Kindle owners found the books missing from their devices and a refund in their accounts: the publisher, it transpired, did not have the rights to sell the books and had added them to the store using the Kindle’s self-publishing platform. But buyers were surprised to learn Amazon could simply take back their books, and Amazon later vowed not to do it again.

Today, CEO Jeff Bezos extended the apology to members of the Kindle forum:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com

Indeed, in a video announcing Amazon’s acquisition of shoe retailer Zappos this week, Bezos highlighted the company’s customer-centric approach. Perhaps the shoe marketer, which has already mastered Twitter, can help Amazon deal with social media flare-ups in the future.

5 Things Leaders MUST Do

According to leadership experts James Kouzes and Barry Posner, there are 5 things that every leader must do in all times…especially these times.

1. Model the Way: be what you say, walk your talk, demonstrate that you can be trusted

2. Inspire a Shared Vision: give people a sense of direction, of hope, of a better future that they can buy into

3. Challenge the Process: always press the edge, live continuous improvement, refuse to accept the status quo, encourage others to do the same

4. Enable Action: train, let others decide, support their ideas, provide equipment and coaching

5. Encourage the Heart: demonstrate frequent, creative, personalized appreciation and celebration

The “New” GM?

The "new GM" emerged Friday from bankruptcy. Government Motors is now owned by the federal government (60.8%), the UAW (16.6%), the Canadian and Ontario governments (11%) and the balance by bondholders. QUESTION: will GM make the governments more business like OR will the government-owners make GM more government like?

A New Minority

When those who don’t produce but leach off the government (including politicians and their bloated staff) outnumber those of us who actually work and produce, will we then get special treatment from the government?

No Time for Lost Focus

There is no time for anyone to lose focus on the MAIN THING. That’s true in the best of times and especially in these times. Leaders are diligent to determine what the MAIN THING is and then to KEEP THE MAIN THING THE MAIN THING.

Beware of distractions—trivial activities, bad attitudes, needless conflict, technology glitches. There are 2 or 3 critical items for every branch and every team member. Identify them. Post them on the wall. Talk about them. Come back to them. Live them.

Success in battle belongs to those who know what the vital objective is and resolutely drive toward that ONE thing.

Why Does the Media Hate Sarah?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying Sarah Palin is or is not qualified to stand on the national leadership stage. But I am amazed at the persistence of the media in trying to defame her when I see people like Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd, Al Gore, Timothy Geitner, and others whose corruption or failures are monumental getting a passing mention and then a free pass.

Government Jobs Aren’t Real Jobs

I’m not saying that government employees don’t work hard—some do and some don’t; that’s a topic for another blog another time. What I am saying is that when the government increases its employee base by 10 or 10,000 nothing is produced. Work may be done but no products are produced, no profits are generated, no innovations are created, no wealth is increased. These are activities not jobs. Only jobs in the private sector do what jobs are meant to and that is increase the overall GDP and thus the overall economic well being of the population. That is why Keynesian economics doesn’t work and that is why I am so adamantly opposed to large government—as were the founding fathers!

When Liberty Mattered

In the days leading up to July 4, 1776, a nervous but courageous gathering of colonial statesmen met in Philadelphia and debated the idea that the time had come to break with England and set up a new nation based on the concept that power came from the people not the government. This was a radical idea in the 18th century (and still is). They knew that their “declaration” would put their lives and fortunes at risk but in their minds liberty mattered more—not just theirs but all of their countrymen and those who would come after them.

Today, America stands as a standard of personal liberty and individual responsibility—a shining example of what a people may achieve if left alone. The freedoms you and I have and the prosperity we enjoy is a fragile thing. It was when Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It was during the Civil War. It was during World War II. Every great period of history has tested the fragility of our liberty and discovered the truth that “the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

As we celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, let us celebrate those who overcame the dangers of their age to birth and preserve the United States and pledge to do the same in our day!

Is it me or is it too much?

We’re going to fix the banking system, the economy, the healthcare system, Social Security, the military, global warming, oil dependence, the war in Iraq, and whatever other cataclysmic initiative of the week Washington seems to focus on. Is it me or are we being sold a bill of goods?