Tag: of interest

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Download: Spiceworks IT Desktop really works (but not on Vista)

This is a very cool and free utility, Spiceworks IT Desktop, which PC Magazine calls in a recent article one of their favourite free small business tools. If you have a number of IP devices in your home, this is also a good tool for creating catalogue of what’s on the network.


Spiceworks IT DesktopDid I mention it’s free? If you don’t mind the display ads, it’s a good choice.


Did I mention that it works on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server… but not Vista.



“You want IT management software that works for you, not software that makes you work. You wish you could have it… without spending a fortune. Your wish is granted.

“Introducing the free Spiceworks IT Desktop. Designed, tested and used by 60,000 IT pros in 180 countries. Spiceworks has the everyday IT features you need:

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Customer service: It’s hard to get to ‘wow’ let alone talk about it

Marvin Walberg is a job search coach and resume-writer. Recently, he wrote an article that was picked up in the Nashua Telegraph in which he says that “the ‘wow’ factor” is hard to come by in day to day customer service…



“In the world of sales/customer service, if you fail to please a customer, that customer will probably go out and tell the next seven or eight people how lousy your service was. But, if you gave that customer good service – what was expected – the customer will walk away and say nothing. You will have met that customer’s expectations.


“In order to get a compliment, you have to “WOW” that customer, as a friend of mine used to say. You have to exceed that customer’s expectations if you expect anything special, and all that might happen, special, is for that customer to ask for you the next time. That’s a good thing. That’s what you want and need.”


Here’s a challenge: if you have an instance of great customer service, tell someone… a manager, a business owner, the world via your blog…


Here’s my own ‘wow’ example.


At dinner last night with friends from work, Chris noted that the car buying experience just wasn’t enjoyable. Agreeing, I noted that there was a service that one of my blog friends raved about, the amazing auto woman, a local car broker that takes the hassle out of car buying.


I don’t know about you, but buying a car from a dealership is right at the top of my list of things I hate more than a root canal.


So, back to the experience. Alex Barnett wrote that working with this wonderful lady made the car buying experience almost enjoyable…



“I found Mike Swanson’s recent blog post describing the positive experience he had and his satisfaction with the overall buying process – so went for it. And I concur – very little to do on our part in terms of paperwork and all the hassle and the car was delivered to home at a time that suited. This was a breath of fresh air compared to the hassle and bullsh*t we had to deal with with the local official dealerships. With Heidi there was none of this.” 


Inetersting: I remembered that a trusted advisor had recommended a great service, and I raved about it… eventhough I’d not used the service previously myself. Amazing the impression that a recommendation makes from a source you trust.


BTW, if you haven’t seen the entries on the MSN Show us your wow contest, many are worth a look. 


Tags: Microsoft, loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service.

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Of interest: article in the weekend Times, “Remembering Dad”

Of interest this Father’s Day (Happy Father’s Day to those out there) is this article, “Remembering Dad” in the Seattle Times, in which a son (Michael Ko, a reported at the paper) remembers his dad.



“I’m 31 years old, married a year now and hoping to become a father soon. I’ve been looking with something like envy at some guy friends and the way they cradle their newborns: a relationship — a touch — so full of love and life and potential.


“I wonder what my father thought of me when I was born, what he saw when he held me up to the light and examined me head to toe, what he said to me when I slept, what dreams blossomed in his heart, what fears kept him up at night.


“The problem is, I can’t ask him now, and my mother’s answers won’t suffice. Too bad I didn’t wonder more when he was alive. I was so absorbed in my own world. And he wasn’t much of a talker. There seems to be a built-in detachment among many older Korean men.


“More than two years after my father’s death, I feel compelled to try to extract some profound meaning from our relationship.”


As Ko ends, “Maybe this is just the profound wonder and mystery of fatherhood, and no interpretation is really necessary.”


Maybe so.


Now I’m off to spend the day with my boys. Enjoy your Sunday.

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$25,000 Home Office Makeover courtesy of Vern Yip, Microsoft and HP

From the I-reall-need-to-find-thestuff-in-my-home-office-piles-of-paperwork, Vern Yip of Trading Spaces fame is teaming up with Microsoft and HP for a contest to set things right…



“Tell us about your home office and you might win a makeover from Vern Yip, Microsoft and HP. The grand prize winner will receive a home office makeover and technology prize package valued at $25,000. See Prizes for details on the grand prize and prizes for the three finalists.


 


“Enter before July 4, 2007. See Rules for complete details.



http://www.microsoft.com/office/makeover/default.aspx


 


“In 250 words or less describe how a Microsoft Home Office Makeover will create an overall positive change in your personal and/or business life. Submit one photograph showing the entrant in the home office space that needs the Microsoft home office makeover.”


If you’re bold enough, you can also submit a video clip highlighting the space that should be (or was) your your home office in need of a makeover.


 


BTW, employees of Microsoft and various sponsors and agencies are NOT eligible 😉 nor are immediate family members. So call your cousins and neighbours.



http://homeofficeentry.com/makeover/submission_form.aspx


 

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Accenture reports that customers hate automated systems

It’s been a busy day… let’s just leave it at that.


But I had to post this link from a friend on the other coast about customer satisfaction, which is a hot topic these days. Interesting that Frank Hayes of Computerworld should report that Customers Hate Automated Systems, Vendors Don’t Get It.


Really? I love talking to and trying to interrupt an automated phone system. Not.



“We hate automated customer service  systems. That’s the key finding of a recent study by Accenture. Understand, the study didn’t look at how well we like acquiring, installing, integrating, operating and maintaining customer service automation. It was about how well we like being on the receiving end. Short answer: We don’t.


“Wait, it’s worse: We not only hate being subjected to automated customer service — we’re also irritated enough that we’re ready to change vendors in the hope that we’ll have better luck elsewhere.


“Worse still: Vendors are clueless about just how bad things are.”


Clueless? No, not clueless. Perhaps some are in denial.



“Accenture actually commissioned two separate surveys. In one, 1,200 customers of technology companies were asked what they thought of their suppliers’ customer service. In the other, executives at 35 technology vendors were asked how well they believed their customer service systems performed.


“Three-fourths of vendors believe their customer service is above average, and 54 percent say theirs is up there with the best in the industry.


“Meanwhile, 78 percent of customers say their vendors are only average or below average.


“Among vendors, 57 percent say they have higher customer satisfaction because of new technology they’re using for customer service, and 71 percent say customer problems are being resolved faster than before.


“Among customers, 61 percent say service has not improved — and 57 percent actually describe themselves as somewhat, very or extremely upset by lousy customer service.”



“According to the survey, when we go through a vendor’s customer service process, we want our problems resolved quickly and completely, preferably the first time through.


“Instead, 64 percent of us have had to go back more than once to get problems solved — and 58 percent of us are not at all satisfied with the telephone-based self-help customer service that lots of suppliers have foisted on us.”


Of interest: Accenture’s High Performance Business Blog


Tags: Microsoft, loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service.