Memorable Journey (1/2)

Late summer 2008, a fun weekend of Ultimate Frisbee in Amsterdam is laying ahead and before that I arranged a job interview with a dear friend in Brussels. It has taken us about four months since our first -coincidental and driven by syncronicity- meeting far down at the Indian Ocean in Oman, during the 3rd SoL Global Forum to make that happen.

As I always do, being fond of public and rail transport, I take the train for such travels - much more relaxed travelling with time to sleep, read and talk. Getting the ticket for the distance from the German-Belgian border to Brussels (I own a German Railway Pass for unlimited travels) was rather time consuming and couldn't be done via internet (strange in times of globalization and web 2.0 solutions - I wondered;-().  I leave Leipzig early in the morning with an ICE (just recently the ones running between Leipzig and Frankfurt - where I was heading to catch the next connection - are not running due to problems with axles;-() with an approximate arrival time in Brussels around 2:35pm in the afternoon.

Even though we are a bit delayed on the route to Frankfurt everything works fine and the super-highspeed (compared to French TGV, that is rather slow travelling with a speed of around 300 km/h) to Cologne could be caught. Everything seems working flawlessly - like it should and probably most of time does. It is only the single events that come into the public and nobody talks about what is going like it should.

Cologne - second connection on the way - changing to the Thalys which is starting its way from Cologne to Paris via Brussels. Like the last time (it had been to a Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Brussels two years earlier) people are rushing, coaches are packed and litte space for luggage and the interior somehow looks worn (must be the heavy use of rail travellers;-)).

I enjoy the ride with the other folks on the train, which is a real multi-lingual, and multi-cultural conglomorate (English, French, Arabs, Turkish, German, you name it) and it was fun listening to all the different voices. Besides I was going to an interview, looking forward to two days of excellent Frisbee at ADAM (actually the most choice HAT Tournament I know Breakfast on Sunday is a MUST:-)).

Always curious about service and how customers are treated (everywhere I am a customer I play two roles: customer, observer (=mirror to service personal) I scan the overall situation and especially what could be made better to achieve an excetional service (which will attract future -presently potential- customers).

Due to the multi-lingual passengers the announcements have been in three languages (French, German, English) and there have two (?) conductors on board of the Thalys (German, French).

I am reading my books and let the landscape pass and then we arrive in Aachen - the border town before we move into Belgium. As the non rail traveller must know the electricity system changes from German Railway to Belgium Railway (the Thalys is multi-system capable which makes a great positive impact on the travelling time as locomotion changes are not necessary).

That shall be the first part of the story which will continue in part 2 following over the weekend and Aachen is where the troubles started (which eventually made it an unforgettable journey).

See you

Ralf

Coffee - it can make a real difference

Have you challenged the café of your choice asking for permission eating some cake bought elsewhere and enjoying their coffee?

What would be the answer in most cases (if we would ask;-))?

"No, sorry that is not allowed. My boss could come back and I have no power to allow that."

What would be the harm for their business? There must be some hidden assumptions, as I can't see any bad impact (especially if it is a café focusing mainly on the coffee and not so much on the muffins, cakes, and such).

Meeting with a friend -coming back from a business trip- at Leipzig Central Station she bought some special cake ("Baumkuchen") at a bakery and then we looked for a nice place to have a coffee, a chat and eating the cake in the meanwhile. First choice on our search reacted like the one just mentioned:-(

Then couraged by this we asked at another one, The Coffee Culture (just opposite track 17), and guess what happened?

"Yes, sure. We don't mind on the contrary, you are very welcome. Come on in:-)"

So we did, enjoyed two hours talk, great coffee and atmosphere and one or the other great idea for the future (besides writing this short lines).

Small things will surely stick in your head and you talk about, tell others and so generate indirectly new customers for the place that has hosted you so generously.

Cheers,

Ralf

Welcome to the Mac Family

And that is what they said to me. I didn't just buy a computer, I was invited into a community. From the minute I walked through the door, I could see that this was going to be a very different experience to all the other computer buying expeditions that I have been on.

I walked through the doors armed with all my "research" tucked under my arm, looking like I meant business. But I wasn't attacked by sales staff, just welcomed with smiles and greetings. They left me alone with their stuff, they didn't hassle me and they didn't try to intimidate me with their infinite technical knowledge. The store and customer service delivery was designed as if they wanted me to stay and play.

Now I'm not going to do the Mac Vs PC thing in this blog, it's Apple's customer service style that I want to draw attention to. The key winning features are:

1. Making the customer feel welcomed, not like a potential thief
2. Assume that the customer already knows what they want
3. Well trained staff that love as well as understand their products
4. Stores designed to welcome customers to touch, feel and experiment with what they are about to buy (yes, humans are basically curious, sensuous, tactile creatures)
5. Understand that if the customer doesn't buy today, they will come back and buy tomorrow if the exploratory experience was positive
6. Create a sense of community and belonging; that this is not a once-off purchase, but a relationship that will go on for years.

This was the best customer service experience I have had in years. And this is not a model that is difficult to replicate. So I think to myself, all those businesses offering crappy customer services, do they really want, or deserve, to be in business at all?

Cheers
Marigo

Customers - are they relevant for CEOs?

Twitter is a cool tool:-))

So I got notice of the following article at HBR:

How CEOs Should Work With Customers

...there surely is way to more success and it leads to the customer and with the customer.

Cheers,

Ralf

Customer stakeholder No. 1

Two days ago, while on the web chatting with somebody via Skype, the following flew into my mailbox:

"Making the most of customer complaints

... in the new edition of Business Insight"

edited by MIT Sloan Management Review (if you don't know it yet - check it out!).

The authors of the study bring the CUSTOMER into the focus.

To quote just the first three lines (link provided further down):

"NOBODY'S PERFECT. That's a fact, not an excuse.

Which is why it is crucial for companies to realize that the way they handle customer complaints is every bit as important as trying to provide great service in the first place. Because things happen. ...."

Have you with your customer/client "hat on" been valued in the past? What was missing?

Cheers,

Ralf

PS.: The above mentioned article can be read at 

http://sloanreview.mit.edu/wsj/insight/brand/2008/09/22/

HR Electronic Information - over and over again:-(

Haven't you faced the same problem: applying for a new job via the web you ought to input your personal information into a HR portal!

Just imagine you have applyed for 10 such job. How much time has gone by and how much better could you have used it otherwise?

Lost time equivalent = 9 x 1 Hour x 100 €/hour/person x Persons applying online (for 10 applications you have initially put up one full completion) = 900 €/Person * Persons applying online (?)

Imagine there would be 5 Mio persons around the planet applying online in one given year. Then the lost time equivalent (LTE) would be 900 € * 5.000.000 = 4.5 Billion € per year!

Sounds a bit crazy, or? Just boil the 100 €/hour/person down to 20 €/hour/person and it still would be an LTE of 9 Billion € per year.

Enough for a business, don't you think?

Why do we have to give the information over and over again?

Shouldn't we rather see the following:

1. You provide the information once (as most employers use similar or even the same software for that)

2. Either the information is stored on your computer or a neutral clearing place from where your information can be transfered to the employers's HR programs

3. Updates possible - automatic notice to already transfered info

4. Providing a worldwide standard

What is lacking?

1. No knowledge exchange amongst providers of software, employers using it and its customers (US!)

2. Lacking trust on sharing information in the present communication ways

3. No connected software solution yet

4. Diverse single efforts around the world -perhaps!

So who is joining the new collaboration project?

Crazy ideas always start somewhere, and that is here!

Ralf

Recognizing your face:-)

Yesterday, it happened at Leipzig Main Station, I was on the way with my Finish guest from Team Academy to buy a ticket from Leipzig to Berlin-Tegel.

As I am owner of a Bahncard 100 (unlimited free travelling on German Railway Network) I have the privilege to be served on a special counter. Normally you have to show your Bahncard 100 to prove that you are allowed to use this special counter.

To my surprise the lady smiled and said, "That's not necessary, I know you from past events. You have bought several special travel arrangements in the past, haven't you?"

That was the moment when I felt well treated:-)

...and so the conversation around the buying of the ticket was a real pleasure.

Service could be so easy and doesn't cost a cent extra (on the contrary it gives more €€€ for the companies if its employees treat the customers in a welcoming way).

Quite inspired by what is possible I am looking forward to a enjoyable coming week -to all of us:-)

Cheers, 

Ralf