Monthly Archives: November 2014

November 18, 2014 · 12:23 pm

What Business Hours?

I tried to pay my health insurance premium on Saturday. Even though I have a 31 day grace period, I’m always prompt about sending it in on the due date since I don’t want a sniffle to turn into pneumonia which rapidly becomes bankruptcy.

I’ve been paying the bill online for a year. It’s a pretty easy system. Input the account number, input the invoice number, tell them if you want the money taken from a bank or a credit card and you’re good to go. This time, not so much. With the invoice in my hand I was told the system could not find my information. Oh sure – they knew the group number existed, but not the invoice. Hmm. Maybe using the telephone payment system?

Same result. The automated system couldn’t find my invoice either. No problem. Heck, it’s late morning on a Saturday – let’s call customer service and speak with a human. Um – no. Not until 8am Monday. I guess it hasn’t dawned on this company that people who are at work during the week might like to have an opportunity to speak to customer service when they have an hour to wait on hold and do their business.

So promptly at 8 Monday morning I called. I got right through to an agent who found my invoice without an issue and took my payment. As it turned out their system had a database issue over the weekend which is why it couldn’t process any payments.  Which prompted a couple of thoughts.

If you have critical systems you need to have monitors in place which alert you to failure.  Any web-based client who owns servers has some sort of alert in place to tell them if something is down.  Even more have alerts in place to tell them if something is running slowly, if a DDoS attack is happening, or if any number of other events occur that affects site performance and, therefore, their business.  In this case, the company could not take in revenue.  That’s pretty important.

Doing business when YOU want and not when your customer is ready is so last century.  I realize that implementing automated systems to facilitate that during non-business hours is what the company was doing but failing to monitor and maintain those systems is the same as not having them.  Actually, it may be even worse since it frustrates your customers.

The concept of “business hours” is dead.  Your business is open 24/7.  Maybe it’s just your mind that’s closed?

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Filed under Consulting, Huh?

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November 14, 2014 · 11:30 am

It’s The Tortilla, Stupid

Foodie Friday! For our fun this week, let’s consider the taco. Not the Taco Bell sort of dish but the real deal one can find everywhere from food trucks to bars to restaurants. They come in many varieties with different types of wrappers. I’m a fan, mostly because you can order a couple of one type, a couple of another type, and not be overly full. I’m also a fan of finger food and tacos meet that criterion as well.

English: Don Chow Tacos Ultimate LA Taco

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tacos de asador, tacos de cazo, tacos dorados (flautas to you!) – that’s just the start to a list of the dozens of varieties that exist. They all share one thing. They are some sort of filling encased in either a corn or flour tortilla. The meat may be marinated and grilled, fried, or boiled. Fish may be grilled or fried. The taco may be soft or hard, flat or puffy. There may or may not be guacamole or salsa or onions inside. But there is also a business point in there.

The proteins in the taco are the star of the show.  As you eat them you’re probably thinking about the flavor and texture of the meat or fish.  What you might not realize is that the tortilla is what makes the dish.  First, without the tortilla you’ve got a salad (or a very messy hand!).  But it’s the subtile flavor and crunch (or not) of the tortilla that brings the dish together.  That’s my business point.

We tend to focus on the “stars” in business.  The CEO, the productive salesperson, the marketing genius.  We forget sometimes that without the support staff – the tortillas – they would not be able to bring to the business what they do.  More importantly, just as the “wrong” tortilla (what the heck are puffy tacos anyway?) can run perfectly cooked and flavored filling, disgruntled staff can kill a star performer.  Try a taco with a fresh, homemade tortilla and you will understand the importance of the wrapper in making up for any flaws in the “star”.  Run your business with a happy, productive, supportive staff and you’ll find out how much better the “faces” of the company become.

Make sense?

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Filed under food, Helpful Hints, Thinking Aloud

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November 13, 2014 · 12:33 pm

We’re Feeling Insecure

The Pew folks are at it again. They just released a study called “Public Perceptions of Privacy and Security in the Post-Snowden Era” and it’s a doozy. Let’s not bury the lede:

Perhaps most striking is Americans’ lack of confidence that they have control over their personal information. That pervasive concern applies to everyday communications channels and to the collectors of their information—both in the government and in corporations.

Big Brother indeed, although Orwell probably didn’t think about it in terms of corporations doing much of the surveillance.  The study makes clear that consumers are skeptical about some of the benefits of personal data sharing, but are willing to make tradeoffs in certain circumstances when their sharing of information provides access to free services. 55% “agree” or “strongly agree” with the statement: “I am willing to share some information about myself with companies in order to use online services for free.” And we know they’re watching:

Across the board, there is a universal lack of confidence among adults in the security of everyday communications channels—particularly when it comes to the use of online tools. Across six different methods of mediated communication, there is not one mode through which a majority of the American public feels “very secure” when sharing private information with another trusted person or organization.

Sad, isn’t it?  More importantly, there seems to be a growing sentiment among consumers to dial back the amount of information they’re making available.  I’ve written before about ad and cookie blocking.  How can the legitimate interests some businesses have for this information – to me that means to make the consumer’s experience better – be served while protecting the consumer’s privacy?  Clearly all of us engaged in data-gathering need to begin to act more responsibly or risk being cut off from the source.  As the report says:

At the same time that Americans express these broad sensitivities toward various kinds of information, they are actively engaged in negotiating the benefits and risks of sharing this data in their daily interactions with friends, family, co-workers, businesses and government.

This is a wake up call.  Are you answering?

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Filed under digital media, Reality checks

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