Archive for August, 2006

USAToday quoted a reader who preferred that business travelers not be able to bring carry-on luggage on a plane.

As a business traveler, I agree.

I would love to arrive at a ticket counter, check my bag, and leisurely proceed to my gate. Then, like everyone without baggage, I could board in minutes. No hassles, no fussing around trying to find a space in the overheads. When the plane lands at its destination, I’d grab my bag within 7 minutes, exit the aircraft and be on my merry way.

Wouldn’t that be special!

Well, it ain’t going to happen. Here’s why.

The reader from the newspaper doesn’t understand how his life is touched in so many ways by us frequent fliers.

Say that this reader’s mother is scheduled for a total hip replacement surgery. The frequent air traveler is the expert that Mom’s doctor wants present to review new methodologies for the surgical procedure.

Or maybe the reader ordered his daughter’s birthday gift online too late. She gets the gift on time, anyway, thanks to the expert, a frequent flyer, who helped FedEx fix a logistics problem months ago.

This whiny reader fails to realize that as frequent flyers, we don’t make money on planes. We make money when we get to our destination. We have jobs to do, and we don’t want to spend any more time flying than we already do; we want less time expended traveling so that we can get more work done. We have enough hindrances to contend with, such as route, weather, and mechanical changes that the airlines still don’t have mechanisms in place for in order to serve us better.

Instead of the choreographed baggage scenarios, we would rather not check our bags to be a part of the 10,000 pieces of luggage lost on any given Sunday. We’d rather walk our bag through security and even open up the possibility for further inspection, navigate clumsy escalators, trudge stairs, and squeeze through tight seating aisles rather than let go of our bag. We’re even willing to uncomfortably switch hands and contort our backs as we pull our bags for the sake of convenience.

Besides, consider this, we’d rather squeeze our bags into small places beneath our seats or try to manage them with a broken shoulder, as I did for six months, so that I could leave the airport in a reasonable amount of time: not the 45 minutes some airports take to remove baggage and deliver it to the carousel docks.

What are they doing with our bags anyway!

To the reader, an occasional flyer who wants to write the rules, realize that we pack what we absolutely need for that day or the next day’s activities. I speak on stage for a living…it’s not like I can always run out and buy a suit or new shoes for a presentation I have to give the next morning if the airline loses my checked luggage.

And…if the airline were to lose the baggage, you get the $75 reimbursement and then have to prove what you’ve lost. I once had to present to a group of 12 CEOs in the clothing I wore the night before, because not a store was open before my 7 AM meeting, and I arrived at 10:30 PM.

If the $75 insult was not enough, sometimes travelers are out thousands of dollars when bags are lost. Some people carry expensive tools; without them, mama’s new hip might be installed backwards.

Yes, I’d love to check my bag, have it delivered to the plane with 100% accuracy, and easily move on with my day. Unfortunately, we, the frequent business flyers, aren’t going to get our wishes, due to the backward thinking strategies concocted by management on all sides of the industry.

With so many evolutionary changes in technology in business, why is it that we’ve moved baggage the same way for years?

If technology were to be applied to baggage handling, we could eliminate human interaction altogether. No drivers carrying bags across the tarmac. No one placing bags one at a time into the shell of the plane.

Maybe the USAToday reader should complain about the unions preventing revolutionary changes in baggage handling instead of punishing the travelers who are equally inconvenienced. Look, I don’t want to displace workers, however, those same workers need to understand that the world, at least in the future will be more and more robotic, and that what they carry on their shoulders is their future and that their hands are not the answer.

A governmental and societal challenge is needed.

Luggage of the future would be coded with an advanced form of RFID. The bag would be routed by machines and held in queue until a plane is ready for loading. When the plane docks, it talks to the luggage system and the bags are delivered onto the plane and stacked by use of robotics in the hull.

NOTE: I don’t think there is one plane in production with this technology anywhere in the world!

If a plane switches gates, the system reroutes all baggage. Everyone retrieves their bags on the planes in which they ride, even if they change their flight at a ticket counter.

Picture this: “Mr. Goldsmith, you’d like to take the 5:23 flight to get home earlier to your family. We can switch that for you.” In moments my bag is pulled from the stack by a robotic sensing arm, and placed on the belts going to gate 42 in real time.

Although this sounds like science fiction, it’s not. All the technology is available today, and it’s worth the price. You heard it. Worth the price. The challenge to play catch up is the same one facing GM and Ford, because they’ve lavished with years of mis-management to the point where the lack of R&D and investments have pushed them further and further behind the rest of the world in everything from manufacturing to the actual mileage outputs of vehicles that come off the production line.

If airlines had made these changes over the decades, this would be a moot point, and we’d have our baggage delivered to us the Sci-Fi way.

So the next time someone complains about those pain-in-the-neck business travelers whose carry-on bags waste time getting everyone seated, remind them that they have to suffer the inconveniences of behind-the-times airline procedures only once in a while. The frequent flyers are punished on a daily basis.

I’ll do about 130 flights this year. And you, Mr. Reader?

As far as one could see, the two-lane highway was bumper to bumper. In all, the roadway was littered with 14 miles of thousands of cars racing at 70 MPH towards their inevitable wait.

All this inconvenience occurred because of an accident combined with rubber necking. (Rubber necking is a slang term used when individuals turn their necks to see an accident.)

Now if this were not a situation begging for a new invention, I don’t know what is. For those who sit in traffic every day with plenty of time to think, why hasn’t anyone come up with a way of reducing wait time—especially in the event of traffic accidents that slow traffic in oncoming lanes due to rubbernecking?

I’d think that people would like to reclaim wasted time, reclaim their lives. Nothing’s been done. Since I don’t commute to work on the highways, I guess you’d call me an outsider. And from an outsider’s perspective, the solution is quite simple. NO SEE – NO SLOW. If you can’t see the accident, you’ll just drive right by it and continue on to your destination.

The resulting product is a shield, a wall, or a flexible dome that allows light to enter. For simplicity, road workers should be able to erect the temporary structure in minutes following an accident. Think of a wind and sun-tolerant modular barrier, flexible enough to extend in size and able to allow for the entrance of large emergency vehicles.

Can you picture it?

The benefits would be enormous to the general public as well as to those managing the accidents. Additionally, drivers in opposite lanes who arenot in the line of traffic would be able to continue on.

On a Connecticut drive, my driver commented to me after seeing a line that it was great that the accident was behind and slightly out of line of the southbound lane so no one slowed and caused delays.

What this means is that just because people need something does not mean that someone will create it. Just because it makes sense does not mean it will be solved. If you’re in the know, step up and say, “If not for me, it may not happen.” Then be motivated enough to do something to fill the void—even if it’s as seemingly small as notifying public officials of the possibilities.

For anyone that’s lived Katrina, my heart goes out to them. But for those that are working through Katrina in a business sense, there are lessons learned.

For example, a client of ours had a very thriving business in New Orleans before the hurricane. It is a business that would have continued to thrive, even if there were never a disaster. But there was a disaster, and luckily he was prepared.

Before working with me, this client had built his business on foot traffic, and as I entered the picture, it was evident to me that he’d not been taking full advantage of his product nor its appeal.

Our first major project was to develop a catalog that was profitable in two days. This catalog expanded his market reach from local business generated from residents and tourists to a national and international scale.

The second major initiative was the introduction of a dynamic shopping cart and a back- end-inventory linked website. The results were that the catalog and the local business along with web marketing drew a synergy of clients and purchases.

The third step tied my client to not-for-profits; it was the kicker. His first one-day event generated close to $100,000 US with almost no work. The project also leveraged the other two tools.

Then came Katrina. Had he not made the changes, he’d have easily been out of business. Fortunately for him, that did not happen. Business has continued and with fewer employees, even, because he no longer needs the busy staff to man the traffic every day.

Today I advised him if he looks for foot traffic he might get it. If he looks to limit the in-store sales and generate distance sales, his business could explode.

There’s an old thought that what you focus on you may achieve. In this case, if you’re busy doing busy work, you may not have time to work on what is truly your driving force. Clear out the work that generates little and replace it with things that bring larger returns.

I looked out the window and there it was: the UPS truck parked in our driveway. It couldn’t be. Not parked in our driveway. The only way the driver would park where he was would have been because our boys’ Trek bikes had arrived, and that didn’t seem possible. I had just received the tracking number last night.

I quickly jumped out of my chair and ran to the garage only to see the driver removing the last boxes from his truck. The boxes were long, tall, and narrow. Yes, the bikes had arrived.

How can this be, I asked? It made no sense. It’s a two day lane from Connecticut to Manlius NY, meaning that in trucking terms, the route takes two days (and it’s probably been that way for at least 25 years).

To my surprise the driver said he, too, has been shocked…shocked because three months prior to our bike delivery, UPS mandated that all two-day become one-day lanes. And incredibly, they did it.

Now when you consider the ramifications, they are huge. Faster shipping could mean purchasing later or getting something sooner. Depends on where you fall in the logistics chain. With the mandate, UPS put itself in a position to steal business once suited for trucks that can make the haul in one day versus sending it UPS. The cost is no higher.

It means that for everyone that says, that’s the way it’s been done, YOU’RE THINKING SO 1980′s. There’s always a way to create an edge. There’s always a way to create winners in your market.

Subway doubled its menu with the ability to toast the bread. Apple added downloadable songs.

Ways of being better…of winning new business are there; you’ve just got to live a mind set of looking for the next opportunity.

Without a doubt experts can take a lesson from Paris Hilton.

Even though she’s a rich socialite, Paris has caused an international stir in the market. She’s known from NY to Tokyo and everywhere in between. You may be thinking, well she’s a Hilton. It was only the door opener. Many others have tried to do the same and have gained only limited success.

She began simple enough: late nights and paparazzi which escaladed into a reality show, a spicy “movie” on the web, her own website, and within just a few years, perfumes, clothing, swim suits, accessories, shoes and a CD.

She’s a brand. Imagine that. Today I watched one of the most popular YOUTUBE.com videos—Paris’s PRERELEASE of her song. She’s also promoting her image by placing clips of all her other activities on YOUTUBE.

The young know how to market better than the old!

Absolutely brilliant.

Consider how much of what she does is flash and show, shock and positioning, and you’ll notice how lame most of what is done by marketing and advertising firms around the world is.

Watch the clip PARISYOUTUBE.COM

There’s been much talk about the value CRM adds to corporations that embrace the technology: embrace being the key word. Most CRM installations fail or fail to meet the actual advantages of such a technology because of several factors.

1. CRM is about customer relationship management. NO IT’S NOT! It’s about office relationship management and automation. Keeping track of customer contacts is only a small segment of the power of the system. ORMA – means that not only would be customer communication to be monitored so would all vendor and employees.

Have a dialog with a vendor. Keep the notes. Talk to someone in media. Keep the notes. Talk with an employee. Yes, notes.

All correspondence and communication should be tracked.

2. CRM is about keeping only the important information. NO IT’S NOT! It’s about keeping tract of everything for possible use one day. Customer says their child is sick. Type it in. Then when you call on them in 3 weeks you can ask about the kid.

You never know what may be important. With Dell I kept track of 3 months of errors on their end before they gave us the correct software. In the beginning I did not think the information was important. Such as leaving a voice mail message.

3. I can use my CRM for notes and my other email system. Sorry. ORMA should keep everything. Incoming and outgoing. Email, faxes, links to documents, secretary or assistant information, company trees, links. Everything.

4. CRM can be updated at night. Bad idea. You can’t remember a conversation you had this morning in detail let alone a whole day. If information is not gathered in real time, you’re always going to be behind in information intelligence.

5. CRM is not for the executives. Wrong again. Watch this scenario. Major client talks to a series of employees including an EVP or even the CEO. They don’t input notes as it’s a sales issue. Unbeknown to the CEO, the sales rep is about to make a visit to the client the next morning. In the evening, she checks the CRM update and there’s nothing. She walks in and comments on how the orders have been flowing pretty nicely. The customer hits her with a ton of bricks about how they’ve been screwing up and talking with the CEO. She will never, ever trust the system again. CRM is for everyone.

Just a few minutes ago I was speaking to a regional manager for Microsoft. He mentioned I should shift to Microsoft to which I replied, “There’s no additional value in shifting to Microsoft. You’re collecting data on your software, and I’m collecting date on the Goldmine we use. There’s no real reason to shift.”

The fact that Microsoft is linked to other application is still not a significant advantage considering the general public uses so little of a CRM application in the first place.

I also outlined the future of real ORMA. It’s that the systems will need be intelligent and will need to data mine on their own. In other words, the tool will find opportunity within the notes, addresses, emails, groups. It will need to track the connections and even suggest connections.

For example, it might find that we’ve been dealing with two vendors, and we’ve had 12 problems with one and none with the other. It will highlight these challenges by reading the notes and emails, without programming. It’s intelligent.

It will also do sophisticated things such as data mine for connections or create a Facebook.com, simply because is can. Say you’ve been working with Joe. Joe knows Mary. Their connection creates your own network that will open doors. Nothing like a Plaxo or Linkedin. These are adult versions of record keeping with a tool that gives the appearance of connectivity.

ORMA will then take such examples of data mining and automate functions. The system found the connection. It fits some variables. Then the system will initiate a sales call scheduling on your calendar providing you with something more than just a data-gathering device.

What a smart system.

ORMA or CRM’s next evolution will be when it truly takes off. Not because the program can link with WORD or Excel or give you a funnel shape to show opportunity. Those are baby steps.

No one could argue that doing business today is just plain faster than it was years ago. Technologies such as EDI or any such replenishment program force systems to drive purchasing decisions without human interaction.

An sku 3948757 is down to a minimum balance. Order 2000 more. That’s not an uncommon business transaction in the world of bits and bites.

On a much more rudimentary level, everyone can now place orders via the net, around the globe in seconds. Not weeks, not days, not hours, but seconds.

You need a new compressor. PO done. Emailed!

But as a thief learns the new way to steal the technologically advanced car, so has the recipient of digital information learned the tools to avoid taking responsibility for inaction.

It used to be the saying was, “We never received the order.” Back when snail mail was the way to conduct business, the US Postal Service took the heat. Then came the fax machine. I believe the phrase was, “We’ve been having trouble with our fax machine. Could you refax it?” The excuse of those hiding behind the internet, which is just as appalling and just as alarming, leaves the sender with his or her pants down, too. “It must have been filtered out by our junk mail.” Yeah, right.

People have got to keep their lies straight. You can’t have a conversation on the phone about an order in response to an initial email, which DOES get through, and claim that the following email, the one that places an order with your firm, does NOT.

On both ends of the spectrum, sender and receiver, management’s got to control such errors for on both sides there are consequences.

For the sender…

Late orders
Missed promises
Reshuffling of work
Lost opportunities
Unnecessary aggravation

They’re all part of the mix. Besides, we know you’ve lied.

I guess from a management perspective, policy could be to receive an order confirmation or a receipt of an email on anything that’s a priority. Maybe this could be accomplished with an automated script to follow up on the original order.

But this does nothing for regular correspondence. For instance, we’ve got a URL NYNSA.org for our New York State National Speakers Association Chapter website. However, we receive 20-30 emails per week that are intended for NYNSA.com, because people type .ORG instead of .COM. Could this be solved? Yes, CRM tools and a focus by the organization to insure that website visitors end up with the right name would probably result in a filtering out 70% of the errors.

On the receiver end…

You look bad
You’re probably going to have to rush the order
People will tell other people
Your error means there must be other issues in the firm
Business will be lost

This produced a “no win” for everyone.

Here, there are a few solutions.

1. Don’t set spam filters so tight that no one can get through with generic emails.
2. A client calls asking for information about doing more work. FOLLOW UP. It’s your lost business.
3. Fix the reason you really dropped the ball. Poor systems. Outdated equipment. Etc.

We all make mistakes. Combine that with the fast pace of business and shorter lead times than ever before, and you can see how an error on one side of a business transaction could be disastrous for the other…or both parties.

I think Liz Robinson for the Dormitory Authority State of New York, an organization that is responsible for over a $1 billion in construction projects per year, did it right. Here was her reply to a similar situation; “The form was blocked. However, I was able to successfully download it. Thanks!”

Try to make a commitment to not use the “email-is-lost” excuse unless the world is on fire. Everyone will be happier.

1. The wrong strategic tools are used when making decisions.
2. Individuals fall in love with their own ideas
3. The voice of the customer is not included in decision making.
4. People poorly implement and execute.
5. There is a lack of focus which scatters resources and wastes time.
6. Trends are overlooked.
7. Those involved are risk averse.
8. The obvious is missing.
9. Me-too products and services are created.
10. There is too much of a bottom-line mentality.
11. The organization is segmented into fiefdoms.
12. Overall the organization is littered with inefficiencies.
13. Competition is under estimated.
14. Wrong strategy is chosen – (The wrong questions asked.)
15. There is a weak plan to create buy-in, thereby not gaining buy-in.
16. Defined tactical steps are not generated, leaving open-ended returns.
17. Strategy is too broad.
18. Those that create strategy take too long or won’t make a decision.
19. Strategies and tactics don’t meet the needs of the organization.
20. Management holds unrealistic expectations of the organization’s abilities.
21. The organization does not have the expertise to carry out the recommended plans.

Take a look at the AOL cancellation request from Vincent Ferrari and then ask yourself, “Is this the employee’s problem or management’s?”

http://www.youtube.com

At first glance, it appears that the employee here is the problem. How can an individual be so pushy to keep a client that wishes to leave AOL. My take is that this is a management issue and by firing the employee, they only solved the symptom and not the problem.

What AOL should have in place is a mechanism that enables someone like Vincent to cancel their order through their website, through an automated function or a partially automated system.

Partially automated would combine automation and the human touch. A call can come in and a few questions can be answered digitally. Then an individual could then finish the conversation with specific guidelines eliminating most of the challenges in this conversation.

Now, if you’re a masochist, you might think you can train your way to solving this challenge. Nope. You can fix many challenges by hiring, many by training, and many by policy. These all leave space for human beings to be flexible, and I understand AOL’s need to try, at least one more time to keep a client.

In the 21st century, you’re never alone any more. Everything can be tracked, Youtube’d, mp3′d, podcasted, emailed, video’d, etc. The more management looks for “complete and secure outcomes,” the safer everyone will be.

Hey, then take the time to fix AOL so people will stay. Instead of fire fighting, build new bridges.

I just thought this was an interesting quote.

“Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.”
-Eric Hoffer

Partially because it may be true for some and not for others. Manners need to be taught as I’ve found even nice people often don’t understand or see the damage they may do to another person.

I also often witness driven individuals who, without thinking, run right over others. I’ve probably done it ,as you have, too.

Just being concious of our actions is a great place to start.