Don’t Be Complacent About Customer Experience

Dell recently invited me to participate in a discussion with customers and executives to learn about areas where Dell needs to improve the customer order experience. This is a continuation of my participation on Dell’s Customer Advisory Panel.

Dell is now over 30 years old. While it would be easy to believe that a 30-year old company would have everything worked out to perfection, Dell continually seeks input to improve customer experience. During the conversation, Dell heard about areas that have improved and areas where improvement is still needed.

It takes courage to ask customers questions and to listen to their answers. The real challenge goes beyond listening. What action will be be taken to address issues identified? Understanding and, then, responding effectively to customer input, will accelerate growth.

Photo Courtesy of Celestine Chua on Flickr

 

Thought for the week:

“It’s possible to have big impact without big size. What matters is the size of the idea.” – Rosabeth Kanter

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Non-Conformity In College Education

I went through a traditional college education earning a B.A. at San Jose State University followed by a M.B.A. at Santa Clara University. Today, students and parents alike are questioning the value and cost of a traditional education, particularly given the lackluster job market new college graduates face.

This weekend, Dell invited me to an event where I learned about two different post-high school educational programs, Uncollege and the Minerva Project. These programs attract very bright young adults from all over the globe. These institutions are innovating how education can be delivered and how students can be prepared to deal with the realities of the 21st century. They seem to be more focused on entrepreneurship, something we didn’t discuss when I was in college.

It’s easy to duplicate what others have done in the education space. Challenges to the sacred cow beliefs about how an education needs to be delivered are long overdue. Let’s not miss the broader lessons:

• What sacred cows can your company or industry challenge to create new value in the marketplace?
• What paradigms are up for disruption?
• Is there a growth opportunity by moving in a different direction from the pack?
• Is there a way to serve an unserved or underserved market?

These are questions I’m sure these students are asking. Shouldn’t you be asking and addressing them as well? After all, aren’t these young people your future competition?

Photo Courtesy of  Sean MacEntee on Flickr

Thought for the week:

 “Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give luster, and many more people see than weigh.” – Herodotus

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

What if you could save 1 hour per day?

Saving an hour per day probably sounds like hyperbole.  But, it’s not, particularly if you’re in Sales, Customer Service or Human Resources AND you have access to WittyParrot, an enterprise application. Here are some benefits just in Sales:

• Respond to customers and prospects faster by not having to search through documents, old emails, and repositories to find answers

• Differentiate from the competition – not just by responding fast – but by responding with relevant, targeted content that customers and prospect will actually consume

• Ramp up new hires much faster by helping them become self-sufficient sooner

• Reduce the burden on subject matter experts (SMEs) and “information owners” who are normally besieged by questions from all sides

• Ensure sellers and channel partners are speaking with one voice instead of making up their own answers and content

• Allows teams to quickly and easily create personalized emails, documents, and  presentations leveraging previously-created content

• Enables efficient sharing of previously created content amongst team members

• Works with all standard file types for documents, images and videos

• Alllows users to save up to an hour a day or more at a cost of less than $1 per day

If this sounds even remotely interesting to you, please contact me at info (at) gardnerandassoc.com. I’m a WittyParrot Certified Reseller and Implementation Partner.​

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting  http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Dave Gardner

 

Are You Poised To Accelerate Growth?

• Where are you experiencing frustration and complexity in your business? Where is there a greater need for ease and simplicity?

• Are there gaps in people, processes and/or systems in tightly and seamlessly connecting your teams with your customers and partners?

• Is your company sought after by prospects, customers, potential employees and investors?

• How are revenues and profits trending? Up? Down?

• Is business exciting?

You can’t accelerate growth if you are slogging through muck.

Photo Courtesy of Ian Sane on Flickr

Thought for the week:

“The time is now…What are you waiting for? No excuses.” – Mike Libecki

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consultinghttp://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Reliability & Durability

 

Mike Libecki (center) and Umang Patel (right)

I met Mike Libecki at a Dell event in San Francisco this past week. He is an expeditioner for National Geographic and other groups and travels to some of the most isolated and unforgiving venues on planet earth. He’s gone on over 50 expeditions. “Extremes” characterize his work.

You have to imagine reliability is of the utmost importance to Mike. He can’t afford to carry duplicate equipment “just in case” something fails. He can’t request assistance if something breaks. He’s on his own. No FedEx or package delivery service can support him. Everything he brings on a trip must be very carefully evaluated.

Dell Ruggedized laptop encased in ice

Road warriors are a bit like Mike in that we need our computers to be extremely reliable. Mike will be using a Dell Ruggedized computer to support his work and communications needs in extremely harsh, punishing environments. He’s looking forward to the ruggedness and reliability of the Dell product–his last brand wasn’t robust enough for his needs.

Reliability is essential for Mike. Every component, system and process needs to work flawlessly and seamlessly to protect Mike and his team and help him create the value his sponsors expect.

Have you considered whether every aspect of your product and/or services have been carefully vetted and designed to offer a fantastic customer experience? Are your products, services, processes and systems as reliable and durable as your customers need them to be? Do you ever stop to think like Mike? This is key to accelerating your growth.

Thought for the week:

“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not on the branch but on her wings. Always believe in yourself.” – Unknown

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

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Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.

Knee Defender And Irate Airline Passengers

As airlines put more and more passenger seats into their aircraft, it’s clear they are thinking we are simply freight and will endure no end of pain and suffering to get from one destination to another. We are forced to fit into an envelope of space that, for some aircraft configurations, must violate the Geneva Convention torture regulations.

As I write this, there have been two instances of air rage in the past week over a product called the Knee Defender. And, no wonder! Here’s what happens.

When the person in front of you reclines their seat, it’s only natural to not want to have your face even fewer inches from the seatback in front of you so you naturally recline your seat a bit just to preserve what little personal space you’ve been allocated. Having the person behind you disable your seat recline function with the Knee Defender is tantamount to a declaration of war.

What to do? Ban the Knee Defender from all flights within the U.S. and to/from international destinations involving the U.S.. The airline and the marketplace can decide when seats recline, not some bozo in 12C who’s decided he’s going ruin the person’s trip in 11C. Capiche? Great

Photo Courtesy of  on Flickr

 

Thought for the week:

“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond.” -Bruce Lee

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What do you think? I welcome your comments!

___

Dave Gardner, Gardner & Associates Consulting http://www.gardnerandassoc.com

© 2014 Gardner & Associates Consulting  All Rights Reserved

Note:  This posting is based on my weekly “Thank God It’s Monday” that helps you and your company thrive! To receive an email version of “Thank God It’s Monday” to start your week, please subscribe here.  I would very much appreciate your suggesting to others that they subscribe.

Privacy Statement:  Our subscriber lists are never rented, sold, or loaned to any other parties for any reason.