From Cluttered to Clear

Note: This entry appeared in my original blog, "Home|Work"

Every once in a while my desk begins to devolve into a confusing mass of papers, manuals, notebooks and water bottles. It doesn't happen often, mind you. I honestly prefer an organized and clear desk. I concentrate so much better in that environment. Occasionally, though, my organizational system slips a little, and that's all it takes. The messy state lasts no more than a few days before I get twitchy and have to straighten everything out again. The funny thing is, that small act (which rarely takes more than an hour) so completely uplifts me, that I feel like I could take on three more projects right then and there.

In a way, I suppose, that's what I do for my clients, and probably why I enjoy doing what I do so much. That process of clearing away the clutter and bringing clarity to what otherwise might be a confusing situation invigorates and excites all involved.

One of my clients, John "Jake" Jaksetic asked me to help him set up his online high school wrestling stats site, jakeswrestling.com. Before we started working together, he maintained the site himself using PDF files of the stats. It worked, but the download times were pretty horrendous, and there was no way to find the specific information you wanted, short of a manual search. We worked together to design a simple search interface which allowed the user to look at specific parts of the database. Even better, Jake could now maintain the stats more easily and keep everything up to date. Apparently, this made a number of wrestling fans in northwest Ohio pretty happy, too. Confusion, bad. Clarity, good.

My wife is a wonder at organization. She has helped to institute a whole system of standard operating procedures for the company at which she works, Gene Express, Inc. When she was working in the manufacturing branch of the operation, she knew down to the milliliter exactly how much of any given substance she had in the freezer. Her ability to call up this information at a moments notice continually amazed those around her.

Following her example, I've begun to incorporate more organizational tools into my company, Cyber Data Solutions, too. Spreadsheets programs, like OpenOffice.org or Excel, are an amazingly useful resource for this. Using OpenOffice Calc, I've been able to set up networking tickler systems (so I always know whom and when I am supposed to call), business activity tracking (how many proposals did I send out this week?), and even a proposal tracking system, so I can find out my metrics on how long it takes, from the date of a submitted proposal until the date that I receive the go-ahead on a project. As my business coach, Keith Hafner, always says, in order to be a success, you have to know your numbers.

So, what sort of tools have you found that help you stay organized?

Free Stuff, Revisited

Note: This entry appeared in my original blog, "Home|Work"

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the various pieces of free software that you can get out on the Web. I included a variety of titles with which I have personal experience.

Since that time, in the course of my usual Web surfing, I've come upon a great site who's owner keeps track of and reviews a ton of free and for-pay software, websites, support options, you name it. He maintains a variety of "Best" lists which he updates periodically. He also sends out a monthly newsletter with his most recent discoveries. The site is called Gizmo Richards' Tech Support Alert and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to make their computer work just a little (or a lot!) more like they want it to.

Through the resources on Gizmo's site I was able to locate the software package called "Hamachi", a third-party-mediated virtual private network (VPN) system for Windows and Linux. I had been wanting to set up a VPN for quite some time, but the difficulty of doing so always put me off. Every time I started looking at it, I would quickly become lost in the esoterica of the networking world. For those who've never considered doing something like this (or who said VPN? Huh?), the benefits of having this available to me would be that when I'm away from the home office, I could still connect with my desktop machine and retrieve information from there.

Hamachi cleared up the confusion. This software is as easy to install as any other piece of software -- just click and go! The help doesn't stop with the installation. The first time you start up the package, it takes you through a tutorial which should be sufficient to get this working for anyone. Now that I have this installed and working on my various computers, I can easily connect to my home computer even though it is sitting on my desk practically on the other side of the country. Now I am a truly mobile worker. I no longer have to make sure that I copy all of the necessary files to my laptop before I walk out of the house. Check it out if you ever have a need to connect back home when you are out on the road.

That's about all for tonight. Once again, I'd love to hear about any great free software you might find out on the Internet. Drop me a line to let me know.

The Hand of Friendship

Note: This entry appeared in my original blog, "Home|Work"

I'm going to wrap up this little series on customer service stories and leave on a high note. Not all of my experiences have been bad, as you read in my last missive. This one, though, even impressed me.

Two years ago, my wife and I got married and our joint taxes became my problem. She had been a resident of Ohio and was now a resident of Michigan. She still worked for a Toledo-based company (who still sent her withholding to Ohio). The whole situation was a little confusing to figure out. Now here is where the surprise comes in...

My vote for best customer service of 2005? The Ohio Department of Taxation. Yes, the tax collector.

I called them up hoping against hope that they would answer one simple question: How do I determine the amount of income credited to Ohio and how much to Michigan? Is that on a daily or motnhly basis? Y'see, I've got a real aversion to making mistakes in general. That goes trebly for anything having to do with taxes!

The polite and very professional man with whom I spoke was able to answer my question clearly, distinctly, and without that hint in his voice that would have said that he was talking with an idiot. Wait a minute, don't be hasty. This is not the reason that he gets my vote. This would get him a nod of thanks, but certianly not the championship trophy! Now, listen for it... He then offered, "Sir, if you'd like, we can go through some of the other calculations, just in case there might be any other confusion." Free tax help? Who am I to turn that down?

My hero then proceeded to walk me, line-by-line, through the entire State of Ohio income tax form. I was astounded and amazed. In our everyday belief system, tax collectors rank even lower than used-car salesmen and ambulance-chasing lawyers. The only real difference is that the latter two categories tend to be the butt of jokes. The tax man, though, is no laughing matter. We fear too much the havoc in our lives that his undo interest could cause and we justly fear him for it. Yet, that day, this professional young gentleman came to my rescue without my having even to ask. Maybe we need to re-evaluate our beliefs in this matter.

Certain jobs engender respect by their very nature (or should, at any rate) -- teachers, computer programmers, accountants, etc. The tax collectors, whether state or federal, have no such benefit. In general, they are reviled and feared. Few, upon learning their occupation, hang around long to share small talk at a party. That this guy could rise above it and act contrary to the stereotype should inspire the rest of us to match his example.

And so I put forth this challenge. Find the Tax Man of 2006. Who do you know who does just a mind-bogglingly good job at customer service? I'd love to hear your stories.

What was the best customer service situation you've ever experienced?

Now, On The Other Hand

Note: This entry appeared in my original blog, "Home|Work"

I've spent the last two entries griping about bad customer service. I've complained about the moronic and insensitive louts who sometimes lie in wait at the end of the help line waiting to waste my time and boil my blood. I'm sure, however, that only a small percentage of customer service reps are truly unhappy with their jobs and are just waiting to take it out on me. A vast majority of them are just like you and I. We have our good days and we have our bad. A select few, though, seem to be willing and empowered by their employers to go above and beyond the call. This is one such tale.

My wife and I are pretty good with our finances. Before I met her, I usually only had the vaguest guess as to how much money I had in the bank. I paid more fees than I would care to count because I thought I had more than I did and the check that I wrote wasn't quite covered by the funds I had available. Before we got married she helped me get on the straight and narrow (for which I am eternally grateful). Still, when it was time to put her name on my account, we decided to get the overdraft protection, just in case.

For the longest time we had no need for the protection. Then as often happens, we made a slight change to our spending and, "wham!" we were overdrawn. Suddenly we had a $64 overdraft charge and a $12 monthly maintenance fee (which is waived in months when you don't have an overdraft). Needless to say, I thought this was a bit excessive, even if it was my fault.

So, I put on my telephone headset and decided to brace the lion in its den. I always use my headset when I am calling up institutions. I figured that I'll be on the line for a while. So I, with great reluctance, dialed the number of our financial institution, Bank One (soon to be Chase).

Remarkably, I got through to an actual person in minutes. Wow! When they say they care about my call, maybe they really do. After all, they apparently have enough people to answer the phone! The rep who answered was exceptionally polite and listened to my entire story before going onward. Don't you just love it when people listen to you? First, came the bad news. "I'm sorry, Mr. Peters, but overdraft protection has not been activated on this account." Oh, drat. I knew what was coming next -- "There is nothing I can do." or "I'm sorry, it's just our policy."

Then, a miracle occurred. This angel of mercy told me that since it was their fault, she would be able to waive not only the overdraft fee, but also the maintenance fee. You could have knocked me over with a ten dollar bill -- actually I would be diving to get that since, remember, I had insufficient funds at the time. Prior to making the call, I was seriously considering switching to a different bank. Afterward I had a new respect for an institution which would give their reps the power to make things right with the customer. I went into the call knowing that I had done wrong. The nice thing was, I didn't come out feeling worse.

I think I'll be sticking with Bank One/Chase for a good time to come.

I can't be the only one who has been impressed by a particularly exceptional act of customer support. I'd love to hear your story. Drop me a line through the comments section.

Customer Service Horror Stories, Continued

Note: This entry appeared in my original blog, "Home|Work"

As I mentioned last time, I've had a few bad customer service incidents, but one stood out, head and shoulders, above them all. This one involved Sears and the popular Wieder Crossbow exercise machine.

About two years ago I had started an exercise program to try to keep myself in a little better shape. Apparently moving the mouse on the computer doesn't count as aerobic exercise and we computer programmers rarely get much more exercise than that. My program involved three days a week of aerobic exercise and three of resistance training (i.e. weight-lifting). It was to meet this need that my wife and I purchased the Wieder Crossbow 800, a marvel of engineering which used an electronically controlled tension bar and a series of pulleys to provide the resistance to do a variety of exercises. I loved this machine ... when it worked.

The problem was that this piece of ... equipment ... had some pretty shoddy wiring in it. When the wiring broke, the motor which increased and decreased the tension would stop working. With a ten-year warranty, the first time this happened, it didn't bother me too much. These things happen. It took Sears a month to fix the machine (they had to order a part), but it got fixed and I got back on track with my workout schedule.

The fourth time it broke, however, I was becoming a bit less sanguine about the whole situation. This is when Mr. Greg's Wild Ride began. Please keep your arms and hands inside the car at all times.

I made the usual call to Sears. They scheduled a repair visit the following Tuesday "sometime between 8 and 12". I'm sure you could all join in on the chorus on this one, but, wait. It gets better. I stayed home from work that day waiting for my savior, who, I knew, would show up, take one look at the piece of ... equipment ... and tell me it needed the new part, again. Oh, but that clever lad never showed. At 12:30, after waiting all morning, I decided to give Sears a call. Cue the scary organ music.

Call 1: The Sears repair line is busy. Not a problem. I'll call back.
Call 2: I wend my way through the voice mail maze. I finally get to the choice "Are you checking on the status of your appointment?" Why, yes, I am. "You have an appointment today between 8 and 12. Would you like me to repeat that information?" No, I knew that. "Thank you for calling Sears ." D'oh!
Call 3: Back into the voice mail abyss. "Do you want to check on that appointment again?" Nope, fool me once, shame on you... "Would you like to talk to a Customer Service Representative?" A-ha! A human! Yes, I would like that very much. "Thank you, I will now transfer you. <click><bzzzz>". Glrk.
Call 4: Busy again.
Call 5: Needless to say, I was feeling mildly cranky when finally I got hold of the poor yotz at the end of another interminable voice mail trail. Oh, but it isn't over yet.

"Sears, this is Bob speaking, how may I help you?"
"Yes, Bob, I'd like to know where the repair person is who was supposed to be here this morning."
"One moment, sir, let me look that up. Ah, yes. Apparently, the technician assigned to your case had to leave due to illness. Another technician has been assigned and should be there before 5."
"Bob, when were you going to tell me?"

Well, needless to say, the conversation went downhill a little after that.

Now, to give Sears their due, when I went in the next day to tell them they could come and haul away the piece of ... equipment ... they were more than accommodating. The young man I dealt with in the sporting goods department was efficient and sympathetic. On top of that, Sears has such a detailed sales history system, that I didn't even have to produce the receipt. It's funny how two people working for the same company can engender such a completely different response. After dealing with the collective idocy of the Sears repair department, I was this close to never buying from Sears again. Then I dealt with that helpful guy in sporting goods and he saved a customer for Sears.

Well, enough of my cathartic venting for this evening. Tomorrow I'll share a tale of good customer service. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your scary stories.