Oct 0809
My laptop is being rebuilt, my cell phone has stopped ringing — but all my equipment is new! I’m in technology hell, and if it weren’t for Maki and my senior network administrator, I would lose my mind.
When I ordered a new laptop three months ago, I asked for Vista as my operating system. I figured it was time to get Vista; it’s been out for ages and resistance is futile, it was time to upgrade. Alas, my brand new Sony VAIO laptop with 2 GIG of RAM was slooooow to boot up and slow to shut down, it took 5-10 minutes to recognize an ethernet or wireless connection, it crashed a lot, and hibernating almost never worked.
Maki finally got sick of my whining and asked me to hand over my laptop one day so that the network admins could downgrade my OS to XP. Wow,my laptop is now super speedy and I’m online within seconds after plugging in. I’m still in hell because you know how it goes with a new system: you have to re-install all your favorite plug-ins, you need to set-up your Word templates, you have to re-synch your phone with your Palm desktop, yada, yada. Read the rest of this entry
Jul 0815
Oren Harari does a masterful job of teaching execs how to compete in a copycat economy.
Jun 0817
The National Electrical Contractors Association recently launched a new website. Dramatic improvements were made in navigation, authentication, visual design, etc. These improvements meant change; never mind that they’re all positive, it’s still change.
Matrix Group anticipated the typical human behavior — resistance to change — and recommended setting up live support to hedge off any frustrations when users discover that their favorite button is not there anymore or the link they always click on has been moved. We implemented LivePerson because it’s easy to set-up, user-friendly and inexpensive. The results have been terrific. Adrianne, the staffer behind the NECA live support function, reports:
- About 10 people initiate a live chat session every day; about half never responded back to her initial hello; the other half have questions about logging in, where to find something, or how to use a specific application.
- Visitors really appreciated the instant help.
- She loves seeing how many people are on the site, how long they have been on, and where they are clicking. Occasionally, if a person looks stuck on a page, she will initiate a live discussion to offer assistance. The reaction has been very positive.
- She does feel a little chained to her desk, but it’s easy to switch the message so that visitors can send a request for help, rather than initiate a live chat. She always turns off live support during lunch.
Read the rest of this entry
Jun 0816
My bible on selling services, customer service and marketing.
