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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Technology for All

Who knew? I am a reformed Luddite. No, it is not some rare sect of Post-Reformation religion, but a Luddite is someone who feigns and even shuns technology. I, however, have seen the light. I am reformed, and proud of it!

The Luddites were protesters during the Industrial Revolution who smashed their textile machines in protest to the change, and in particular to loosing their jobs to the new technology. This is not to be confused with the 70 Million people, or approximately 25% of the US population who do not use computers at all. According to the Pew Center on the Internet and American Life, the bulk of these people are aging boomers and seniors who find technology intimidating, rural Americans who do not own computers, and low-income Americans who find them too expensive. The real “New Luddites” are just those who simply choose to not use the technology even though it is available. According to the Pew study, the new Luddites shun and even rebel against their computers and blackberrys.

While slow to start, I have hastened my move from my Luddite thinking to fully embrace the vast array of tech offerings that we have today. According to Microtrends, I am not alone. There was a time that the “quiet, smart girl” would love her technology and be a happy introvert. It seems that those who embrace technology have now made the move from introvert to extrovert. Computers and technology are not just the diet of the classic science and research geek, but now are the mainstay of the socially organized. It is the staple of the party organizer, and can drive the family social life center. It may have you happily purring about Linked In, Facebook, Blogs and all the great mysteries of the internet.

Recall for a moment the Myers-Briggs personality test questions. These questions center on a person’s habits, attitudes and preferences, and can be applied to just about everything including technology. The Myers-Briggs quadrants are divided into 4 primary categories of Drivers, Expressives, Analyticals, and Amiables. In general, Drivers and Expressives tend to be extrovert personalities that do a lot of telling and do so in direct, and colorful ways. Analyticals and Amiables are the introverts that do a lot more asking of questions, and tend to be more subdued. Interestingly, when these queries are made with respect to preferences in technology, nearly 60% of the most enthusiastic tech users are extroverts. In the Mictotrend research, those who tend to shy away from computers tend to be the ones who shy away from a social life. It seems that the technology that was once the refuge for the socially inept, is now the haven for the socially ambitious. The quiet techie geek, who had no friend prior to Facebook, now has an impossible number of Friends with which to keep up. The average thirteen year old can have hundreds of “friends” on Facebook.

Another point of interest is the larger number of women compared to men who are deep into the high tech binge. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, girls are more likely than boys to use mobile phones and digital cameras. Think about this if you walk into Best Buy any time soon. Historically not a store focused on women, Best Buy is shifting some of the focus to personalized shopping, softer lights and music to enhance appeal to women shoppers. Think for a moment about the thirteen year old next door with the cute bling-bling on her cell phone case. Are there any ladies reading this who will admit to changing your computer briefcase color as well as your purse color to compliment the changing seasons? It seems that women want technology that will accentuate, not take over. And look at all of the choices! My recent mailing from Franklin Covey made my head spin with the selection of binder covers, and brief case styles. AAAHHHH!! Spring!!!

You still may not know “what women want,” but if it rings, beeps or clicks, it had better be cute!

And remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Governor Riley, State of the State, a Perspective

I had the pleasure of attending the last State of the State Address by Governor Bob Riley this week in Montgomery, Alabama. What a privilege to be able to sit (or stand as it was standing room only) to hear how his leadership plans to continue into 2010. His platforms have remained consistent with a commitment to Charter Schools, Ethics Reform, Work Force Development and a removal of slot machines from Alabama. He remains committed to the Alabama prepaid tuition program as well. We have been discussing trends in the past few articles here for 2010 and beyond for Alabama, and it would seem that many of his ideas remain consistent in supporting the quiet undercurrent of change that will continue to take hold of our State. Our challenge is to seek out information about these opportunities and make informed decisions based on rational thinking and understanding. As State Senator Scott Beason has reminded us, Alabama is a legislatively driven state, and to that end, we should remain fiercely open to debate and discussion as we work to move some of these initiatives, and ultimately Alabama, forward.

One undercurrent of change is the growing presence of women in the work place and a trend toward more women working in general. According to The Economist (1/2/2010) it is truly a woman’s world, and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. It seems that three of the four people who lost jobs during the recession were men; female unemployment runs at 8.6% which is measurably less than the 11.6% for men. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up more than two-thirds of the employment in ten of the 15 job categories likely to grow fastest in the next few years. Consider this fact: by 2011, there will be 2.6 million more women than men studying in American Universities. It seems that much of this opportunity is born in accepting the challenge of finding ways to blend work and parenthood. Countries in other parts of the world manage this trend by placing a focus on preschool education. For example Norway places an emphasis on women returning to work and children getting started into kindergarten. Other countries such as Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and the Netherlands support mothers working part-time. It has been suggested that women who work will be the beneficiaries of the growing “war for talent”. An ageing workforce in a skill dependent economy will need to make better use of their female populations, especially since they seem to be the greater number pursuing higher education.

Here is another fact of interest for you: the number of privately held companies started by women has increased twice as fast as the number started by men. Women owned companies employ more people than the largest 500 companies combined. If these women are like many that we know, a proper education opportunity for their children is a high priority and they will be watching the Charter School debate.

It seems that women have a growing presence in the work force, are working more, and becoming increasingly more politically active. Consider what this means for schools, and the debate that we will see this legislative session with regard to Charter Schools. Millions of families in Alabama struggle with insufficient child care facilities and a school day that bears no resemblance of their working lives. Governor Riley suggests that there is merit in an open discussion about the Charter School option for Alabama. He reminded the audience during his State of the State this week that Charter Schools ARE public schools and that Charter Schools would not re-segregate schools because discrimination is prohibited. In addition, approving Charter School legislation would help to secure up to $200 Million in federal grant money for education as well. Take a moment to seek out information on Charter Schools as this will be a very significant discussion for the legislature, and has high impact potential on the education of our children and their ability to grow prepared future workers. The best distinction between Charter and Public schools that I can find as yet indicates that there is simply less bureaucracy and that has to be a good thing. Again, according to The Economist, governments are trying to adjust to the new world of work, and the working parent, specifically the female working parent. Charter schools for Alabama may hold some measure of promise as it has for other areas of the country. Some of the most popular American charter schools offer longer days, and shorter summer holidays which does match up more neatly with the lifestyle of working parents.

As we move into our work week, take some time to catch the headlines, or read a quick update of what Montgomery is doing for you. I am confident that if you are informed about the debates taking place on work force development, ethics reform and school initiatives, not to mention gambling, you will be better prepared to place a vote for leadership that will make pro-business decisions.

And remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will. You can find additional readings on my blog at http://businessadvise4u.blogspot.com

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Birmingham Economic Forecast 2010

I recently attended the 2010 Economic Forecast presented by the Birmingham Business Journal and hosted by Samford University’s Brock School of Business. Brought together for this event was an esteemed panel of guests to include Mickey Gee, Executive-in-Residence at UAB, Cynthia Lohrke, Professor at the Brock School of Business, John Norris, Managing Director for Oakworth Capital Bank, and Jacksonville University Associate Professor of Economics, Christopher Westley. This panel fielded a variety of questions concerning opinions and predictions of the Birmingham marketplace for 2010. To follow is a summary.

Consumer confidence appears to be rising and is expected to continue into 2010. Of course this is good news for the retail industry, and December numbers will be out soon to show exactly how 2009 finished. In general, retail department stores have been seen as surviving the holiday season by creating value as opposed to deep discounting as a manner of creating sales for the holiday season. It was noted that 74% of the US economy is driven by consumer spending, and has seen a low of 61% last summer. The drop in consumer spending was due to the increase in unemployment, and decline in consumer confidence. Unemployment for the state has hovered around 10.2% and 9.9% for Birmingham. Some areas of Alabama are experiencing real unemployment of upwards to 25%. Interestingly 16-17% of workers at this time are part-time employees. News that Joe Consumer is pulling out of this tail spin is great to hear. But, a move to full employment according to this group will be driven by the part-time workers that shift back to full-time employment first, followed by hiring of the unemployed. Any businesses that support the Temporary job sector should be a good bet for growth in this type of marketplace. The company ManPower was sited as one of the top ten businesses in 2009. During this time of employment unrest there does seem to be a silver lining. Baby Boomers are not taking on more debt during this recession, and the savings rate has started to increase.

A discussion of the role of Federal stimulus dollars that may find its way to Alabama centered on recommendations as to where funds should be allocated. Most agreed that there has been no real stimulus money impact as yet, with most of the funding going toward government stabilization. In specific, the monies have gone to government expenditures for education, health and human services, and even 4% to transportation (considered a non-business expense). Stimulus dollars that go to support large companies with government contracts will prove to be a frustrating competitive playing field for any small business that competes with them. The real need for use of these funds is to fund real business expenditures to drive the economy along. Most on the panel agreed that now is the time to invest in innovation and to take the time to build strong strategy. In particular technology is strong for software development, and it was interesting to learn that we have an iphone developer right here in Alabama. It has been suggested that there is a need to invest in wireless and broadband infrastructure. In general, most agreed that the stimulus money has not altered the economy that much, just simply moved the demand curve forward. Eventually, the same costs will still be due. The 787 billion dollars that have been tagged are actually slated to be spent this year, not last year, which just so happens to be an election year.

Though Washington has released monies to support small business loans, access to these funds will continue to be restrictive with some loosening of credit by the end of 2010. Amazingly, it was stated that private sector job growth has been at zero since 2001. Any growth seen has been produced by “government growth” as created by what has been called the warfare state and the welfare state. The concern here is that this is not real capital creation, and is most likely not sustainable.

Opinions were raised with respect to the Jefferson County Business License tax as a revenue source for Jefferson County. Essentially, the point was made that most counties that have an occupational tax do not do well. With regard to business friendly strategy, the panel reminded us that a tax increase of 1% is still a tax increase. Of course the full impact of the healthcare bill remains to be seen too.

So how does a business owner continue to break ahead of the pack and earn the biggest gains as we pull out of the recession? The good old fashioned way: Customer Service, reliable experience, and a heavy dose of ethics. One certain area for growth in the near future is a demand for graduate level education. This higher level of education will help create and drive technology growth, energy growth (specifically green), healthcare industry and technology (contingent on the healthcare bill outcome), and most fascinating to this writer is the recommended need to learn Mandarin as a second language. Bottom-line for Alabama: We need to have academic specialization, think globally, and bring the business opportunity and job creation home. We will need workers with high knowledge and critical thinking skills. Not surprisingly there is a direct correlation between education levels and per capita income.

As you think on some of these opinions and thoughts concerning developing and changing business here in Alabama, ask yourself how this applies to your position. Are you using knowledge to leverage your position? Are you adaptive to technology? Does your strategy still embrace and compliment your mission? Do you have a corporate culture which leverages the least costly business strategy available which is concrete customer service? Lastly, are you involved with your City council, local government and Chamber of Commerce? If not, then start today. The positive interaction between your business and these leadership entities will be the driving force behind strong economic development.

Good customer service is free, and is as simple to implement as a change in attitude. So remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Customer Service: My Top Ten Rules

On the theme of taking charge of things in your business that you can control, let’s dig a little deeper into the realm of customer service. In a recent review article entitled What Service Customers Really Want by Dougherty and Murthy in the Harvard Business Review (Sept. 2009), we find a discussion of the extent to which the consumer landscape has shifted. Dougherty and Murthy discuss that while superior customer service is essential as companies emerge from the recession, it is important to understand how the consumer has changed. They point out that brands have weakened, customers have easy access to vendor information, and the barriers to switching among competing products have eroded. Bottom line, we now have the creation of a much more competitive market place in the area of service.

What this means is there is a new type of customer. When a customer contacts a company for service, they care most about two things: Is the frontline employee knowledgeable? And is the problem resolved on the first call? As the owner, manager or leader, ask yourself this question: Do I measure my service by speed or hold time? If so, you may be rushing your front line person too much and succeeding in your eyes, but failing in the eyes of your customer. Customers want to know that their service will be efficient and thorough, and that time will be taken to handle their issue.

This article continues to suggest a few ways to assess and understand what your customers are experiencing. A manager can draw on a variety of information to include customer service surveys and even recording customer-agent conversations for training purposes. In the end, when there is an issue to solve, do you give your employees the leeway and authority to meet individual needs and provide positive experiences?

As you create your own vision of customer service, think about the following. I call it my Top Ten Ways to Improve Customer Service.

10) Enjoy your work. Specify what your drivers are in business. For example, my drivers are leadership, learning and fun.

9) Work in such a manner that even your competition will speak highly of you

8) Be honest and clear about what you can (and can not) deliver

7) Be faithful to your work and give your best

6) Get and Take Customer Feedback Seriously. Don’t put the “cuss” in Customer Service

5) Take care of the person in charge, and remember to thank the person, big or little, who insures that things get done

4) Take Time to Study and Prepare

3) Speak well of others or not at all. Stay away from office politics

2) Have a mentor and bug them to death

And finally, the #1 way to enhance Customer Service is:

1) Support something bigger than yourself, and share a common goal with your customers

I will leave you with this last thought and case study example. Think about the last time you went to Chick-Fil-A. We have two in the Gardendale and Fultondale area.) This company trains their employees on customer service as rigorously as they train their employees in product preparation. It is no rare event to have someone say “It’s my pleasure!” as they give you your change, or deliver your meal. According to local manager Mike Holmes, empowering the employee to handle a customer issue immediately is part of their success, and training them how is part of their strategy.

I hope these ideas will be of assistance to you this week. Sharing a few ideas on improving customer service has been my pleasure!