That was the mantra uncovered with each of the hotel concierge interviews we conducted a couple years back. Anticipating need is an excellent model for the customer relationship. It inherently means that the service provider – account manager, waiter, concierge, project manager – has a deep understanding of their service. Deep enough to know what …
Author Archives: Garrick van Buren
Try Before You Buy
Even today, with all the Internet offers, shopping is often purchasing a product without first-hand experience with it. Our customer research has proven time and time again that if the product can be handled – it’s more likely to be sold. Until now, it was nearly impossible for customers to actually try out a product …
Changing the Government
Government agencies are some of the most notorious change resistors. In 1999, the Mint started to change that reputation – receiving a customer satisfaction rating second only to Mercedes Benz. “In the old days, we shipped fewer than 50% of our orders within eight weeks. Today, if it takes two weeks for customers to receive …
Usability Not Usable? – Part 2
“People are usually not receptive to a newcomer waltzing in and telling them they’ve been doing their jobs wrong.” Usability departments exist in a number of our client organizations. Unfortunately, their organizational structural frequently instills an adversarial relationship between the project teams and usability group. The usability group is considered an outside agency – ony …
How to Stifle Teamwork
As an appetizer for an upcoming Work Better article on collaboration techniques, I’m pleased to present these team work worst practices from Ester Derby’s Software Managemet Process Improvement weblog: A clear strategy to stifle teamwork Establish two classes of membership on the team [WP NOTE: i.e. developers and testers, employees and contractors, or people with …
Mobile Phone Etiquette Tips
SprintPCS has partnered with etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore to compile an excellent list of 10 mobile phone etiquette tips Number 1… Let your voicemail take your calls when you’re in meetings, courtrooms, restaurants and other busy areas. If you must speak to the caller, excuse yourself and find a secluded area where you can talk …
Back From the Holiday
The Work Better Weblog is back up and better than ever after a quick Holiday rebuild. Thanks to all the loyal readers for standing by during the past few days.
Instructions not Inventory
To create a to-do list reflecting your ultimate goal, we highly recommend taking the advice descibed in Recipes Instead of Lists from Nerdherding for Beginners: “A recipe will include infrastructure work and ‘planned re-work’ that might otherwise be forgotten the alternative is simpliy a list of ingredients.”
Usability Not Usable? Part 1
Conventional wisdom states that websites and other new products should be evaluated with non-tech savvy participants. With 63% of American adults accessing the Internet regularly, 83% of teens, and 20% of adults actively avoiding the online world we are a nation of tech-savvy or tech-avoidant. Conventional recruiting strategies not longer apply. Rather than pursue an …
The Sidewalk Pitch
Help us defeat George Bush. or Do you have a moment for Greenpeace? You’re running late for a meeting, which of these lines stops you? Political activist recruiters are on the Nicollet Avenue street corners this summer . Last week it was the Democratic National Committee and this week – Greenpeace. One of the volunteer …