A Business Technology Place (Since 2008)
It’s been five years since I cut the cord with traditional cable TV service. I don’t regret the decision. I also mounted an HDTV antenna in my attic and enabled a crystal clear picture for all local channels to every “cable” outlet in my house. This is useful if the Read More …
Part 3 of 3 – Treasury Drug 2020 has been a disruptive year for everyone. Like millions of others, I’m wrestling with furlough and career choices. While we rarely list high school jobs on our resumes, I’ve been thinking about the three jobs I had during my teenage years. They Read More …
Part 2 of 3 – McDonald’s 2020 has been a disruptive year for everyone. Like millions of others, I’m wrestling with furlough and career choices. While we rarely list high school jobs on our resumes, I’ve been thinking about the three jobs I had during my teenage years. They all Read More …
Part 1 of 3 – Winn-Dixie 2020 has been a disruptive year for everyone. Like millions of others, I’m wrestling with furlough and career choices. While we rarely list high school jobs on our resumes, I’ve been thinking about the three jobs I had during my teenage years. They all Read More …
Last week I started a two-post blog about examples of marketing communication letters to customers. I chose two examples that show when a marketing group is out-of-synch with the operations group of an organization. The letters are good case studies about syncing instructions, or the call-to-action, to a customer to Read More …
When I chose to pursue a career in information technology it wasn’t because I knew what the view would look like from the inside. I was, and still am, enamored with creating and building things. I’ve learned over time that the connection I feel with a new solution is just Read More …
Finding valuable takeaways through everyday work experiences is something I started thinking about a few years ago. I attribute this behavior to my writing hobby. Since I try to blog on a regular cadence, I examine events during the work week as potential subject matter for writing. How would you Read More …
A fast marketing engine. It took about 8 weeks for the marketing department at Charter Communications to catch-up with my decision to cut the cable TV cord. Considering the size of Charter, I’m impressed with the turn around time to add me to the prospective customer list mailings. New subscriptions Read More …
It’s Thanksgiving week and I’m thankful for another year of work and learning. During my reflection this year for what I’m thankful for, I thought about what makes life in IT better. What are those things that help IT perform to their best ability? What are those things that help Read More …
What is the secret sauce? What really drives new software features? Do we live in a world where the marketing department rules the day with ROI driven and profit making capabilities from within the software? To an extent, I believe the answer is yes. Businesses exist to make money. Business Read More …
Is the customer always rights? The question is more complicated than face value. Within the context of a single event you could make a case that the answer is yes. But this study posted on LinkedIn about customer experience and expectations suggests the customer may not always know what is Read More …
There have been times in my work career when a software feature/solution comes up in conversation multiple times within a short period of time. When this happens, it makes me stop and think as if the event itself is raising a hand to get my attention. Pay attention, this is Read More …
Company websites are an opportunity to create solutions for a customer. The website is not about your products/services and how great they are. The website is about how your products/services solve problems/needs for customers. The website is not about your many awards and achievements. The website is about the customers Read More …
Doing it right. I love seeing companies that are “doing it right” and reaping the rewards of success. By doing it right, I mean providing value driven products or services customers want and respect. Companies like Chick-fil-A, Disney, and QuickTrip (QT) come to mind. Wait a minute. Isn’t QT a Read More …
I met with members of a project management office this week to plan an upcoming software project. Do understand that this is not an agile software shop. So when I suggested we create use cases in lieu of a more formal requirement document suite I received some inquisitive stares. Really Read More …
I bit on the Fathead Black Friday deal this year to order a team logo for my game room. The package arrived via UPS ground shipping a few days later. Unfortunately, the box was damaged during shipping and the damage causing damage to the logo as well. The logo was Read More …
“If you build it, they will come…”. That’s a classic line from Field of Dreams. While I love baseball, this isn’t a post about our great American sport and its glory. I’ve heard this quote it used on many occasions in casual conversation about things other than baseball. One example, Read More …
Question: Are “you spoke, we listened” campaigns effective? Recently I was reviewing a set of customer survey responses from a web site I manage and grouping the comments into like categories. One of the take-aways was an action list of things to fix. As I was documenting the items that Read More …
With the negative outlook of the economy and reports of down holiday spending, merchants need to look at basics for attracting and retaining customers. Companies can weather the storm by focusing on core competencies, innovating, and reaching out to customers with individual information. Here’s a look at three principals for Read More …
I recently made a return to Costco for a misbehaving GPS unit. My experience was made easy in large part because of Costco’s friendly return policy. The store clerk didn’t give me a hard time or ask me any detailed questions. I didn’t even need to fill out a form. Read More …