Trend Spotting...!

At work (I simply love my new job) our team tries to parallelize everything - from data access, utilizing resources throughput & even our mutual interactions on a daily basis...and believe me it does save us a huge time everyday (superb efficiencies are a by-product too). Anyways, when I visited nearby Post Office to buy some Postage Stamps - I noticed something quite interesting. It was a "Eureka" kinda feeling when I observed the manner in which the customers were being served by the energetic looking USPS Personnel & tried drawing an analogy to the Post Offices I went to in my childhood days. Here's how I can best describe/demonstrate the difference:

Approach A (Lets call it - The Obvious One)

• Have customers lined up in front of different post office windows so that at a time (in theory) - 4 Customers can be served. However think of the repurcussions when say the clerk at Window A is having issues with his system. One can forsee the chaos that situation like this would create for people lined up near window A. Secondly, say if I am in line A next to the person being served currntly and I notice that line C just got empty - there's no way I can walk over to Window C. Practically, what Window C personnel would do in this case is to split Queue at Window A from the middle. But hey, what about me - my wait time didn't reduce even though resources (read servers) were available. I am sure many of my friends can correlate this to a ususal occurence in few Train Reservation Centres in India.

Approach B (Lets call it - The Dynamic One)

• Have people lined up in a single queue (this is what I observed in USPS Office yesterday) and the person in front of the line can choose to go to the first available window A through D. Now, statistically the average wait time for a customer is much less in this case for many reasons. One, in case if system at Window C is malfunctioning for some reason - the customer can quickly move to the other free (available) window easily. Secondly, in this approach, the skill / processing speed of a particular Window personnel wouldn't affect the customers when averaged out. (Imagine in Approach A - if you happen to stand in a line where the clerk takes 10 mins as against 5 mins to serve each customer - you are seriosuly doomed then ;)).

Well, then what I intended to convey that it isn't always necessary to go for mathematical/statistical analysis to spot trends in our day to day existence - being an avid observer & giving the gift of your complete attention to things (tangible or otherwise) around you is all one needs to do on a continual basis.

Oh yes - as always Seth impresses me with his latest post yet again - I love the buzz he creates in his creative approach to seemingly obvious & rational things (Intership, Squidoo, Book Launches, Seminar Invites etc) - I can just sit back & admire his distinctive style.

Brainstorming for Fun..!

Loved the crisp presentation on Brainstorming-felt like sharing it quickly :)

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Interpreting Feedback...!

"Connection is a powerful force that creates a positive bond between people based on both rational & emotional factors." Well the more diverse people I meet, the more the I believe in this viewpoint. There are dozens of strategies out there on Internet illustrating the same but I am positive that I am not married to any one in particular!

Recently, I ordered an amazing Laptop for a friend (She never stops smiling :)) & my whole shopping experience was by far memorable in many ways. We were all pretty excited for we were getting a terrific deal (plus $500 Discount) on this Artist Edition HP Notebook & placed a quick order online last Friday. When I checked my statement online 2 days later, I was shocked at having learnt that the discount wasn't applied as promised & the order was cancelled as well. Upon enquiring, I learnt that a glitch in ordering system caused the issue. Anyways, this piece of information was enough to make me "unhappy". I needed explanations-Irritated, I picked up the phone & called up HP's Customer Care....as anticipated - I heard a cheerful voice of 20 something guy with the customary "Thank-You for calling HP Shopping. How may I help you today Chinmay?" My first reaction was to unload my stress/anger but probably the fact that Brian (the agent) called me by name - I decided to be a little patient. I took a deep breath & explained to him at length about what happened & how bad I felt..I said I needed a explanation! To my utter surprise - Brian never argued with me (believe me majority of the cust service reps do argue with irate customers) rather he apologized on behalf of HP & said that a written email apology is on its way. He then proceeded with a fresh order with same list price & express shipping. That said, the thing he mentioned next impressed me the most "Sir, we appreciate you chose us & candid feedback like these do influence changes in the way we sell products at HP. I am sure that you will continue to be our special customer in the days to come." - WaaaaooooW, one thing is for sure-this 20 something guy indeed made me feel way too special :) Anyways I just felt to add few points to what Seth (my true marketing rebbe) says about "Feedback:

• If you feel impressed or delighted - express it right away.
• Feedback is more than "GooD" or "BaD". Being a little descriptive while giving feedback makes a huge difference for the intended audience.
• Anticipate areas of friction before giving Negative Feedback.
• Frame -ive feedback like "Its ok! But can you let me know what took you guys so long?" What differentiates a "special" customer from an avg one is the way he frames up -ive feedback. (There's always ample room for improvement here :))

Well then, wish you all "Happy Earth Day" & thanks much Brian - you made my day indeed..!

Earth Hour 2008...!

Often, I get amazed by people who come up with brilliant ideas every now and then. More than money, more than politics, I feel that ideas are the secret power that this planet actually runs on.Anyways, I was really impressed this morning while reading about "Earth Hour 2008" as Top news on almost all major news sites. Carter Roberts was the man behind Earth Hour 2008 which is basically an international event aimed at communicating one simple message "Urgent need for action on global warming". At 8 pm EST on the Saturday (29 March 2008) millions of people (me, you and many more) in some of the world’s biggest cities will unite and switch off electrical appliances for the Earth Hour.

What an amazing way to exhibit that we care for our planet - I love the idea ! This movement accentuates the need to keep pushing on till we get a "Greener Earth" by remaining alert, decarbonizing our surroundings, reducing electricity consumption, planting trees & coming up with innovative ideas.

Well then, you might wish to sign up for this noble cause by clicking right here