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Technology News You Can UseJune 2010In This Newsletter
Comments from the EditorHi All, Welcome to Summer 2010! We have a few tasty articles this month to start your summer out. First up is a response by Brian Guinn to all the hype surrounding the iPad. According to Brian, while the iPad may very well be a cool gadget, before we take the plunge we might want to wait and see what other manufacturers have in store for us over the next few months. Next, Stan Waghalter offers up a great set of common sense customer services tips that may not be so common after all, but which can certainly help your business stand above your competitors and keep your customers coming back. Finally, Amy Horowitz gives us a taste of some of the features coming in the new Microsoft Office 2010 productivity suite. I’ve played with Outlook 2010 and can testify that the improvements to this venerable communications package alone may be worth the upgrade. So that’s all for now. Enjoy and remember – we’re always looking for new articles and topics for the newsletter. If you have an idea, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Debby Zucker and let us know. Thanks for your time and enjoy your summer! Tod Bruning iPad Counterpoint - Is Apple padding its resume? Bryan Guinn, Prism TechnologiesAfter the release of Apple's iPad a couple weeks ago, close to a million of the glorified iPods have been sold, and several million words--good and bad--have been written about the new gadget. I say "gadget," because the iPad has yet to prove it's worth as a productive business tool, and with Microsoft's Courier almost ready to launch and Hewlett Packard's Slate scheduled to hit the market later this year, the iPad may find itself surpassed in quality, features, and real computing. Raul De Arriz, chief executive officer of Absolute Mac, was quoted in Channel Web stating, "Now Apple has a product in that market that people can use without dumping the Windows clunker on their desktop. This is a better quality experience than any subnotebook on the market at a price point that is comfortable." De Arriz's statement seems fair, as far as it goes, but in his enthusiasm, he adds a highly questionable prediction. "You will see companies like Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT) scramble and try to get companies to release competing Tablets in the next few months even if they are half baked," said De Arriz. "They are all scared that Apple has suddenly opened up a new category of product that could displace a subnotebook as the under $500 home computer everybody wants. Who wants a clunky subnotebook when you can have a sexy Tablet that does everything you want and at the same time looks great and feels fabulous?” I guess Arriz wasn't paying attention on the day Apple rolled out the iPad. According to the Redmond Pie web site, the same day Microsoft introduced its Courier (not for sale until later this year), "a tablet/e-book device which first surfaced back in September last year. With just under an inch thickness and weighing a little over a pound, Courier is designed to function as a "Digital Journal". It is going to feature a dual 7-inch multitouch capable screen which will be designed to work with both multiple fingers-input and stylus." The Courier may indeed prove to take a large bite out of the Apple, but on the horizon is Hewlett Packard's Slate. Scheduled for a mid-year release, the Slate's screen is slightly smaller than the iPad's, but it does have a SD card reader. Its Window 7 operating system wasn't built specifically for touch screens, but it has a faster processor than the iPad. 2010 is shaping up to be the battle of the tablets. Although the iPad has an impressive set of features, I reserve judgment until I've had a chance to use Microsoft's Courier and the HP Slate. It should be an interesting year. Customer Service Reigns Supreme Stan Waghalter, QualTel Communications, Inc.Visualize two companies selling the same products, charging the same prices for their services. Both companies have an equal number of employees with the same amount of training. One of the companies is very successful and handles much more business than the other. What’s the difference between the two? In a nutshell, the answer is customer service. The successful company (we’ll call “A”) has a live person answering the phone. This immediately gives the customer access to the company without having to listen to an endless array of employee directory listings. Of course, having an auto attendant answering your phone isn’t reason enough for company B’s lack of success. Liz Tahir, is a retail marketing specialist, consultant, and speaker. Her career began in retail at Neiman-Marcus Company and she’s held various executive positions in merchandising, lastly as Corporate Vice President, Merchandising, for D.H. Holmes Company, Ltd., department store group. Here are some of her tips for businesses desiring to keep customers coming back. 1. There is no way the quality of customer service can exceed the quality of the people who provide it. Think you can get by paying the lowest wage, giving the fewest of benefits, doing the least training for your employees? It will show. Companies don't help customers... people do. 2. Realize that your people will treat your customer the way they are treated. Employees take their cue from management. Do you greet your employees enthusiastically each day; are you polite in your dealings with them; do you try to accommodate their requests; do you listen to them when they speak? Consistent rude customer service is a reflection not as much on the employee as it is on management. 3. Do you know who your customers are? If a regular customer came into your facility, would you recognize them? Could you call them by name? All of us like to feel important; calling someone by name is a simple way to do it and lets them know you value them as customers. 4. For good customer service, go the extra mile. Include a thank-you note in a customer's package; send a birthday card; clip the article when you see their name or photo in print; write a congratulatory note when they get a promotion. There are all sorts of ways for you to keep in touch with your customers and bring them closer to you.
5. Give customers the benefit of the doubt. Proving to them why they’re wrong and you’re right isn’t worth losing a customer over. You will never win an argument with a customer, and you should never, ever put a customer in that position. 6. If a customer makes a request for something special, do everything you can to say yes. The fact that a customer cared enough to ask is all you need to know in trying to accommodate them. It may be an exception from your customer service policy, but (if it isn’t illegal) try to do it. Remember, you’re just making one exception for one customer, not making new policy. Mr. Marshall Field was right-on in his famous statement: "Give the lady what she wants." 7. Are your customer service associates properly trained in how to handle a customer complaint or an irate person? Give them guidelines for what to say and do in every conceivable case. People on the frontline of a situation play the most critical role in your customer’s experience. Make sure they know what to do and say to make that customer’s experience a positive, pleasant one. 8. Want to know what your customers think of your company? Ask them! Compose a "How're We Doing?" card and include it in their next statement. Keep it short and simple. Ask things like: what it is they like; what they don’t like; what they would change; what you could do better; etc. To ensure the customer sends it in, have it pre-stamped. And if the customer has given their name and address, be sure to acknowledge receipt of the card. The above pointers can be the foundation of your customer service program. Implementing them can mean the difference between being Company “A” or “B”. Are you ready for Microsoft Office 2010? Amy Horowitz, Software OneAt the office or on the go, your life never stops moving. Microsoft Office gives you smart, simple, timesaving tools to help you keep up with it. Now you can express ideas, solve problems, connect with people and create amazing results — wherever life takes you. Gain control over email with conversation view in Outlook. The conversation view, clean up and ignore in Outlook 2010 can remove duplicate information and act like a “mute button” for your inbox. Mail tips provide notices before a message is sent to protect information leakage or embarrassing mistakes. Warnings can be configured by IT to show alerts such as when a message is addressed to a large distribution list or to recipients outside of the company domain. Office 2010 gives your people faster and easier ways to manage their e-mail, which is a top priority as the number of daily messages for most people is on the rise. Share Instantly with Broadcast Slide Show in PowerPoint. Broadcast Slide Show in PowerPoint 2010 allows you to present a slideshow directly from PowerPoint to any audience member who can access a Web browser. Simply send out an e-mail invitation with a web link and the recipient can follow along in their browser while you control the presentation from your PC. Broadcast Slide Show can be managed through Group Policy and IT can choose between a locally-hosted broadcast service, a free service provided over the Internet through Microsoft PowerPoint Live, or both. Now you can hold spontaneous meetings with customers and partners with security in mind and save on third-party broadcasting tools. Respond faster when you’re away from the office. With Office 2010, you can review and do minor editing on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote 2010 documents virtually anywhere by using Office Web Apps from more locations on more devices. Do more on your phone with Office mobile. Create powerful data insights with Excel Sparklines. Excel 2010 provides tools for improved data visualization, which can give key insights into business processes and tailor messaging and products to best meet your customer’s needs. Whole trends can be conveyed in a single cell with Sparklines, and there are more options in styles and icons in conditional formatting, as well as the ability to highlight specific items such as “max/min” in a single click. Microsoft Office 2010 is now available for Microsoft volume licensing customers and will be available to the general public on June 15, 2010. Contact Us
Technology Chair: Chuck Weisbrich Editor: Tod Bruning; Alamo Colleges Proofreader: Stan Waghalter, QualTel Communications North Chamber Contact: Debby Zucker
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