Improve My Business

Thanks to a post on flight travel by Chris Brogan, and a semi-challenge to post my own travel tips, I’ve decided to semi-take him up on the challenge — here’s my (additional or converging opinion) travel tips (not just limited to flying):

Planning your trip:

• Check out what there might be to do in the city, and plan on doing it - if necessary, even slightly rearranging your schedule to do so.  For example, in one city I frequent, their museum is open until 8 pm on one weeknight, so I make sure that I am out by 5 pm that night so I can go there and enjoy.
• Pay attention to loyalty programs - to a point.  If all things are equal (distance from work site, price, amenities, etc.) I’ll stay at some place that will allow us to get free hotel rooms for my niece Katie’s wedding in August, vs. staying at someplace that I don’t have a lot of points.  However, I wouldn’t pay significantly more just to garner some points…  ditto for airlines.  Chris recommends being active in a couple of loyalty flight programs, and I agree!
• Get your seat assignment ahead of time whenever possible.  Even if you can’t garner the extra legroom seat or the exit row, you can at least get an aisle or a window, depending on your preference.
• I also spend a ton of time determining the best place to say before I go there the first time; but on subsequent trips, I note on the outside of the manila folder what I want to make sure and do again - things like “Continental has best connections to arrive by mid-day”, or “Hampton and Fairfield are both good properties to stay at; don’t stay at the __________ here though…”

In Chris’ tips for flying - at the airport, I thought he left off one important suggestion - answer questions that haven’t been asked yet.  I do this when I see a perplexed traveler in a concouse - asking them “Do you need some help?”; or providing my frequent flyer number to the counter / gate agent without being prompted; or even ordering food (I’d like the coney dog with onions and chili, but no jalepenos; a med diet drink; and no fries, thanks.)  Don’t wait to be asked the obvious questions (would you like fries with that?); answer it without being asked.

As far as flying goes, I’ve got a few words for my fellow passengers:

• please entertain your child quietly.  I do NOT need to hear Barney at the top of your little tyke’s lungs, simply because you haven’t bothered to teach him what “inside voice” means yet.  And find the button that turns off the audio to their game system - and use it.  Bing, bong, boing, chirp!
• Flight attendants are there for our safety; they are not your personal maid/butler.  Stop treating them like they are car hops/housekeeping - if you spill your drink, don’t curse them because they didn’t get to you with three ply towels immediately.  They’ve got 130+ folks to contend with - try being in the top 10% of those they’re dealing with that day.
• If you’re “larger than life”, try curling in on yourself a bit.  I’ve seen folks who are pros at this - they only take up their share of the seat although they could easily take up more if they wanted to - they cross their arms to pull their shoulders in (at least part of the time); or move/angle a bit so they’re only taking up their fair share of the seat and adjoining (arm room) space.  It is not my fault if you are a big person; so don’t make me feel as though I’m not entitled to my seat just because you could spill into it due to your larger mass.
• I don’t want to hear about your sexual exploits, your latest fisticuffs, or anything else.  [One guy in first class across the aisle from me tried to impress the curvaceous blonde he was seated next to by explaining how he got into a fight in a bar - complete with graphic blow-by-blow accounts of spurting blood, crushing bone, etc.]  I finally asked him to lower his voice, and said that I didn’t need to hear him - he was making me sick to my stomach.
• and finally - you don’t HAVE to make a phone call as soon as the plane touches down.  Most of the calls I hear go something like this:  “Hey, it’s me. Yeah, we just touched down.  Yeah, I’ll be at baggage claim in a few minutes.  OK, I’ll call you then.  Bye.”  Really?  We had to call to tell them that we’d call them again in 5 minutes?  We couldn’t just wait?

That’s my tips for now - what tips do you want to add?

It’s been a while since I’ve posted… because work has gotten in the way.  In a big way.  Let me explain a bit…

A nice Request for Proposal came out that I thought would be a good fit for McDonald Consulting Group. It had a pretty short turnaround time; made even shorter by a potential partner who bailed out 1/2 way through the process. After scrambling to find a new partner, we put in long hours getting everything ready for the submission. [If you've ever prepared a government RFP, it will not surprise you to learn that we had to build 3 ring binders, with seven tabbed sections, and submit an original and six copies, each clearly labeled... so once we were finished writing, we still had hours and hours AND HOURS of administrivia to deal with...]

OK, got that submitted, and thought I could get back to my other work - but No! A long-time client got in touch with us to let us know that, instead of calling us ahead of time to help with a submission to their customer on a standard they had no prior experience in, they “thought they could do it on their own” and didn’t pass muster with the customer, who was asking for an action plan to address the shortcomings.  So now, instead of getting back to what I’d put on hold to get the RFP out the door (including writing some blogs to get ahead of the curve), I’m helping them dig out of the deep trench they’ve gotten themselves into - which requires my rearranging calendars and priorities (because of COURSE it’s a rush job) to meet their customer deadlines; undoing the damage that the initial submission did, and working with Asia (where the customer visit took place) to understand what that factory has, and what we have to create, to support them to address the requirements (what we should have done initially).

It’s a grueling job (7 pm phone calls to China sound familiar to anyone else?) and very time-consuming due to the dual language issue. [I have all the respect in the world for them working with me in English; my Chinese is very rudimentary/touristy and I couldn't work with them in their language...]

Which brings me to the point - when am I supposed to blog in all of this? I’m already juggling and dancing just to find time for my family and myself; when am I supposed to carve out time away from them to blog?

My answer: I’m not. I’m supposed to be doing exactly what I’m doing. And blogging will just have to wait.

Technorati Tags: asia, blogging, customer satisfaction, emergency, rush

I recently got the opportunity to spend time with Glenda Watson Hyatt when she was in Austin presenting at SXSWi.  We chatted via email ahead of time and set up a time to visit on the day she was departing; I also told her to list my phone number if she needed a local contact or assistance.  [If you don't know Glenda, she has CP which makes her speech difficult for those not familiar with Glenda-ish.]

Since SXSW tends to overwhelm the taxis, Glenda asked me to call a cab for her early in her stay.  I called for one at 10:30 or so; and was surprised to get a note back at 11:15 saying the taxi, promised in 20 mins, hadn’t shown up yet.  I re-called for the cab, and was told that they were backlogged because of SXSW, and to continue to call every twenty minutes to keep in the queue. HUH?? I understand that folks may decide not to wait for a taxi, and so the taxis want to verify you’re there prior to driving over to pick you up; however, when ordering an accessible taxi (Glenda is in a scooter that she drives into the cab), I’m pretty sure she’s going to wait for the taxi.  I resigned myself to dialing every 20 minutes.

In addition to remembering to do this, I also had to sit through hold for 10 mins at a time, before talking to a dispatcher.  I stressed that she was waiting outside her hotel (and it was pretty warm outside) and that they really should go pick her up.  At one point, about 2.5 - 3 hours into this, she politely asked me again for status (we chat via email - her iPad), and mentioned she was parched.  I called the hotel to have them bring her out some water, and then decided to make the 30 min cross-town ride myself to bring her some food.  Luckily, by the time we got there, the taxi had already come and brought her downtown, so we left the food for her at the front desk.

It’s inconceivable to me that it would take almost 4 hours for an accessible taxi to pick up a passenger.  I know that there are constraints during large music festivals such as SXSW and ACL in Austin; but something needs to be done to help those who need specialized transportation to get that transportation in a reasonable amount of time.

This is just one small cog in the travel hell that Glenda unfortunately experienced during her latest visit - to read more, you can click on this link.

As a result of knowing Glenda, I now notice hotels that claim they are accessible, and mentally rate them.  There are some good hotels out there - and some that are not so good.  I now speak to front desk personnel (and encourage  you to do the same) if you are in accessible room that does not have handrails near the toilet, does not have accessible entry to the shower or tub, etc. and encourage them to upgrade their rooms.  Something as basic as using the bathroom should not be a trial for a traveler.

Technorati Tags: accessibility, Austin, Glenda Watson Hyatt, SXSW, travel

Everyone is at a different place along the process improvement continuum… whether you’re just starting out, are at the peak of your game, or somewhere in between (along with the rest of us struggling along…)

I’d like to ask a simple question, and get your straightforward answer:

Where are you right now in your business or work re: process improvement?

Post your answers here and let’s get a dialogue going…

our friends at Inc.com have listed five ways to improve quality - and also have linked an article that goes into more detail for each tip.  Give it a read, and see what you think!

Technorati Tags: Inc magazine, tips for quality