Modern Technology has its Perils!

Here is an email I sent to a customer this morning, after he had to twice ask me for some information.  My lack of attention to him is not a very good example of the level of customer service to which he is entitled.


Good morning Scott-----

I am sorry for not responding. I have been on the road so much that I have lost track of what I need to do, such as answering your questions.

We do take Visa and MasterCard. Lead time depends a bit on item chosen, but will range from two days to two weeks. All molding and machining is done in our factory, so we are able to control maximum lead time.

J______ H_____, copied above, is our Customer Service and Marketing Manager and will be in the office except for the first week of March. I will be gone for the next ten days, so for a more responsive (and more responsible?) person, please put us both on your emails.

Again, I apologize.

Regards,

Rich Borglum
Sent from my Android tablet


Modern technology is wonderful. But when you move between office computer, home computer, tablet, and smart phone, even though they are all synched (supposedly), it is easy to lose track of where you are at.


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Taking a step backwards

Last week we had an important customer who asked me to send a price quotation for some products.  Within two hours and several interruptions of receiving his email, I hit "send", happy that I had been able to get it done the morning of his request.  
 
I went on about my day, without seeing that email that my quote had "bounced back" with a message that "The Internet Community" rejected it because something within my message matched a "spam profile".

Fast forward 27 hours to when our customer called asking where the quote was at.  He was understsndably concerned because he needed it to complete a project and put closure on his week.

I tried a bunch of tricks, including sending a jpg screen shot of the message, sending from a different address, changing the subject,  etc, etc.  I  even posted it to this blog and tried to give him the blog address.  I panicked.  I am was on the phone with the customer three times leting him know that I was trying.


I will be scrubbing the egg from my face for a couple more days. It is egg that immediately ran there when he suggested to me that "Rich, maybe you should take a step backwards in technology and use the fax."  Done.  Problem solved!



How often do we all need to take a step back and remember that the old ways still have merit and a place in our world.



Our flagship product, foam markers for agricultural sprayers, has been largely replaced by GPS based guidance systems.  Yet, we continue to sell a lot of units of our "foam based" systems because commercial spraying businesses remember that sometimes  new technology  (GPS)  fails and you need a fallback technology.  We have made that the center of our whole marketing plan for 15 years.  

Guess I forgot my own "wisdom".

Thanks A.G.

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Sales Success Statistics

48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
12% of sales people make more than three contacts
2% of sales are made on the first contact
3% of sales are made on the second contact
5% of sales are made on the third contact
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact

I don't know where these "statistics" came from or how accurate they are.  A few minutes searching with Google found a number of websites taking credit for them.

But----- one thing I do know is that persistence is critical in making the sales.  In the past I have asked two people what they had learned after they left Richway and went into business for themselves as fully commission based sales people.  They both said "persistence."  And they were good -no, excellent- sales people when here at Richway.  But faced with having to "sell to eat" they became even better because they became more persistent!


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The part of the pompous ass was played by himself

Recently I sat across the table from an acquaintance during a luncheon.  I have known him for over 40 years, though I have seen him infrequently.  In his younger days, he was always overly convinced of his own importance to the world.   He proved again the statement I have made for several years:  “As we age we become caricatures of ourselves.”

For all of us near him, he went into detail about his many accomplishments, including his involvement with religion.  He was “the head of the whole southern part of the state informal bible study group”, among other things and had “been to a study breakfast already this morning!”

The irony of this was that as he was talking he gulped down two cocktails and said he would have more but they were “too weak” and he might as well drink water. I am sure those were not his first two.

I am not opposed to drinking and drink myself, but there was something terribly incongruent in his behavior.

Later, after leaving, I decided he was the perfect character for a stage play in which:   “The part of the pompous ass was played by himself.”

Circumstances have been changed somewhat from reality to protect me from retribution.
 

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Eagles and Artists

We have been lucky to have become acquainted with two superb artists this fall, one in Florida and the other right here in Janesville, Iowa.  Both specialize in carving, but from what I have seen are talented in other media as well.   I have seen drawings, paintings, etc from both of them.  

Here is a life sized eagle carved from a log by Terry Dengler of Janesville.  This was commissioned by my wife as a Christmas gift for me.  I am most pleased, as you might guess by reading my blog post of two weeks ago.  I am not happy with my photo, as it does not really capture the piece very well. 

To the right is a Tiki which Mike Bryan of Palm Bay, Florida carved for us and we gave to one of our daughters for Christmas.  Again, the photo is not the best.

Both Mike and Terry are experimenting with a new carving medium right now and I will let you know about it within a few weeks.    Oh yeah, for big pieces like these, they do most of their work with a chainsaw!

Below is an eagle in a tree across the river from my house, which I photographed a few days ago using Canon SX50 which has a 50X optical zoom.  A tripod is a necessity.

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It is Christmas, not just a holiday!

OPINION:   Below is a response I yesterday sent to a friend who was attempting to be "politically correct" by wishing me a "happy holiday" at the conclusion of an email.

 

Please do not use the term “holiday” when we all know that it is Christmas that we are celebrating.  All those “nattering nabobs” who call it a holiday rather than acknowledging the real reason (and denying prayer and everything else) need to NOT take the holiday off and not be paid for it, etc.  It is Christmas, dammit, not just a holiday!    Those who are offended by calling it what it is, need to get over it, rather than the rest of us denying it so we don’t upset them.  BTW, I’ll bet we are in the majority.   Thanks for reading my mini-rant!

-----rich

Braden responded "Haha. I love it and couldn't agree anymore!  I love it! Merry Christmas and take care Rich!

  

If "nattering nabobs" is not familiar to you, yo can "Google it" and learn about Spiro Agnew, a former Vice-President of the United States. 

Follow-up:
Six hours after I posted above, I read a piece "Huckabee weighs in on Duck Dynasty" controversy.  l have never watched Duck Dynasty, though I know the story of the Robertson family and the bios of at some of the family members.  Thus I had not paid much attention to the firestorm of controversy during the past week.  

Suddenly, I have realized that I have "done a Phil" by expressing my personal opinion, even though it conflicts with the view of what is probably a minority of our population.  But what a loud and vocal bunch they are!  There will be no sanctions against me, but we must all be able to express our opinion without fear of retribution.

That is a central core of the foundation of our country!

Click here to read the Huckabee story from CBS News.com

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The Eyes of the Eagle

I have been fascinated by bald eagles for quite some time.  Ten years ago, when designing our new house, I did not want the overhang on the back porch (overlooking the river) to be too great so "I would be able to see the eagles."  Mission accomplished.  In the winter, when the leaves are gone from the trees, we see eagles nearly every day.  In the summer, we only see eagles when we are not under the trees.

My college friend, Burt, and his wife Marilyn, "retired to Iowa" after 40 years in the Dallas area. (They are both Iowa natives, with family here, including their daughter.)  They live very near the Mississippi River and Burt spends time every winter photographing eagles, primarily near Lock & Dam 14.  Over the last few years, he has sent me some great eagle pictures, but this one may be the best.  It appeared in my email on Friday the 13th (of December).  It is with his permission that I publish it.  After a career as a software developer, he has become an advanced photographer and eagle expert.  The eyes on the original that he sent me really caught my attention, especially when I enlarged it on my tablet.

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