If You Really Care, Own It!

July 25, 2016 / No Comments
Last week I cried. Then, I cursed. Then, I cried some more.
While working, I reached for my coffee. Then I heard that dreaded sound. I heard my phone fly off the desk and crash onto the tile floor. After the graphic language had stopped flowing freely from my mouth, I picked up my phone – only for the expressions to start flowing again!
Yes, my iPhone screen was shattered – for the second time this year. Fortunately, I had purchased Apple Care – an insurance policy that would pay the majority of the cost to replace the screen.

Since this is my lifeline to my clients, I dropped everything and made my way to the Apple Store. As usual, it was packed with people. Many of them there for the same reason. After about five minutes of searching for an available employee, I was approached by someone holding their iPad.

He asked what brought me into the store. I held up my phone and showed him my frowny Emoji face. He took my name and even noted that I had Apple Care. He then explained it was about a three-hour wait. I expected this and had brought work with me, so found a place to park myself.

Once an Apple Genius became available, I learned that my phone’s serial number had been stolen, and my Apple Care was no longer valid.In total, I spent about 18 hours over two days getting the glass on my phone replaced. I had the pleasure of working with nine Apple Store employees and two customer service phone representatives.

What if, the process at the Apple Store had looked more like this?

  1. I (the customer) walk into the store looking for help.
  2. A representative approaches me (the customer) and asks what I need help with.
  3. When asking for the person’s name, the agent also gets the serial number for the device needing repairs.
  4. This information is entered along with my (customer) name into the iPad. Any unexpected issues that may exist are discovered and resolved before any wait time.
  5. The representative remains the central point of contact throughout the entire process. Connecting me (customer) with the necessary people and departments through the final resolution.
The lesson we can all learn from this experience is to provide due diligence at the beginning of the client’s experience. This means taking ownership in the beginning.
Regardless of what your role is within your Agency – Account Service, Creative, Traffic, or answering the phones – take ownership in all the experiences you encounter. All it takes is one or two simple questions up front. For example, you can always ask people who approach you how you can help them. Alternatively, you can ask if there is something you can do to make their day better. The point is to take ownership in your interactions with others and demonstrate your concern for them and a positive outcome for them.
The result is an improved experience for everyone involved – especially your client.

3 Ways Busy is Hurting your Profitability

July 12, 2016 / No Comments

I remember when I started in this Industry several years ago. Ok, it was many more than ‘several’ years ago! My typical day left me in my cubicle while those in more Senior positions went to meeting after meeting. For myself and others low on the totem pole, it seemed the busier the scheduled commitments, the more important you were. Being involved in meetings was a status symbol.
One would think that with the development of email, messenger, and social media, the number of meetings we have would be fewer and fewer. However, if you work at an agency, you are pretty much 100 percent guaranteed to answer the question “How are you dong” with “Very Busy.”
This is an issue that afflicts agencies across the globe. We have confused being busy with being productive. This has become a huge issue in our Industry – odd for those specializing in Communication. There seems to be a pride element to having a calendar with back-to-back meetings.
I hear from many of my clients that there is a great deal of ‘busy time’ with little productivity. I also hear that the people who are needed most for feedback, approval, and guidance, are the ones who are least available.
The problem is that this ‘busy time’ is not because of actual work, but rather by meetings. Several issues result from these ‘binge meetings’, but they are easily solved.

  1. When meetings are back-to-back, there is no time allowed for digesting and implementing the take-a-ways from any of the meetings. Our Industry, in particular, is affected most by this since creative minds need quiet time to process information input and develop ideas.
  2. We have lost the meaning of meetings. Meetings should result in decisions and assigned action items. Their purpose should NOT be to introduce information or ideas. However, most meetings are held to share information. I see most agencies conduct a job kick-off meeting where the creative brief is shared for the first time with the group. So, a good portion of the meeting is spent either reading or being read the brief.
  3. I have seen agencies get hung up in the billable hour trap. Many agencies are not billing their hours to clients these days, although it is still vital to track the time spent on clients – a discussion for another article. I have spoken with clients in Senior Management who admit they are spending time on client work that they could use in a more productive way. For example, I know of at least one Account Director, who has weekly one-on-one meetings with their Account Managers to keep up with what is going on with the client. This happens even though the Account Managers copy the Director on emails and submit a weekly status report. When questioned as to their reason for these meeting, I heard answers such as “I always had these meetings when I was an Account Manager” and “This is what we have contracted with the client to do.”

It would seem that we have accepted that being busy is a symbol of status in our workplace. The perception is that if you are crazed and too busy, then you are productive.
In reality, the human mind is much like a computer. At some point, you need to pause to let the processor work through the entered information before you get any logical and beneficial answers.