Great service: Spread the good news

Either I'm just getting older and grumpier or companies are focusing less on customer service and not willing to back the products that they sell. Luckily I had a super surprise while doing business with the guys from MCCOM. Ok so their name is not catchy, but these guys get business.

Here's the story:I needed to capture some video from a Betacam tape provided by a customer for a fire training program. We didn't own a Betacam player so I looked around for one on the internet. I came across MCCOM's site and called them up. They had a Betacam player, so I swung by their office/mini-warehouse to pick it up. They were likable and I ended up chatting to them for over an hour. That would be a pretty good plug for them if that was end. As you may be guessing it isn't.

We tested the machine at their site to make sure it worked and I tested it once I had it set up at the office. No issues either time. Well yesterday I fire it back up as I was ready to capture the tape...no luck! I got sound, but no video. I called the MCCOM guys up to see if there was any setting that I was missing. After some discussion we decided that it may be a dirty head and they recommended that I bring it back in for a clean.

After some amount of testing, cleaning, poking and prodding earlier today we all realized the machine was shot. Luckily they had another one in stock. When I wanted to pay, both Scott Trupp and Mike Mehalko said "absolutely not!' I explained that I was more than willing to pay as the machine worked when I tested it and it is a used machine. The still refused my money and said 'just enjoy it and spread the goodwill'. Thanks Mike and Scott I intend to. What a privilege to work with people who are willing to do the right thing and who understand the value of building a long term relationship with your customers.

If you are looking for "new & used broadcast video & audio equipment, these folks maintain an extensive inventory as well as broker equipment for their customers. Their many services include: custom studio design, appraisals, liquidations and facility upgrades. They buy used video equipment from complete facilities to Non Linear Suites to individual pieces of equipment. Or they can take your used equipment in trade toward newer or New equipment", please contact them and remember spread the good news!

Let the RWC games begin

I seldom write about non-eLearning topics but today I have to share my excitement! In a few hours the RWC 2007 kicks off in France with 20 top nations from around the world representing their fans hope for glory.




Although much of the American population is oblivious to the start of this amazing event, I will be glued to my TV watching as many games as possible (thank goodness for TIVO). Based on the Bok team [South African team = Springboks] selection I am confident that they will be facing the All Blacks come the final on October the 20th. Hopefully the magic that Madiba provided in 1995 by wearing the Springbok jersey will work again this year.

In closing all I can say is:
OP DIE BOKKE!

Rusting to success

I never thought of success in terms of rust, but I had the privilige of having some relaxing time on the plane from Chicago and I read the September issue of Business 2.0 from cover to cover. I would highly recommend this issue to ALL members of small businesses. The issue covers the latest business disruptors/innovators and also give some detials about previous disruptors such as the founders of Facebook, Google, Microsoft etc. The whole issue was filled with inspiration for small businesses to keep going and to keep thinking about new ways to help people do what they do more effectively, easier and quicker. One particular article struck gold with me. The article about Fred Franzia was elightening and VERY amusing. Wow, talk about a fish that swims agianst the current.

My favorite Fred Franzia quote from the article is:
"Success is easy if you think of it as rust: It's inevitable if you keep at it."

Amazingly that is the consistent message from all of the start up entrepreneurs that are profiled in the magazine. Keep at it, believe in yourself and work hard. The rust will take care of itself!

Putting a $ amount on trust

I bumped into a business associate the other day and he was telling me a horror story about a new LMS implementation that went horribly wrong at a large fortune 500 company. Accordingly to him they had an excellent computer systems validation (CSV) team in place and all was going well. Suddenly the company found a cheaper supplier and kicked the first guys out. The new guys came in and didn't know what they were doing and all the wheels fell off the bus. Does this sound familiar? Have you had similar experiences with 'cheaper' low quality vendors replacing 'more expensive' top quality guys and gals?

My associates seemed to be of the opinion that this is happening more and more. Companies focus purely on the $ amount being charged and don't look at the bigger picture i.e. the cost of bringing a new group up to speed, building relationships between team members, additional time spent on project management, policing the quality of the final product etc. Much of these activities can be grouped under the broad label of trust. Can you trust you supplier to deliver a quality product on time and on spec? What dollar amount can you put against that feeling of trust? Is it really worth getting someone new in and not having that trust and security? Is the example I cited a case of shortsightedness or is there more to it? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Personally I have a network of suppliers that I've selected based on both cost and quality. Once they've been selected I consider them as part of my company and I build a long term relationship based on both parties mutually benefiting. Unless their price to quality ratio drastically increases I wouldn't cut the relationship to save a few $'s somewhere else. To me, if it looks too good to be true it probably is. Putting a $ amount on a business relationship built on trust is highly risky and not worth the gray hairs. In my case I am losing hair at a rate of knots, so I have to take good care in this department.

40's up!

I was amazed when I noticed that I have posted 40 entries on this blog (this being # 41). I also counted 23 comments which I think is a great ratio of comments to posts.

Thanks for the feedback I really appreciate. I enjoy blogging although it was pretty hard to get the juices flowing initially.