Tuesday, November 24, 2015

When Things Don't Go Well

Last night, I was online trying to complete a Shutterfly order.  I tried everything I could think of, but each time I would get to that purchase page, my system would lock up.  Finally, I went to Twitter to find that I was not the only one and the folks at Shutterfly knew what was going on and were working to fix it.

I thought about 10 years ago when things didn't go right.  People were on the phone, calling someone, anyone that could help.  Undoubtedly they would hold for a while, sometimes hours to hear the same thing 100 people in front of them heard, "There are issues and we are working on them.  Please try back later."

Instead of banging my head for hours, I went to Twitter.  Instead of sitting on hold for who knows how long, I went to a resources that can have updates every second.

Two weeks ago, I had a less than perfect experience at a hotel and, following my own advice, I took the post trip survey.  Within a day, the hotel had reviewed my post trip comments, acted on my comments and reached out to me about resolution.

This proves a few things to me:
1 - The marketplace is listening and they know when things aren't going well.  
2 - Companies are reactive, but at lightning speed. 
3 - Having a place to go, that in an instant tells me what I should do, or what I can expect as a resolution is not only nice, but necessary.
4 - Companies who ask me to leave a message and they will get back to me will be a thing of the past, very shortly.  

Of course we want the issues to never happen, but when they do, recovery is huge! The companies who acknowledge the issues, tell their customers they hear them and really do something about it are winners.  The biggest winners are the customers.  I am not suggesting that every company needs a Twitter page because this isn't a Twitter promo blog.  I, however, am suggesting that companies need to find a way to get feedback from their customers and a way to react to that feedback quickly, so they, like me, can keep going! 



Thursday, November 12, 2015

Raise Your Hand If Your Kids Are Perfect!



Last night I came home from a few days away on business and was getting the weekly rundown from the family.  School was good, sports were good, the day off for Veteran’s Day was good…all in all, a good week!  GREAT, love to hear that.  Then my daughter asked if I heard about all the “stuff” with the football team?  Nope…what did I miss?

Apparently, and this might come as a shock to some, but kids were being kids!  What is probably more shocking, kids who go to a private school, were being kids!  I know, its mesmerizing! 

Since when is a kid who goes to a private school supposed to be a better person than one in public school?  Let’s remember, they are kids!  The SCHOOL upholds faith and charity as their tenants, but they don’t, for one second, think their kids are better than anyone else’s. Just like a public school, they have their code of conduct and don’t share publicly, how that is upheld within the school walls.  Public school and private schools alike are trying to raise students who are not only smart academically, but also good people who will do good things in their lives.  

Anyone who thinks kids who go to private schools don’t have to deal with things like bullying, drugs, sexual pressure and social media crap are clueless!!  Anyone who thinks all these kids are rich, spoiled brats are also clueless!  Anyone who thinks that we as parents think our children are perfect, you guessed it, clueless! 

News brief, they are kids…they are dealing with the same things the kids in public and private schools all over the state and nation are dealing with.  Trust, if there was a magical place where we could send our kids and we could be guaranteed none of them would ever make a mistake, I think we would all do whatever we can to send them there.  Heck, I would go there!  Another news brief, that place does not exist here on earth! 

We send our kids to private school for a few reason, but I am going to be honest, the first reason is because of class size.  WE teach our kids our faith at home and if the school happens to help us, wonderful!  I love that they get that there, but it’s not the school’s job to own that.  My kids will never be perfect…because they are kids.  Your children will never be perfect, because they are kids. 

I won’t take a stand on who was right and wrong in this issue of social media back and forth.  Both sides went too far and I think they all realize that now.  I will, however, not take it lightly when people are saying that because our kids pray in school, they wear their faith on a sleeve (helmet, jersey, t-shirt) that they should be held to a higher standard.  As it says in John 8:7, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone…” 

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Did I Miss Something?

I will be the first to admit, I am getting older and I guess, thankfully, we all are!  However, I think I may have missed something and I might chalk it up to my age. 

Saturday night, I went to bed with visions of ghost and goblins running through neighborhoods and Sunday morning, All Saints Day by the way, I wake up to find November has been removed from the calendar, it is all of a sudden, Christmas. 

Imagine a calendar year without All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Veteran's Day, Opening Day (all the hunters will know what that is!), Thanksgiving Day and Boxing Day (for my Canadian friends).  How did we magically, overnight, move into Christmas? 

Have retailers taken it upon themselves to remove the monthly entirely?  Have they been given the authority to dust these other very important days aside in order to start selling, selling, selling? 

In my house, we do celebrate All Saints Day, All Souls Day, Veterans Day, Opening Day and Thanksgiving.  We look forward to Christmas, but it starts the first Sunday of Advent.  Trust, I have started shopping, but it's because I shop all year round.  If I find something that is perfect for someone, I get it....that doesn't means Christmas has started...it means I am a planner. 

My family is holding tight to the page of the calendar and NOT letting it go into the trash.  We will treasure the days of November and ask that you do the same.  While still going, we are also trying to slow things down!