All consultants like to ask questions. Sometimes too many questions. Here are 5 that I keep on hand for initial client engagements.
- What do your expectations of a service provider?
- How do you see out team helping you address challenges and opportunities?
- Why are you changing providers?
- How do we learn about the business to relate action and implementation to ROI?
- What are the good, the bad and the “do not repeat”?
What questions do you use or what to see asked?
Interesting reading. Worth checking this out. Some “real” posts coming soon.
Economist.com: Cloud Computing Debate
My toddler-aged son has loved the climbing walls at various playgrounds around Seattle this summer. With the start of the rain, which should stop sometime in April, the playgrounds have been a little wet and cold. I wanted to encourage this new love since it combines physical and metal challenges and came up with the idea of building an indoor climbing wall. I did not want to get too over the top with bolting boards to my new refinished basement.
Instead, I thought that attaching a 3/4″ plywood board to the Bowflex might be a better bet. A little online research led me to some great instructions at Three Ball Climbing. REI had a very reasonable set of bolt-on chips by Metolius. It turned into a great father/son project. The only thing better was the boy getting all the way up to the top within the first ten or so tries.
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Because nothing says “jump the shark” like Jumping Shark Fonzie…
Have a great weekend.
This year, I know a ton o fpeople headed to Dreamforce. Sadly, I will not be among them due to scheduling. If you are going let me know and your interests and can match you with some of the people I know.
The first priority of a CRM deployment should be to learn about existing customer data within the enterprise. It is obvious, but often overlooked. I often make it the top priority when scoping CRM services. Is all that customer data in all of the right hands? 99% of the time it is not. It needs to be in the hands of the people working with the customers. My approach is to get that data to them. Usually, this is an instant success which give a solid foundation for future successes.
Second priority is to understand cost per call. Before the deployment, I have to be able to calculate cost per call (the $ metric). This is true for a services or sales force automation deployment. By correlating the cost per call to improvement, I can calculate a cost per call improvement. This is ROI. Automate your internal processes so that you can pull everything you know about your customer into a single view for your rep (sales or service).
Keep these two priorities in mind and your CRM implementation will be on the road to success.
A post worth checking out on Andy Sernovitz’s Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! blog. The blog in general is worthwhile, but this post is relevant to the social CRM space.
Damn, I Wish I Thought of That!: How to use fan feedback to improve customer service and build trust
Nice article on Gist and the impact of Office 2010. If you have not tried Gist, check it out.
WSJ: Updating Office on the Cheap
For more of my thoughts on Gist, check my earlier posts. 12Sided on Gist
My original post from May is proving popular. So here is another wallpaper.
Mt Rainier is a PNW icon. This panoramic was recently taken on another cold, clear autumn morning with my trusty Xpan. Short hike made a challenge in the darkness before dawn. As usual, 3 sizes are available. Select the link of the size below:
1600 x 605 Mt Rainier from Dege Peak
1280 x 484 Mt Rainier from Dege Peak
1024 x 387 Mt Rainier from Dege Peak
You can check out my entire portfolio at Salmon Bay Photography.