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Is it FINE?

02.25.2014 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

Last night I was driving to meet a friend. I drove past a company I’ve passed many times before, but noticed the name of the company “Absolutely Fine X” (X is what the company does- pretending you won’t Google it if interested…)
Holy CRAP! Who would call their company fine? If anyone ever said working with me was FINE I’d be mortified! Really? If it wasn’t amazing or a great experience, hopefully we can talk about it and make it a GREAT experience. Or the very least part ways so you aren’t saying it’s “fine”.
That date is fine for a doctor appointment, the tap water is fine, your company should not be FINE. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t get into business for myself to just be average. I did it because I believe I can make a difference for small business owners. And I do that by providing personal service and amazing help to companies.

Maybe it’s just me, maybe you like to be fine, but when I’m searching for X some day down the road, I probably won’t go with someone who’s absolutely fine. I’ll look for Freakin’ Fantastic.

February Pop Culture Round Up

02.21.2014 by Elizabeth // 1 Comment

February is a great time for Pop Culture- you’ve got awards season in full swing, TV shows returning from winter hiatus, and spring seasons about to start up. It’s also cold and wet outside so staying in with a good book or show is always the right answer. Here’s what I’m loving this month…

Music

The Civil Wars- I love this duo, and when I heard last week they put out an EP of covers, I was all over it. You can quickly guess which one is my favorite I’m sure.

I was just asked to join the Whitworth Forensics Team in Tennessee this year for the International Public Debate Association National Tournament (I went last year in Arkansas you may recall…) this year, it’s at Middle Tennessee State and we have one night in Nashville on the way home. You can’t imagine my excitement- so I’ll be beefing up my singer/songwriter playlists in the next few weeks!

Books

Hyperbole and a Half- My dad gave me this great graphic novel for Christmas, and it’s pretty easy to pick up and read and put down for a week or two. I’m really enjoying it, her drawings are very simple, but the stories about her dog make me laugh REALLY hard.

Visitation Street- I read about this book last summer and picked it up for my Kindle when it was on sale a while back. I’m about a third of the way through- and need to pick it up again, hopefully with a few flights in the next two months I’ll finish it up!

TV

The Walking Dead is back! Hooray! I am liking the diaspora situation they have going on, but can’t wait for them all to get back together. And so glad to have Carol back, AND Abraham’s Army has finally arrived!

House of Cards- it is SO HARD to not binge watch this show. Holy crap this season is crazy. It was the perfect Valentine’s Day gift – my husband and I watched 3 episodes on the 14th.

The Winter Olympics- okay, so maybe my favorite part is watching Bob Costas battle pink eye, but I LOVE the Olympics. The weather challenges have been fun to watch as well. As an indoor kid, watching people in the cold race down a mountain makes me grateful I’m on the couch.

Justified- I was sad to hear that next season will be their last, but if it will strengthen the story for the next season and a half, I’m all in. The Raylan/Art relationship is one of my favorites on TV.

Sherlock- I finally got caught up on this series and just watched the S3 finale this weekend. I sure didn’t see the twist coming, and Christmas with the Holmes family was one of my new favorite things ever.

The Americans- okay, so it doesn’t return for another week, BUT I rewatched the S1 finale this weekend to get my ready- I can’t wait. This show is SO GREAT. I had watched the finale before, knew how it ended and STILL was stressed out!

Evidently I’m watching a lot of TV lately- what Pop Culture have you been indulging in this month?

Happy Staff, Happy Customers

02.19.2014 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

I just finished a great chat session with someone at Google. I needed something swapped out on an account and couldn’t figure out how to do it. So I clicked the chat button in the help page and a few minutes later I was chatting with a great customer service rep. What a thankless job. People come to you because they need something fixed. They probably weren’t expecting the inconvenience and so they’re often cranky. Having been the person with a stick up their rear more than once, I need to apologize for it. A cheery and helpful customer service rep can make a world of difference!

Yesterday I heard a great podcast interview with Mario Batali. Yeah, sales lessons from Molto Mario- who saw that coming? He said something that I really liked. He empowers his team members to make sure the customer has the best experience. “We don’t put parmesan cheese on this dish, but you asked for it, so here it is!” He wants his customers happy. I’ve been to a couple of his restaurants, and Eataly, his amazing food emporium in New York City. It’s amazing – who isn’t happier grocery shopping with a glass of wine in their hand?

Give your team the tools they need to help your customers. Empower your team to do what’s right, don’t hold them back. There’s a ton of things we do each day that can make or break our day, or someone else’s.

I still can’t find nice things to say about Comcast, and it’s because it always seems they can’t do something I asked. A few years ago I was having so many issues with Comcast, I would call and ask directly for the supervisor, it was just easier than wasting my time. I hate that. Don’t be Comcast. Be Google.

Give your team the tools they need. Don’t waste your customers time. They’ll leave you.