Cotter-pins and continuous improvement

This afternoon I spend a couple of hours assembling a Yardworks garden cart – a new tool for my wife's business, It's Perfect.

The product was compactly and responsibly packaged (all cardboard, no styrofoam), the instructions seemed pretty clear, and the different nuts and bolts needed at each stage of the assembly stage were even supplied in separate numbered pockets on a vacuum-packed card... wow!

Everything was going along very nicely, and I eventually figured out the best way to use my crescent wrench and box-end wrench to tighten the hard-to-reach bolts.

However, while fastening the side walls of the cart, one of the tiny cotter-pins sprang out of my pliers and into the wilderness of my garage floor. Which got me thinking: Wouldn't it be great if manufacturers supplied a couple of extras of the 'most-likely-to-be-lost-during-assembly' parts?

My only beef with the product was that the instructions were unclear about which way to install the side walls, so I had to remove and reinstall them to get the nifty locking fasteners to fit. Otherwise, it was a great experience, and Sue is delighted with the utility value of the cart!

Lessons for marketers: Anticipate and address potential customer irritants to deliver the best customer experience.

• Ensure every part of the instructions is crystal-clear (with detailed illustrations) to help customers avoid mistakes.
• Consider supplying a few extra nuts and bolts – ideally in a separate, clearly marked little package so customers aren't wondering if they missed something.
  

Personal lessons: As usual, allow enough time for the project, have the right tools on hand, and keep experimenting how to use the tools to get the job done quickly.

Arrival of a renewed blogger

Despite my November 21, 2008 promise that I'd get back to regular blogging, my good intentions were overtaken by work pressures, family commitments and the usual set of excuses.

Now, I am returning to blogging in my efforts to help increase Glue's presence in the marketplace and share some interesting perspectives and insights I've gained along the way. I hope you find it helpful, and I welcome your comments!

Dental plaque and corporate misdemeanors

There's no place to hide your less-than-perfect brand behaviour.

(This not-especially-original insight was reinforced for me this morning as I sat in the dentist's chair, listening to the hygienist scrape away the accumulated plaque from my teeth. The consequences of my less-than-perfect flossing over the past six months were right there for her to see – and for me to feel guilty about.)

When a company or brand slips up, you can expect the news to travel fast, thanks to zealous reporters, bloggers and the everyday chatter heard around watercoolers or at holiday parties.

So more than ever, it's important to be clear what your company stands for, and make sure everyone on your team understands and lives by your values. Then, if you do mess up, be sure to fess up before others do it for you!

The Bell tolled for Ted Rogers

A few years ago, I was a fervent supporter of Bell Canada for my cell-phone and internet needs, believing all the talk that Rogers was impossible to deal with. But partly as a result of some inferior technical capabilities and sloppy customer service from Bell, I've since switched most of my business to Rogers.

Without question, the complexity of delivering flawless, uninterrupted service across various high-tech platforms makes it nearly impossible to achieve complete customer satisfaction, but overall, I've been impressed by the friendliness of Rogers' call centre folks, the clarity of their messaging... and I have to say, i ADORE my iPhone!

One factor that caused me to reconsider Rogers was Ted Rogers's inductee acceptance speech at the 2007 Marketing Hall of Legends (www.marketinghalloflegends.ca) gala. At the close of the evening, Ted stood at his chair in the audience and enthralled us with the story of how, in the early days, he managed his clamouring creditors by drawing invoices out of a hat on Friday nights! That night, we saw a side of Ted that I suspect many of us didn't know.

I recently purchased the audio version of Ted's autobiography, Relentless, and have been really enjoying his stories about the struggles to build his company, his candour about his strengths and weaknesses, and his entrepreneurial advice.

Not surprisingly, the obituaries published earlier this week have been less flattering than his own book, but nonetheless, it's hard not to admire the ambition, patriotism and foresight of this Canadian legend. It makes me a bit more proud to be a Rogers customer.

'If' nails it for uncertain times

It was back in the late 1970s, when I listened to the music of Roger Whittaker (during my summer-camp, guitar-playing period), that I first heard the song 'If' (the sung version of Rudyard Kipling's famous poem).

The smooth sound of the song, but more importantly the words of the poem, have stuck with me all these years.

As I contemplate the issues of middle age – as well as the current uncertainty in the economy – I believe there are valuable lessons for all of us in this poem.

The most compelling part of the poem for me are the lines: "If you can fill each unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds worth of distance run / Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it / And – what is more – you'll be a Man, my son!"

I hope you find inspiration and comfort in If too!

Confessions of a Lapsed Blogger: Egotism or shame?

It's been months since my last entry in this blog. Why the drought?

Yes, I've been busy, but then, who hasn't been.

Have I lacked anything interesting to say (my kids might say so), but I don't think that's really true, since I've had plenty of great things happen in the last while.

I believe it's partly because I have a small fear that blogging is a bit egotistical – a way of 'showing off' to the world how clever or insightful you are. And so, I keep asking myself: "Is what I am about to write meaningful enough or worth putting on public display?" Invariably, it seems, my answer was 'no,' so nothing got written.

Then, if you stop doing something for long enough (such as an exercise or dietary regime), you start feeling guilty and ashamed about not keeping it up, which further fuels the flames of inactivity (pardon the mixed metaphor).

I worked for nearly 10 years with a client named Heather (she just retired) who taught me many things. One lesson was that newsletters are dangerous, because once you start them, you must keep 'feeding the beast' with new content. And since a blog is like a running newsletter, the same situation applies right here at 'The Spot.'

So, I ask for forgiveness for my blogging lapse and solemnly promise that I will 'hit The Spot' more often. I will loosen up on myself about the fear of seeming egotistical, and will write stuff that I hope has at least some redeeming value in terms of business, life lessons, or humour.

Here goes!

Porter’s portable vase

This morning, I tried Porter Airlines (www.flyporter.com) for the first time. I welcomed the convenience of departing from Toronto island airport on my way to Montreal for the day, including the chance to pass through airport security in about two minutes, and the small luxury of drinking a decaf latte out of a heated cup!

Though Porter’s island terminal is small, it has all the expected airport features and produces the familiar sensations of air travel: filling the idle time until boarding, being surrounded by strangers taking the same journey, and feeling your pulse quicken as the engine revs up at the head of the runway.

For my flight home, I arrived at the ‘regular’ Trudeau International Airport in plenty of time. When I arrived at Gate 7 it was empty, save for the overhead monitor confirming I was at the right place. Over the next 30 minutes, I watched the scene come to life. First, the Porter counter attendant arrived, setting up a laptop and printer behind the front counter. Other passengers arrived at the gate and began filling up the nearby benches. Then, the counter attendant reached into the cupboard and pulled out an elegant glass vase with a bold bouquet of white flowers – the final touch of the Porter brand experience!