Please Fire Me

Here is a letter from a frustrated customer featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Sprint Nextel, you win. Please fire me. I am very upset that I was not included in your recent firing of customers who called your customer service too often to complain. Why not me? I have spent countless hours every month calling to have my bill adjusted. I have called your customer service more than my friends and family. You should have a plan that offers 10,000 minutes for customer service and 1,000 minutes for friends and family.

I beg you, please release me, let me go. You don't need me anymore. I am a bad customer like thousands of others and deserve to be terminated. Thank you.
Tom Froschle Ridley Park

When customers feel frustrated and unable to communicate with someone who can make a difference, they resort to sarcasm and cynicism.

Pay attention to customer feedback when building a stronger business and you'll avoid PR nightmares like this one.

Customer Service Experience

A reader of the The New York Times submitted the following letter about a recent experience with customer service:

Dear Diary:

While I was waiting for the L train at Union Square, a performer started singing the Beatles hit: "All My Loving," with just one problem:

Close your eyes and I'll miss you
Tomorrow I'll kiss you....

After he finished I dropped a dollar in his guitar case and told him I thought the lyrics went:

Close your eyes and I'll kiss you
Tomorrow I'll miss you...

He shook his head, smiled, and said, "I knew it didn't sound right." He then reached down into his guitar case and gave me back my dollar.

A.J. Jerome

Does a street musician have you beat in delivering customer service?

Being responsive and collaborative with your customers is a sure way to build a stronger business.

What's Happening Now Around the World

Did You Ever Wonder About...?

A (theoretical) timetable of events around the world, gleaned from a variety of news sources:

• Every 2 seconds someone in America requires a blood donation. (American Red Cross)
• Every 6 seconds someone dies from tobacco use. (World Health Organization)
• Every 6 seconds an Australian buys an item of clothing on eBay. (The Age)
  
• Every 6 seconds someone is killed or injured on a road somewhere in the world. (Make Roads Safe)
  
• Every 15 seconds the Large Synoptic Survey telescope in Chile photographs a section of the night sky. A complete panorama of the firmament is completed every three days. (The Guardian)
  
• Every 25 seconds someone in the United States is burned or scalded in the home. (Health News Digest)
  
• Every 26 seconds a student drops out of an American public high school. (America's Promise Alliance)
  
• Every 30 seconds someone in the world commits suicide. (W.H.O.)
  
• Every 30 seconds a child with birth defects is born in China. (China Daily)
  
• Every 30 seconds someone in the world loses a limb as a consequence of diabetes. (U.S. News & World Report)
  
• Every 35 seconds a child in the United States is reported neglected or abused. (KansasCity.com)
  
• Every 45 seconds a plane takes off or lands at Heathrow Airport, London. (The Economist)
  
• Every minute 1,000 people around the world sign up fr a cellphone. (TheStar.com)
  
• Every minute 253 children are born into the world. (U.S.Census Bureau)
  
• Every 4-8 minutes violent, profane, or sexual content appears during prime time "family hour" television programming. (Parents Television Council)
• Every 8 minutes a woman in a developing country dies of complications from an unsafe abortion. (W.H.O.)
• Every 15 minutes someone in Scotland has a heart attack. (British Heart Foundation)
• Every 38 minutes Louisiana loses a football-field-sized portion of its wetlands. (Science Daily)
• Every hour & 44 minutes there is a case of "dowry death" in India. (The Guardian)
• Every 2 hours someone in New Zealand fractures a hip. (Osteoporosis New Zealand)
• Every 10 hours a driver with a suspended license crashes in Maine. (The Morning Sentinel)
• Every day more than 1.6 million blog posts appear online. (Technorati)
• Every day 6,800 are infected with H.I.V. (United Nations)
• Every fortnight a language falls out of use. (The New York Times)
• Every month 300 specialist nurses leave South Africa. (W.H.O.)
• Every month the American government adds around 20,000 names to its terrorist watch lists. (A.C.L.U.)
• Every month about 130 million rides are taken on the New York City subway. (M.T.A.)
• Every year the average American eats nearly 200 pounds of meat, poultry and fish. (The New York Times)

Prosperity Made Easy with YouTube

"Using YouTube For Prosperity" in the Wall Street Journal explains that many senior citizens are seeking to preserve their legacy through videos showcasing their famous recipes or hobbies, on YouTube.

Seniors ages 65 and older are the fastest growing segments of the online population, according to Jupiter Research. 39% of all seniors in the U.S. will regularly access the Internet by the end of 2007.

By 2010, half of the U.S. senior population is expected to be online. In response, Internet companies are launching services targeted at older online viewers.

Some grandchildren in their 20's are intimidated by the process of creating an online video so it is not surprising that grandparents are seeking their help with this process. Millie Garfield, 81, decided to feature herself in a series of videos documenting her son's pet peeves -- namely, her persistent requests for his helping opening coffee cans, rethreading dental floss, or opening tightly sealed bottles. Her son has helped her film and post the series on a blog, Mymomsblog.blogspot.com and on YouTube.

When you open your experiments up to the general public, like Google has done with YouTube and Blogspot, you find uses that you might never have imagined within your own company. When you spot trends like this, you gain the opportunity to build a stronger business.

Listen, Then Speak

In The New York Times article, "Read My Ears", Thomas Friedman explains why President Bush needs to do less talking and more listening, particularly when visiting Europe.

After George Bush's image in Europe became severely damaged as a result of the Iraq war and U.S. Foreign Policy, Friedman suggests that his priority to Europe should be listening to their complaints, rather than making speeches.

Friedman suggests that only once he hears and understands Europeans' view of America as a once welcoming, optimistic country turned into a hostile, aggressive one, should Bush consider speaking.

Even the most experienced of us can make mistakes.

Listening to customer complaints with an open mind, is an essential part of building a stronger business.

Business Tips TV Launches

An Easy Way to Replicate Files

SugarSync.com is used to replicate and synchronize files across various computers, and also can also help you backup files by having them saved to a source outside your computer. SugarSynch offers a 35 day free trial with 10 gigabytes of file storage. After the trial, the 10 gigabytes can be maintained for $25 a year. Five other storage plans exist, from $50 a year for 30 gigabytes to $250 a year for 250 gigabytes.