On Words and Business

First inductee: The Dilbert Blog

Things that will not happen when you call me and my business:

* I will not transfer you 14 times, each time to someone who has no idea how to help you.

* I will not, at the same time, keep you on the phone for 93 minutes and at the end of the encounter, when you finally reach someone who says they can help, have the answer be “We can’t help you.”

* I will not keep you on the phone for an hour, while I try to figure out what to do to help you. I’ll call back if I need time to think or investigate.

* I will not promise to call you back in one hour if I’m not actually going to call back in approximately one hour.

Just some random thoughts on customer service…

As new technologies and opportunities change the internet landscape and the ways we connect with people online, I feel like I’m dragging behind. A few months (or years, gasp) after something is released, I’ll probably figure out a way to use it.

These days, there’s nothing bleeding edge about my use of technology. Not like in college when I built my own computer and joined an online bulletin board, long before my friends knew what I was talking about, and just as AOL and Compuserve entered the picture.

So, it was fortuitous that I discovered part 3 of the series: Anatomy of Your Online Presence. Today’s topic is the nose, and how to sniff out new opportunities.

I think I’ll start building something again.

A respite for the dog days…

Let’s take a trip and visit the Top 100 Australian Blogs.

Thanks to Flying Solo for the link.

Let’s take this to the next level..industry leader Seth Godin has once again brought his A game and hit one out of the ballpark with his Encyclopedia of Business Cliches. He gives 110% with his robust and very funny (in an oh-no-I-say-this kind of way) list. At the end of the day, the bottom line is that we’ve gotta raise the bar in our use of language in business. Let’s ramp up our creativity and find a few more words (which run the risk of becoming cliches, too). Perhaps all we can ever do is circle back and run it up the flagpole to see who salutes.

Ahh, the acrid smell of bad prose.

Michael Stelzner offers some quick cures for the stench of rotten writing. Simple, to the point, and very effective. I’m very fond of all three of his suggestions and even added one of my own to his list: read your work aloud.

Now go…get writing.