Being there makes all the difference

Posted on August 21, 2009 by markkolier

It’s easy to send an email to a friend, client or prospect. Your interrupted train of thought is transmitted with only the touch of a button.

Instant Messaging is a real time communication tool that has been around for quite a while and become even more popular with Facebook.

Text messaging by teens is the primary means of communication – or so it seems.

A telephone call takes a little more effort but at the very least is a better one-to-one exchange in real time.

Yet nothing replaces being there in person. That’s where lasting memories are built, richer experiences are enjoyed, and deeper relationships are seeded and solidified.

Now more than ever take the initiative and make that one to one in person connection that you have been putting off. Go to see that family member, get out there and visit with your clients – invite yourself and you will be pleasantly surprised at some of the welcomes you will receive.

During these difficult economic times travel budgets have been cut and virtual conferences have become increasingly popular. It’s NOT even close to being the same folks. Dare to be different. I happen to love going to see people and connecting and reconnecting. It never fails to re-energize me from the daily grind and I like to think that those I visit get something out of it as well.

We are fortunate today that travel is relatively easy – and can be relatively inexpensive.

So what are you waiting for?

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Leadership Lessons from Gettysburg

Posted on August 17, 2009 by markkolier

With Abe Lincoln at GettysburgPrior to this year what I knew about the battle of Gettysburg you could put on the head of a pin. I did know that it occurred during the Civil War and it was some sort of key battle. I knew that Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg address from Gettysburg during the war. I knew that the Union forces won. But there are so many significant stories as a result of the bloodiest battle ever on American soil.

I had the good fortune to attend a 1 ½ day leadership learning opportunity last week. http://www.lincolnleadershipinstitute.com/. Steve Wiley is one of the highest-octane and energetic speakers you will ever hear and together with his associate Angela Sontheimer, the metaphorical lessons of good (and not so good) leadership are explored around the events of July 1-3 1863.

Surely you are familiar with General Robert E. Lee the leader of the Army of Northern Virginia. But I venture a guess that unless you are some sort of Civil War historian or buff (it seems to me that there are a good many people that are) you would not know the story of Col. Joshua Chamberlain leader and hero of the 5th Maine regiment. Nor did I know anything about other essential figures involved in this pivotal battle of the Civil War – a battle that can be argued changed the face of American and world history. Generals James Buford, James Longstreet, John Reynolds (why do all their names start with the letter ‘J’ I wonder?), are just some of the key players. Perhaps you have heard of the battle of Little Round Top, or Pickett’s charge – perhaps not.

There were more than 51,000 casualties as a result of this battle – many of them in intense hand to hand combat. The courage displayed by so many makes me proud to be an American. The decisions both good and bad teach so much about effective communication and listening to those around you.

Michael Shaara’s great book ‘The Killer Angels’ is a wonderful depiction of the battle of Gettysburg. For those more inclined to watch than to read – the TNT mini-series/movie (4 ½ hours) entitled ‘Gettysburg’ is a fair and true representation of Shaara’s book.

As Gettysburg readies to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the epic battle in 2013 I highly recommend you take time to learn more about what was a seminal battle in American history. It represents a time before electricity, computers, cars, airplanes. You can learn so much – my wife and I did. And keep in mind one of Steve’s quotes that I have been hearkening back to – ‘Listen until it hurts’. So many of us want to show how smart we are and as a result we don’t really listen. Joshua Chamberlain really listened to those around him – and it can be argued that was the reason the North won the battle of Gettysburg.

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Recommendation systems are great but here’s one that would never work

Posted on August 11, 2009 by markkolier

The housing news of late continues to be dire for the most part. There are some indications that the bottom may have been reached as some areas of the U.S. are experiencing an actual uptick in new and existing home sales – some of this attributed to low interest rates but mostly due to depressed prices.
Having been an aficionado of Amazon’s recommendation system for years I wondered if the real estate market could ever adopt an organic recommendation system.

At first thought it did not seem like such a bad idea. I envisioned prospective home buyers visiting homes for sale and commenting on what they liked and what they did not. A homebuyer recommendation bulletin board could prove to be helpful for other prospective buyers having access to information on the house itself, the surrounding neighborhood, the schools and their proximity to the house itself, size of rooms etc.

But then I thought again. What home seller would want to allow strangers to come into their house and then write about what they saw? A home is a very private thing and the way it is decorated and kept is a truly personal decision. A comment like ‘The pink bathroom was awful and what were they thinking about when they put in the light fixtures in the kitchen??’ Or ‘needs a new roof and a paint job as well’ In fact I surmise that the lion’s share of comments would be negative since if a buyer was truly enamored of a house why would they want to put up information that might draw MORE buyers and therefore MORE competition, (remember the good old days of bidding wars for houses back in the 90’s and early 00’s?).

Platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow for community conversations about a myriad of subjects. Restaurants and other PUBLIC spaces seem to fit well with recommendation systems. Private homes and private car sales should and I expect will never fall into that kind of scrutiny. And that’s a good thing.

What do you think? Could it happen? Will it happen?

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Beware of the U.S. neighbor to the south

Posted on August 5, 2009 by markkolier


My wife, family and I have been to Mexico a half a dozen times over the past 11 years. As a vacation spot Mexico has much to offer and it has only gotten better. Many of our American friends react in similar ways when we mention we are going back to Mexico for vacation from ‘don’t drink the water’ and more recently ‘watch out for swine flu’ or worse yet ‘don’t get shot by the drug lords’.

There is a great deal of American ignorance when it comes to Mexico. As a vacation spot aside from the great weather it has a tremendous amount of beautiful coastline and beaches. The resorts vary but many are top notch with ‘A’ quality food, beverage and accommodations. Oh and then there’s tequila – and a lot more than Cuervo exists – more than 100 varieties.

Mexico has more than 110,000,000 people making it the most populated Spanish speaking nation on the planet. And the stereotype of the lazy Mexican is so hackneyed and is simply incorrect. I’ve met some business people from Mexico and they are among the hardest working people I’ve met. And on the resort side I see only people that are pleasant, hard-working and want nothing more than to help the guests have a great time. There are plenty of lazy people all over the world and the United States has its fair share without a doubt so can we drop that one on behalf of Mexico?

President Felipe Calderon has taken on a huge task in attempting to control the flow of drugs in Mexico and the strife along with kidnapping and general unrest in the highly impacted areas is serious business. But he is to be admired for his courage in taking this on – it is no doubt a key aspect of continuing to help make Mexico move forward on its way to becoming a more significant power in the world.

Mexico has a vast array of natural resources like petroleum, silver, copper, gold, lead, zinc, natural gas, timber, and water. (fresh and salt) Mexico has no glaciers, all the water is melted). As a regional power and the only Latin American member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since 1994, Mexico is firmly established as an upper middle-income country, considered as a newly industrialized country and has the 11th largest economy in the world by GDP by purchasing power parity, and also the largest GDP per capita in Latin America according to the International Monetary Fund[19]. The economy is strongly linked to those of its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners. (Source – Wikipedia)

Maybe you will look at Mexico a little differently now. I know I do.

Posted in Customer Experiences, Living in the World Today | 3 Comments

It’s time for national 24/7 Wi-Fi access – anywhere and anytime

Posted on July 22, 2009 by markkolier

I move around a lot. More and more I rely on my PDA to communicate. But here I am in a Starbucks in NYC having finished a meeting and preparing for another one. I don’t have a Wi-Fi access card ($ 50 or $ 60/month is way too much as far as I am concerned for something that I will use maybe 5-10 hours per month.

Yet today when I wanted to get on line I was able to access AT & T’s Wi-Fi network for 2 hours for $ 3.99 (plus tax of course). I did not have quite 2 hours but that was a reasonable charge for a la carte internet access – $ 1.50/hour.

Over the weekend I flew Delta and was able to access the internet on the flight for the first time. It worked well and was pretty cool in general. The good news is that for the time being VOIP calls from the plane are blocked – I was worried about that.

Since I also ride the train to New York City frequently I would really like Wi-Fi access to be available. It is said that this is coming but I wonder at what cost? For a trip that takes about an hour and costs $ 10.00 or less it will really bug me if the charge is even $ 5.00! And if you are traveling by car there should be an inexpensive service that allows internet access from wherever you are whenever you want.

It’s more than time for a national Wi-Fi system to be put in place that works cross carriers. The cost to maintain these networks continues to drop and the overall rise in people’s productivity makes this a no-brainer. The cost to the user should be MINIMAL – not $ 50 or $ 60 per month but $ 10 or less.

In the meantime when on the road I will (like most others) hope to catch a signal for free, and then upon failing to do so will pay by the hour or 2 hour session. But I am more than ready for Wi-Fi access 2.0 – aren’t you?

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True confessions – I actually enjoy painting my bridge

Posted on July 17, 2009 by markkolier

thumbnail[6]‘It’s like painting a bridge.’ I like and use the expression quite a bit. The metaphor accurately depicts finally completing something only to have to begin all over again. That’s the way bridges are reputedly painted. Start at one end. Paint the whole thing to the other end. Rinse and repeat. Painting is a cool thing since it offers immediate gratification in the sense that you can see exactly what has been painted and what has not.

Our agency has had some really good success recently. Things we have been working toward and on have come to fruition and new clients are in the fold, projects have been completed and we all have (or so I like to think) a sense of satisfaction that we are contributing to our clients and to our team. But that was so last week or even two weeks ago. Now that those challenges have been met I am ready to take on new ones – do new work, bring in new clients and continue to help our clients have success and grow our company at the same time.

For some people this might be aggravating. The feeling that enough is not enough. Yet that is exactly how I feel. Like most people I love finishing a project, landing a new client etc. But I think I more enjoy the unchartered challenges of the future. And I don’t feel the need to bask in the glory of success for more than a few days. Because then I get the urge to do it all over again.

With so much to do and learn it’s easy to sometimes forget where you are on the bridge in the first place. I also know that I have felt on many occasions that I am the poor sucker whose car broke down in the middle of the bridge. There are no breakdown lanes on bridges either. Not only is that not a good place to be you tick off all the people stuck behind you and watching them go by makes you feel even worse. However in order to get where you are going you have to get right back on the bridge.

Not only am I ok with that but I have learned to embrace and enjoy it. Am I compulsive? People that know me would probably say yes. Are you? Is it a bad thing?

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Doctors and Customer service – an oxymoron?

Posted on July 13, 2009 by markkolier

thumbnail[5]I have been a patron of a medical practice in my hometown for more than 17 years. The office is conveniently located to my house and office which for me is a top priority. The location is the only consistent thing about the practice. I have had three different doctors up and leave the practice over the years while I have remained loyal to the location.

Last week I went to the doctor essentially to extend a prescription and interview one of the ‘new’ doctors as I had not been in the office for over a year (kind of missed my annual checkup when my previous doctors up and left). The doctor mentioned he had been with the practice for more than two years. Who knew? Not me for sure.

I have no intention in this post to write a diatribe on the medical profession in general. But I do think the aspect of customer service (or lack thereof) is notable when discussing one’s health. All my previous doctors in this practice have left and entered the world of ‘concierge’ care. This is where each individual family member pays a flat yearly fee for 24/7 access to a doctor with no waiting. It works outside of insurance for many of the consultations and the reason the doctors enter into concierge care in the first place is their nightmare of dealing with healthcare insurance in general.

One problem with concierge care is that my family is healthy. Between the 4 of us I don’t think there have been more than two total visits to the doctor in over a year. So aside from the substantial cost of engaging in concierge care it would be total waste of money.

So what are we left with? A medical practice that is conveniently located for my life, as well as one that has all of our medical records. When I call even during what they term as normal business hours I get a voice mail system. I really don’t like this when it comes to my health. I often have to call multiple times to actually talk with someone who has a clue. I find the people in the practice (receptionists, nurses, and doctors to be a bit detached and distant). This could be just the practice I go to but I sense it might be endemic of the entire situation as a whole.

At one point I had to wait ‘five’ minutes for the doctor to come in. Twenty minutes later the nurse walked in and said sorry the doctor was running late. Really? The doctor seemed ok and devoid of other better options I will likely soldier on with doctor #4 in this practice.

Why couldn’t the doctors reach out to patients to tell them of the changes and their interest in retaining me and my family as patients? This new doctor had never seen anything regarding my history until he opened the file while I was sitting in the room. However I had done search on the doctor before I walked in and had an idea of where he went to school, his history and credentials.

I talked to a new client prospect last week on the phone for the first time. Their first question was had I looked at their website. I said yes of course and wouldn’t they have been disappointed had I not done so? They liked that a lot and we had a great and productive conversation since they did not have to spend unnecessary time explaining the business model.

It’s no secret that President Obama has taken on a major issue with regard to healthcare reform. The question is can he do anything about reforming the behavior of the medical profession in general. It borders on the outrageous as far as I am concerned.

Am I wrong here?

Posted in Customer Experiences, Living in the World Today | 1 Comment

Is A National Minimum Wage Still Relevant?

Posted on July 7, 2009 by markkolier

A relatively short article on the U.S. Minimum wage in Monday’s Wall Street Journal caught my attention. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124684183990798403.html. As you may have heard the minimum wage is raised July 24th this month to $ 7.25 per hour (from $ 6.55). The article went on to note that 2.8 million workers will be affected by the change. Given a 35 hour work week, that works out to $ 24.50 per week. These are the people who you should never see in Starbucks.

There can be no doubt that $ 100 per month is a substantial amount of money to a number of people. At the same time it is difficult for me to fathom how people can make a living on less than $ 300/week. To live in an expensive city like New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles or even suburbs of those areas is seemingly impossible.

So how does the minimum wage serve people in more expensive areas? It doesn’t. How can the minimum wage be the same for expensive cities as it is in less expensive areas (of which there are many!)? And how does the minimum wage serve entrepreneurial people looking to start a business right now?

A big thing missing here is risk evaluation. Anyone who starts a business and hires even one employee is taking on risk to a much greater degree than a salaried employee. I had business partners years ago who were essentially bankrolling our company. When we finally parted ways they told me that things would be different when I was risking my own money. Boy, were they right.

Business owners take all the risks and apparently the government regularly forgets this fact. Employees must be paid their wages. I get this (and we have no minimum wage employees – not even close). Even if the company does not get paid by a customer (due to a myriad of reasons like oh say – Chapter 7, 11 etc.), the employees still have to be paid. And I agree that is the way it should be.

And without a minimum wage there would be business owners that take advantage of their employees. There always have been and always will be. But the notion of a one –size fits all minimum wage simply does not make sense to me anymore. I don’t see how it really helps worker overall as the increase this month will hardly act as an incentive to start a business. If you think that $ 100 per month is significant to a worker – how about trying to start a new business requiring 6 employees (like the car wash in the article) at $ 100 each per month? That could be just the disincentive needed for an entrepreneur to say – no thanks.

Do you agree?

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The Dark Side of Twitter

Posted on June 30, 2009 by markkolier

Darth Vader

I have been ‘Tweeting’ for nearly a year. It has been an interesting experiment and I have blogged more than a couple of times about what I am experiencing on Twitter. I still ask myself if and how Twitter.com can be used by our agency and our clients as a business application (there are a few examples where I think it works).

The seemingly greatest impact is the social aspect of disseminating information in real time. Events like the shootings in Mumbai, India in 2008 and the current upheaval in Iran were and are well-chronicled in the form of real time tweets. In India it gave the world its first knowledge of the terrible carnage as it occurred and in Iran it has become a way for the world to see what is really going on inside that troubled country.

When I started on Twitter the community appeared to be primarily composed of marketers, news agents and those interested and willing to share information in the form of links and pithy sayings. Then it evolved to become an environment with many people ready to show you how to make money on Twitter – to dominate and blow everyone else out of the water. Such joy! More recently I am seeing Twitter being used to promote pornographic photos (I have some new followers like Amber who wants to share things). Twitter is pretty good about shutting down inappropriate content but the tide is rising so fast that I think the wave may inundate the Twitter universe.

Like the early days of the internet there are Twitter squatters and all kinds of misrepresentation. Just yesterday Biz Stone (Twitter’s founder) acknowledged that Twitter is attempting to come up with a 24 hour response time to protestations about misuse of Twitter names. The Real Shaq has emulators who are all fake Shaq’s. Twitter is also working on a verification system which they say should be released shortly – and none too soon.

All this and there still is no model for Twitter to monetize what it is doing. Combine that with a universe of would-be ‘Twitter marketers’ that for the most part offer nothing much at all and I can easily envision Twitter entering an impending death spiral.

Twitter can be useful and even cool. But unless things change quickly the dark side may well soon overshadow and consume its universe and force it into a black hole.

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Respect my time!

Posted on June 23, 2009 by markkolier

I have spent the better part of my professional career reaching out to prospective customers so I like to think I have a pretty good feel for what works and what does not. Back in the day (this is a relatively recent expression that has become seemingly ubiquitous but I always wonder why?) when I was a young sales guy there were secretaries, assistants and other gatekeepers. Also when I started working there were no individual computers on people’s desks. The old-fashioned letter and the telephone were the primary ways to reach a new prospect.

I heard some of the great excuses about why a prospect could not speak to me. One of the best was when I asked to speak to Mr. Smith the assistant/secretary responded ‘He’s in his office but he’s out of the office.’ Apparently Mr. Smith was a really tricky guy. I knew I needed to refine my approach and did.
Today I am the guy on the other end of the phone when someone calls looking to sell me something or get me to do something. So I respect and respond to a professional and even creative approach. Sadly those approaches are too few and far between.

I don’t have an assistant or (gasp!) a secretary. I never have. I rarely screen my calls. So while I am difficult to reach because of my travel and schedule I do pick up the phone quite regularly having no idea who is on the other end. I have an idea that many people that call me, once they go into voice mail they bail out.

A short summary on the types of cold calls I receive:
1) The young stockbroker – either they call and ask me to hold for someone else (I hang up), or my first name is uttered and the broker goes right into his pitch (I hang up).
2) Someone claiming to know a buyer who is buying businesses similar to mine. I simply ask them what my company does. They never seem to know (I hang up).
3) Other ‘professionals’ try to sell me some product or service. If I am not asked if this a good time or not I give them 10 seconds, then I hang up.

I am hardly averse to be contacted by phone, email or postal or other mail. But keep in mind I may have absolutely no need or desire for your product or service. Ask me if I have a moment to speak or not – more often I will say no but that is a ticket to calling me back at some future date.

Don’t expect me to call you back after you have left me a voice mail in which you did not identify your company or what you calling about. In that instance I NEVER WILL CALL YOU BACK. EVER.

Do – send me a letter suggesting that you will contact me to discuss something you know is relevant to our business.

It’s not that hard folks – just respect the other person’s time.

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