In my customer service training seminars and book (out soon...maybe this week), I talk about the importance of the "Baker's Dozen".  The baker's dozen is when you deliver a little bit more than what the customer expects.  The term originated from bakers putting 13 rolls in a bag when you only order 12, but still charging you for just 12.  This weekend, I upgraded to a new Android phone (sorry Steve and Steve).  My customer service rep at Sprint was very pleasant, knowledgeable, and helpful.  When we were nearly finished with the transaction (which, by the way, took only about 15 minutes), he handed me two stapled sheets of paper with a list of recommended applications which he and his boss and compiled.  It wasn't fancy, but it was very helpful and a complete surprise.  Sure, I realize there are online forums and other sources with similar recommendations, but that's not the point.  The point is that Justin (my rep) made a simple gesture of kindness and helpfulness which was totally unexpected, and greatly appreciated.   It cost Sprint nothing, but it helped solidify me as a customer.  More importantly, I'm writing a positive blog post about Sprint and speaking positively about Sprint to my friends.  Wouldn't it be great if people would do that for your business?  What are you doing today to provide a "Baker's Dozen" for your customers?

Naikan is a philosophy of incorporating gratitude in everyday living.  Every year at Thanksgiving, for the past several years, I've sent an email to my soundtraining.net customer list on the subject of gratitude and Naikan.  Here's a link to this year's email/blog post on my soundtraining.net blog.

I commented today on Facebook that "I'm thankful today for my family, friends, and colleagues, for animals, for music, theatre, this amazing Earth, for my parents, for a warm house, fried chicken, pumpkin pie, and armagnac."

I hope you and family and friends have a blessed Thanksgiving today.  If you're reading this from a country other than the U.S., you can still pause and reflect on your blessings.  I'm blessed to have you as a reader.  Thank you!

I was honored to interview best-selling author Meryl Runion recently for the Speak Strong show.  We talked about gossip and manipulation in the workplace.  She offers some practical and immediately useful suggestions on how to deal with it:  http://www.speakstrong.com/audio/TheSSShow.mp3

Although the focus of this blog is generally non-technical, as an author I'm not going to miss an opportunity to promote my books.  My new book, The Accidental Administrator:  Linux Server Step-by-Step Configuration Guide is now available on Amazon.com.  I'm really proud of it because it will take you from knowing nothing about Linux to a fully functioning server.  It's for folks who already have some computer savvy--it's not a beginner's book by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm trying to simplify things.  I maintain several blogs and I'm going to consolidate them all into two blogs.  This will be my personal blog where I can rant and pontificate on various things including business and workplace foibles and anything else that occurs to me.  The other blog is my technical blog at http://blog.soundtraining.net where I'll discuss things of a technical nature for I.T. people.  My point in telling you this is because you may start seeing some older posts appear as I import them from other blogs and I just want you to know what's going on.

Thanks for following and reading.

I'm going to whine for a moment.  I subscribe to a wonderful newsletter, but the author is out of touch with how lots of (maybe most) people are working these days.  Every two weeks he sends me an email with a link to a PDF version of his newsletter.  That requires that I have a PDF viewer installed on my computer (okay, most of us do) and that I wait for the newsletter to download so that I can read it.  The problem is that, just like most people, I'm very busy and not inclined to wait for much of anything these days.  The other problem is that I tend to read my email on my phone and PDFs just don't work very well on phones.  Even though his newsletter contains worthwhile information, he makes it too difficult to get to it and read it, so I don't.  I usually just delete it.  One of his competitors, on the other hand, sends a simple text version of her newsletter.  It's brief, to-the-point, no graphics, and I can read it in less than 30 seconds.  She has links to her website if I want more info.  I read her email every week. Here are my rules for email newsletters:

1. Make a text-only version
2. Keep it short so it can be read in less than a minute
3. Use headlines and article summaries that impart useful information in minimal time
4. Include links to more detailed articles on your webiste
5. Forget about producing PDF newsletters.  Just don't do it!
6. Use minimal graphics and keep them small
7. Test your newsletter on your phone
8. Edit, edit, edit

One of the best email newsletters around is from Chris Clarke-Epstein.  She sends out a one or two paragraph email with a single thought.  I read every email she sends, I think about what she writes about, and I remember her name.  Her website is www.change101.com If you can just get people to remember your name in today's world, you're ahead of the game.

This is an episode to let you know a little about me. It's nice to meet you!

I ran across a great article on why your advertising may not be working: http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2009/sb20090911_201004.htm It's especially relevant for small business.

Among the many things are customers expect from us is responsiveness.

This is the willingness to respond to customer needs by answering their phone or email requests quickly, by acknowledging them quickly in-person, and being willing to do what it takes to respond effectively to a service request.

Responsiveness is adopting a can-do attitude, and a willingness to go the extra mile for the customer. There is an increasing large body of research suggesting that soft skills (such as listening, empathy, courtesy and creating rapport) are more important than technical skills in your success in business.  Certainly, you must have adequate technical skills to meet your customers needs, but it's your "soft skills" that will allow you to develop lasting relationships with your customers.

A positive attitude is the first step in building good soft skills. You have control over your attitude. Just like you can choose what clothes to wear in the morning, you can also choose what attitude to assume every day. You can choose to see the glass as half-full, or half-empty. Cliche perhaps, but true nonetheless.  Your approach, or attitude, toward life is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If your attitude is “Every experience is an opportunity!”, then you will interpret everything that happens to you as an interesting journey. On the other hand, if you approach your business and your life in a less than positive way, every bump in the road will seem like a huge obstacle.

Respond quickly to your customers and keep a positive, cheerful attitude and you're well on your way to winning customers for life.

Yesterday, I was cajoled, hoodwinked, and nagged into volunteering by my friend Sara to moderate a Toastmasters event at a local high school.  I didn't really understand what she wanted me to do, but I wanted to do her a favor so I agreed.  I was completely unprepared for what happened.

It turned out that the event was part of the College Success Foundation.  Use the link to learn more about the foundation.  For the purpose of this post, I'll just say that the kids participating in the event were all high-potential students from low-income families.  Through a partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CSF is providing substantial scholarships and mentoring to these students.  The students I worked with were all between their junior and senior years at Kent-Meridian High School in Kent, Washington.
Sara and I divided the 23 students into two groups.  She moderated one and I did the other.  Each of the students delivered a 5-7 minute prepared talk about their educational and career goals.  Our jobs were to listen to their speeches and moderate as the other students evaluated the speaker.  I had ten students in my group.  Here are their career goals:  doctor, lawyer, humanitarian aid worker, surgeon, pediatrician, French/Spanish teacher (he also wants to form a French/Spanish club for immigrants), accountant, electrical engineer, medicine, criminal prosecutor, doctor.

All of the students were very bright.  Many of them had not been academically successful prior to the program.  All of them are very much concerned with their grades now.  Many of them come from families who don't understand the importance of education.  One of them came from a family that is opposed to her accepting the scholarship and pursuing higher education.  All of them are articulate.  All of them are interested in doing something to make the world a better place.  Thanks to this program, all of them have hope.

At the end of our session, I told the group how much I respect them for what they're doing and how excited I am for each of them.  I told them that the most important voice to listen to is their heart and to follow their heart in spite of all the noise around them.

I came into the event thinking I was doing Sara a favor.  By the end of the two hours, I was emotionally drained (in a positive way) and I realized that, in fact, Sara had done me a favor by including me in the event.  I left the event more hopeful for the future of our country and our world than I've been in a long time.

Thanks to Sara, Randy (the coordinator), Bill and Melinda Gates, the hundreds of other volunteers in CSF, but especially thanks to Tetiana, Edith, Stephanie, Nichole, Eryka, Cristian, Venus, Henry, Marian, Asha, and Amandeep.  God speed!