Nick asks: “If we guarantee products, why not service? How can you claim a commitment to customer service without being willing to back it up with a guarantee?”

He then goes on to use U.S. Bancorp as an example how a service can be guaranteed. Read the full post on FusionBrand.

The ANZ Bank has (had?) a $5.00 Five-Minute Teller Queue Guarantee, where you get $5 if they …

From Stilgherrian’s post: The tyranny of the ideal:

Design idealised processes, safely away from the people doing the work. You are the consultant, you know best.

Idealised processes make great flowcharts to present to the board (the people paying your fees) – especially when you remove the messiness that is humanity. Yuck.

Implement the process. They, the people doing the work, will take it (or leave). More …

NRMA Insurance is running a series of simple TV and radio ads at the moment. All they do is list stats about how many claims they have paid out, and how quickly, in response to recent floods in parts of New South Wales.

Nothing about how much they care about customer service, or how many years they have been in business, or how they are committed …

This excerpt from a recent conversation I had with a friend:

“…I know what you mean about products from China [being ill thought-through]. It is not that they lack the ability. I think they are so used to making bits and pieces in isolation for western companies, and they are only just now realising that they can put the bits together themselves and sell complete products directly to the …

From The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff (ISBN 0-416-19526-1), this story illustrating the Taoist principle of Effortless Action or Wu Wei ??:

The Old Master and the Horse

A horse was tied outside a shop in a narrow Chinese village street. Whenever anyone would try to walk by, the horse would kick him. Before long, a small crowd of villages had gathered near the …

Hi,

Your wisdum really gets me through the day zern. You are the guru of gurus. I picture you as a rich man who sips cocktails all day while wearing sunnies and board shorts with heaps of beautiful ladies around you while you’re typing business wisdom on your laptop by your mad-ass swimming pool. I envy you.

Mate, I have a question. I work in a medium sized company. My …

I gave a talk this week to several hundred high school students at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research where the Eating Disorders Foundation had their Youth Forum. My talk was about body image – specifically how fantasies are literally manufactured in the media, advertising and the fashion industry.

Eating disorders aside, there is no doubt that being constantly bombarded with impossible and unattainable ideals will negatively affect self …

The gym I go to, Fitness First, has their own slick in-gym music TV channel with commercials. OK, so we cannot escape advertising. Not such a big deal right? But what if I told you that some of the commercials Fitness First runs in the gym, while you are working out, are for liposuction and cosmetic surgery?

I am seriously offended.

So what’s next? Pizza and fried chicken ads? I …

If you haven’t noticed, there’s currently a spate of spam or PC intrusion attempts using emails disguised as ecard notifications. You know, the ones that say “you have received an ecard” with a link to click on. Which presumably then causes trojan horses and all sorts of other nasties to be installed on your PC.

This is so sad. Ecards were a great way to keep in touch with …

Smart Company posted this:

Can’t afford to give your staff a pay rise? Boost their egos instead with a significant sounding title. … it could well result in them getting a better job with more pay somewhere else!

Good grief. How much more dishonest and superficial can you get?!!! I can’t believe they seem to be endorsing this behaviour. So much for being “Smart” if they were…