There’s a warm feeling you get when you walk into a familiar place. When the staff knows you by name, greets you with delight and serves up “the usual”, you feel honored, respected and welcome. This is the differentiator between the “mom and pop shop” and the mega mall; between the corner store and the [...]
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Tag Archives: technology
Seek or Go Hide
January 27, 2011
11 Comments
“Hide and Seek” had screeched to a halt! My 11 year-old son had outsmarted his younger sisters by hiding BEHIND the dryer! My poor daughters had looked every place they knew. They were now wailing that he’d run away from home. It was time for Dad to get involved. With a loud shout, I commanded [...]
Read moreWhy We Matter
January 11, 2011
19 Comments
I didn’t even KNOW I was a Technical Writer. You see, back in 1995, I’d been brought on as a TEMP to answer merger-related email for a bank. When the bank’s Online Customer Service department suddenly faced an external audit, they asked me to document all the internal procedures. A few weeks later, as that [...]
Read moreDocumentation as a Support Channel
December 14, 2010
6 Comments
The technical communication profession collectively peers through a window of opportunity. I work at the intersection of technical communication and customer service. My digital strategy tasks focus on the efficient delivery of effective content. So when I see someone who truly understands how valuable quality content can be to a customer, I jump for joy. [...]
Read moreRenewable Service in Disposable Industries
December 10, 2010
13 Comments
“Please state your date of birth.” A few feet in front of me, an elderly woman looked up at a young cashier. Stunned and flustered, the elegant matron asked “Why do you need to know my date of birth?” The cashier deadpanned, “Halo 3 is rated M for Mature: I can’t sell it to you [...]
Read morePlanned Inconvenience
December 8, 2010
27 Comments
The Customer Service revolution is OVERDUE. This week, I called my bank to close an extra business account that I no longer needed. What happened next was stunning. Before the bank finally closed the account: I spoke with five different humans I was read a formal apology sentence by all five I was authenticated four [...]
Read moreRenewable Documentation in a Disposable World
November 15, 2010
12 Comments
Recently, the Lead Change Group invited me to share my thoughts on Renewable Leadership in a Disposable World. In the post, I explain how several 20th-Century organizations fixated on quarterly profits at the expense of their own long-term viability. There are many differences between the disposable and renewable organization and I won’t repeat them all [...]
Read moreThe Age of Accountability
November 8, 2010
15 Comments
Mark Twain once quipped, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” And for so long, this was so. But something is underway, a great shift toward truth or consequences. Technology has transformed the times. Access to instant information has pulled back the curtain on the [...]
Read moreDefeating Disappointment
October 27, 2010
11 Comments
Though often stereotyped, we Technical Communicators are truly NOT all alike. We paint our word pictures using every color of the visible light spectrum. We differ in our tastes, preferences and opinions, just like workers in any other profession. That said, throughout my 15 years in this field, I HAVE noticed a few key similarities [...]
Read moreNurturing Advocacy
October 22, 2010
5 Comments
Like any other tool, Social media can be used for good or ill. Some brands use social channels primarily to promote products. Like a car alarm in a parking lot, a stream of hype quickly becomes a noisy annoyance to customers. But once in a while, a brand takes great care to understand and then [...]
Read more- Planned Inconvenience
- Top Tweets of 2011
- Bring your WHOLE self to Work?
- Why We Matter
- May the True “You” Shine Through
- The Paradox of Social CRM
- Top Tweets of 2011
- Influence and Advocacy
- May the True “You” Shine Through
- Lose Some “Wait”
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tomopencrm: Really interesting article. It's a real paradox - ...
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Clemens Rettich: Love this Tristan. It is so refreshing to see some...
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KnowledgeBishop: Fantastic content collection, Mary Ellen! Thank yo...
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