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Beyond the Horizon

MAY MEANDERINGS

Greetings from Beyond the Event Horizon:

Reactions are mostly positive to my meandering riffs, so let’s repeat that theme this month…

  • Loved this line from a movie review and it really doesn’t matter what the flick is - “…sometimes all you want from a movie is 93 minutes of well-wrought absurdity!”

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I’ve been an Avis Preferred member for over 30 years, yet before each rental I still get an email asking:

  • Is this your first time picking up as a Preferred Member?
  • If you haven’t already, download the app to expedite the process.
  • In their profile I am still “Samuel”.  Sheesh.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been pleased with the service, the reliability, and the app does have nice functionality - I wouldn’t have stuck with them if it wasn’t satisfactory and occasionally even superior service.

However, shouldn’t 30 years’ worth of history/data be leveraged, thereby allowing Avis to provide better and more personalized service?  At the very least, they should know I have and use the app.

Similarly, I completely understand the why but isn’t it several kinds of annoying when receiving a text message from Open Table or Tock reminding you (repeatedly) of an upcoming reservation in addition to the winery or restaurant calling, too?

All this is to ask – What do you KNOW, or should you know about your customers?  Are you using that knowledge to DELIGHT and, therefore, KEEP them forever?  Perhaps occasionally asking for a referral?  Would love to hear of your best data-driven successes, so share away!

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Most readers will know I’m a salesman at heart.  As an independent contractor I sell a wonderful local media sales software and am also SAVING organizations impossibly large and easy-to-find dollars.  However, when introducing myself most times I simply say, “…I’m a consultant to the media world,” and that’s it.

Da riff – by definition consultants are supposed to be certain of an answer, or at least the path to one, right?  What’s the old saw – Often Wrong, Yet Never in Doubt?!

However, I’m convinced every problem or challenge has MORE than one solution.  Virtually nothing is just Black and White; Right or Wrong; Up or Down.  There’s no One Way and that’s it - the world and most challenges are far more complex and nuanced.

One would hope the decisions executives make – in any and all industries - are thoughtful, made fairly and based upon research (references, online search, etc.) and the merits of the proposal, the outcomes promptly communicated to the stakeholders in a helpful way and in a TIMELY manner. 

No doubt everyone would agree.  Let me linger on that last point:

GO FASTER!

The pace at which most operate is breathtakingly slow.

Yes, our worlds are increasingly chaotic, and we have more deadlines (or distractions) than ever, and these seem to have forced all of us – yep, include me on this list – to kick major decisions down the road repeatedly.  It feels like we're moving at warp speed and couldn’t go any faster, yet perpetual “busy” work prevents us from making MeANIngFuLL decisions or focusing on the really important!

I’ll never recall where I first heard this, but love the saying: “If I’m going to get lost, let me do it in a hurry, so I find my way in a hurry, too!”

Good luck finding a good solution in short order!

 
 
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