The Minimalist Approach Apr 28 Patrick Clements

I was inspired by a recent article by the 37 Signals guys about the minimalist approach.  Less is More and More of Less is even better!  bigWebApps is currently going through a restructuring phase and taking a step back from the mounds of development we have done over the past few years.  We are looking at what we have in our solutions and instead of continuing to add development we are seeing how we can make these feature sets better for our existing customers.  We have been feature chasers for a long time and to large degree we will always forward engineer our solutions based on client feedback.  Now it's time for us to take in requests, sit on them for a few months and really see if there is a true need.

Too often companies continue to concentrate on growth and revenue and lose sight of what it is their true customers want.  Quality of product begins to suffer and you begin to see loyal customers finding alternate choices (because there is always going to be alternate choices!).  It is our job to evaluate new feature additions with what is ultimately best in line with our solutions. Design is about being able to accomplish most of what you want with the least amount of distractions.  Focusing on creating simple, clean, and functional software is our passion and we will continue to keep the minimalist approach in mind for future development.

The Last Detail Apr 23 Jason Moore

“It turns out that until you reach the last detail, consumers are just satisfied.  When you actually nail the last detail they become loyal.  Loyalty is your goal."

David Vinjamuri, Accidental Branding

This is a fantastic quote on many levels.  There is the obvious interpretation where your customer service reps should work very hard to make sure that the customer's needs are met efficiently (and preferably proactively).

But digging deeper is where the real meat and potatoes are with this one.  Your customer service reps obviously should be focused on the customer.  But what about your bookkeeper? or marketing director? or warehouse manager?

This is the real final detail. 

Have you as the CEO/manager/team leader ingrained the idea of ultimate client fulfillment to a point where providing a caller with your Fed ID number for billing purposes is recognized as a great opportunity to provide a fantastic customer experience?  If not, have you rounded out that final detail?

The final detail could be looked at as an unattainable goal.  I prefer to look at it as the journey (and the reason to travel in the first place).

Where can you find opportunities to polish a final detail in your organization?

Embrace the Challenge! Apr 22 Jason Moore

One of my favorite politically correct terms is "challenging."  As in that customer is very challenging.  Or the new girl in sales is a real challenge to work with.

The reason why I find this term appealing is that it is completely appropriate for its intended use.  Your challenging customers, co-workers, employees, and tasks are the ones who make you better in the long run.  BUT only if you accept the challenge, find a way to effectively confront it, and eventually learn from it.

There's a reason why everyone you know does not run marathons (including me!).  We have not looked at the training and dedication as a challenge that we would like to accept.  This can be due to laziness, lack of dedication, or simply that you don't see any value in running a marathon.  It is VERY RARELY a lack of ability to do something.

It's the same with your job.  So the next work order that you receive that makes you want to throw your monitor out the window, take a deep breath and thank that customer for the opportunity to learn.

This is your challenge if you choose to accept it.

What challenge are you going to take on today that you put off yesterday (or last year)?

 

P.S.  "I don't have the time" is nothing more than an overused excuse.

 

P.P.S.  If you just said "I really don't have the time", you are only kidding yourself.  Turn off the TV, wake up a little earlier, or re-evaluate what your daily schedule is filled with.  But please don't say you don't have the time.  "I have not prioritized for that" is a completely acceptable replacement.

The Rough is Not the Goal Apr 20 Jason Moore

"If you find yourself pleased that you locate more balls in the rough than you actually have lost, your focus is totally wrong and your personality might not be right for golf."

-Anonymous

 

What "wins" are you celebrating in your job?

Are You Making Meatball Sundaes? Apr 11 Jason Moore

Seth Godin's latest book, Meatball Sundae, is another quick read that will make your brain churn at warp speed during and after reading.

You can find plenty of "reviews" on the book, so I'll spare you mine.  BUT don't stop reading, yet! :)

This book has really caused a riff in my brain because we, as bigWebApps, do a few of the things so correctly by nature that it makes me feel great!  On the other hand, we do some of the items so poorly that I get minor pangs of discouragement.

The thing that we do most correctly, fortunately, is what lies at the base of doing everything else properly.  This "thing" is the understanding that your client is not just your client anymore.  Your client  now serves as your co-worker, employer, partner, reseller...basically any role with substantial power and influence for your company.

The fortunate thing about what we do poorly is that it is most likely the easiest to correct.  Make no mistake, it is not SELF-correctable.  If we do not put full focus on making the proper changes, we will not reach our desired goals.

I can feel the tide a-turning, though.  And I like the direction that the breeze is starting to blow.

Simple Pleasures Apr 10 Patrick Clements

It's not often I get to use a pen from the moment it comes out of the box all the way to the moment it goes into the trash.  It's an odd feeling of accomplishment.

Making the Switch Apr 10 Jason Moore

 

Last night, I took the few steps that I knew that are needed to completely transition to Firefox as my default browser.

Welcome to the new world...

The main reason I switched is to see how our applications are performing in Firefox on a proactive instead of reactive basis.  The applications get tested in the most of the main browsers, but I don't know if anyone here uses FF exclusively... until now.

The Best Way to Spread Your Message Apr 09 Jason Moore

Seth Godin, once again, nails it!

A few of the companies that I am passionate about made my list solely on the fact of how they answer the phone.  One of them is GoDaddy.  Each time I have called them with a question, the service rep who answered was amazingly well versed on all topics discussed.  It was clearly evident that there were no call scripts (outside of the greeting) or canned answers about why something was not their fault.

This is something that we strive for as well here at bigWebApps.  We are currently working with early conceptions on how to improve our support and training for our clients.  One of our clients asked how she could know what we know which has led us to think about our help material in a different light.

Our goal for our help and training material is that if someone utilizes the tools that we give them, they could easily strap on a headset and start answering support calls for us.

The challenges to this outlook are flooding my brain right now, but the overall concept has me extremely excited.

There are two main points at play here as well:

• Make our applications as simple and easy to understand as possible
• When complex tasks are necessary, supply the person with the necessary "training" to become an expert if they are willing to dedicate the time (keeping in mind that time is a precious resource)

Do you know of a company whose training and help materials exceed all of your expectations?  Share those with us!

Missing Expectations Apr 08 Jason Moore

I am a huge of Samuel Adams Brewery.  Not just their beer, but the whole culture that the company portrays.  And, from as far as I can tell, their passion for the product is real.  Because of this, I have gone as far as subscribing to their newsletter.  This is an oddity for me, so they are doing something correctly.

But the newsletter they sent out today about the possibility of dangerous bottles being in circulation was a complete and utter disappointment.  My disappointment does not lie in the fact that there is a possibility of the bottles getting through their quality assurance measures.  My disappointment lays squarely on the fact that the tone of their email was focused on passing the buck.

This is a very small snippet of the full email, but it underlines the overall tone.

We are disappointed that because of these bottles supplied to us, we didn't live up to your expectations as a loyal Sam Adams drinker.

I may be over-analyzing, but a defective product did not get to the consumer because of a supplier.  100% of the blame should be hoisted on your company's shoulders when mistakes happen.  As in this case, if you have provided a great product that people enjoy being a consumer of, they will forgive you.  But this email does not convince me that they recognize where they made a mistake.

Growth vs. Greed Apr 08 Patrick Clements

A guy that is quickly becoming somewhat of a Internet icon for new businesses is Ricardo Semler, CEO of Semco.  In order to be brief, Semler has revolutionized not only the structure of the workforce, but has also pulled out what is truly the bottom line of his company.  Here is a quote from his book "Maverick: The Success Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace"

A few years ago, I struggled with an opportunity to acquire a company with five plants and 2,000 employees. “Why do we want to grow more?” I asked myself. Are we going to be better for it?”...

It’s all about persistence, isn’t it? But where does persistence end and obsession begin? How high is too high? How big is too big? Of course, some growth is necessary for any business to keep up with competitors and provide new opportunities for its people. But so often it is power and greed and plain stubbornness that make bigger automatically seem better…

Semco has learned that to want to grow big just to be big is a catch…Much about growth is really about ego and greed, not business strategy.

This is a an ideology that resonates very closely with bigWebApps.  It is definitely our goal to provide our applications to as many interested customers and prospects in an effort to grow our revenue.  However, increasing the bottom line is not just to have more dollars in the bank.  It is to ensure we are;

• Constantly providing advancing cool technologies
• Maintaining reliable services for customers
• Hiring and retaining fun people to be around

If we take care of these core principles then the company will take care of itself.  Being aggressive in the marketplace is one thing (in fact it's a must if you want to keep the lights on), but to grow for greed will never win. [Insert Enron]