What is ITIL? Sep 25 Patrick Clements

 

ITIL defined by Wikipedia is a set of concepts and techniques for managing information technology infrastructure, development, and operations.  It is concepts that were developed to begin merging IT management with the overall business objectives.  This is really a positive movement in customer service and support. Traditionally companies usually tend to get in their own little silos and say 'Hey, my department is doing their job...everything works well over here' without interfacing with the other business units.  IT departments (from my own personal experience) are the worse at doing this.  What ITIL brings to the table is taking off the blinders and making each department unit operate with the same goals...the goals of the business.  Engaging the customer, creating visibility, assigning accountability, and implementing continuous improvements, these are the basic idea on what the ITIL framework is able to provide. This is not to say that ITIL itself is a simple quick fix.  It's pretty weighty and lives among the same standards that you would find in Six Sigma or the ISO standards. These standards are definitely overkill for a small to medium size company, however the underlying concepts are what are important.  It is our mission to understand the methodology of ITIL and boil it down to something that is tangible and possible for our customers via our web hosted solutions. 

ITIL is a continuous learning and improvement process and we would always be open to hear your thoughts and feedback on how we can move closer to these standards.  IT management of customer service is a growing need and ITIL is providing a map for best practices.

Early Bootstrapping Lessons Jun 27 Jason Moore

Dr. Jeff Cornwall from the Entrepreneurial Mind blog posted a series on creating and maintaining a bootstrapping culture in your business.  This is a topic that is near and dear to the bigWebApps' heart.

It just so happened that I learned bootstrapping at an early age and from an unlikely source.  I attended a small private school through the 8th grade.  Small and private, contrary to initial thoughts, usually means very low budgets.  And our track team was the epitome of a bootstrapping culture.

I ran hurdles... otherwise know as "hurdle" during practice.  OK. OK.  We had TWO hurdles that we set up in the back alley behind the school.  The only time anyone on our team actually saw a full series of hurdles was at a track meet against schools who most definitely had more than two!

Our pole-vaulter (just so happens to be bigWebApps' CEO, Patrick Clements) was the biggest champion of the bootstrapping efforts, though.  Our pole had as much flexibility as lead and the very safe landing mat was (not kidding) a mesh net with some not-so-foamy objects stuffed in.  It appeared to me that someone had visited the dumpster of a local carpeting store and selected the finest (but under-appreciated) scraps of carpet padding available.

In the 7+ years since we founded bigWebApps, we have created some great products, formed and cultivated some amazing relationships with clients, and improved our overall business intelligence.  But there really is one primary reason why bigWebApps was able to survive those dreaded first 5 years for new businesses: Our CEO, Patrick, was diligent (read "downright stubborn" at times) about keeping costs low whenever and wherever possible.  --I'll save our early hotel and rental car accommodations for a later date!

The bootstrapping culture has been set.  Dr. Cornwall's posts will give you ideas for other areas (such as how to hire other bootstrappers) where you can cultivate the bootstrapping culture.

And thanks to the Holy Name Cardinals' non-existent budget for teaching us early lessons!

Other posts in Dr. Cornwall's series: Recruiting Bootstrappers, Rewarding Bootstrappers, and Bootstrapping Top Down

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?

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.

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.

Who Isn't Saving Money On Car Insurance? Apr 06 Jason Moore

Who out there is one of the poor souls in this day and age who is NOT saving hundreds of dollars on their car insurance.  Geico has absolutely shaken up the auto insurance industry due to their business model being built around new technology.

The evidence of the end of the end is that the two stalwarts of the industry are now proclaiming to save you money on insurance.  Being friends with several State Farm representatives this would have NEVER happened without real distress about the future.

With bigWebDesk, we try to never sell on price.  We also don't shy away from discussions on pricing because we feel it is priced fairly.  It's our job to express how our product can help our prospects and clients.  Once we have done our job, we hope that the prospect feels the same about our pricing.  One piece of proof that we are not afraid of pricing is that we have it on our website (updated calculator coming soon for easier estimates) for anyone to see.  No gatekeepers, magic voodoo spells, or tricky opt-out newsletter games.

Personally, I feel Allstate and State Farm are devaluing their service by getting in the price war game.  Especially one that I feel they don't stand a chance in.  Their organization is simply not set up to compete with Geico's efficiencies.

Would Dr. Seuss Approve of This Use? Mar 16 Jason Moore

My son and I went this weekend to see Horton Hears a Who.  I felt like Blue Sky Studios did a great job bringing Dr. Seuss' much shorter story to a feature length film.

But what if it wasn't what Dr. Seuss had in mind?  To take it a step further, what if it was exactly what he did NOT want it to be?

How do your customers translate your products and services.  There's no doubt that they have more questions that you are able to answer (or questions that they are not asking).  How is the spec of information you are giving them being translated?  What would their feature length film be?

The best we can do is honestly answer any questions that clients have.  One step further would be to share the questions from other clients (and our answers to them) to the entire community.  This would serve as a stronger outline for your clients' movie than the limited amount of information they receive directly.

Let's make sure when Horton tries to tell your story to others, he is given as full of a picture as possible.

More information about Dr. Seuss can be found below.  It's also interesting to see the different interpretations of Horton through the years.

Wikipedia on Dr. Seuss

Chuck Jones version

Deluxe Version?

As far as companies providing helpdesk applications today, we may as well come to grips with the reality that we are as small as the spec where Whoville exists.

Building Bridges to the Future Mar 11 Jason Moore

bigWebDesk, our web helpdesk software, has a historical retention rate of 97% year over year for the last 8 years.  But what about that 3%.  Our primary focus as a company has always been to provide "ultimate client fulfillment" during our relationship.  A key factor here is that when that 3% does decide to move away from your product, the relationship is still alive.

This is your time to shine if you want to prove yourself as a company truly dedicated to your customer's best interests.  The most difficult aspect in a time like this is the uncertain.  Will your efforts pay off in the end?  Will the customer come back?  Do they know just how bad their decision is? :-) 

But the important thing to remember is that none of these things should matter.  You should continue to provide that ultimate client fulfillment to the very end.  This is your bridge to possibly resurrecting the relationship in the future.

Seth discusses this in reference to the current political climate. His ideas, like always, are applicable in many contexts.  Should you, as a company, change your demeanor to defend your turf?  You should do everything you can to find out what is driving the client's decision, but in the end it is the way you handle what is potentially your last contact with them that will resonate in their mind.

Install and Haul Mar 07 Jason Moore

This clever little phrase was coined by our CEO, Patrick Clements, a few years back.  What Patrick was eluding is how bigWebApps looks to start a long-term relationship with every prospect/client that we encounter.  Many software companies have a model based upon signing a client up and moving on to the next prospect.  This can be done very effectively, so this is not an attempt to downgrade that approach.  But it's not the right fit for everyone.

Our desire is to be the first thought when one of our clients has a question relating to helpdesk, asset management, and inventory management.  Personally, I love it when I can call a client and say, "This is Jason" and they almost immediately know which "Jason" (of the millions) it is.  This is not necessarily related to the frequency of conversations that we may have had, but the quality of conversations.  If a client asks about my kids by name, I feel I have done my job well.

Then, the next step, is to continue to build upon that relationship throughout the rest of the conversation by helping them with their current problem or answering the question(s) that they have.

The Selling Sherpa has put together a concise list of items that he feels is important to becoming #1 in your marketplace.  This list felt so familiar while reading, it was almost eery.  Great list from a great blogger if you are looking for any new material for your reading/education pleasure.

So if the "Install and Haul" relationships that you currently have are not fulfilling your needs, give us a call and I'll let you know my kids' names...