This week’s ‘OOPS’ award for bad business communication goes to an internet service-provider which I’ve been asked not to name.
Recently, their customers in an area of South-East England experienced an interruption to their internet connection which went on for more than 24 hours. Naturally, when their emails and web access went down, the first thing they did was to ring the ISP. When they got through, they were treated to a recorded message, apologising for the breakdown, assuring callers they were doing everything they could to restore connections – and recommending customers to:
‘Keep up to date with our progress by logging on to our website at www…’.
Hmm… what can I say…?
February 22, 2011
OOPS! ISP Loses Its Connection With Common Sense
March 19, 2010
“REAL” Complements
When I finished writing – for the moment anyway – I found I had time to read. I used some of it to read “24 Carat BOLD – The Standard For Real Thought Leaders” by Mindy Gibbins-Klein.
She uses the acronym “REAL” to explain the four main attributes which she says turn a person into a “Real Thought Leader” – not just an expert in their field, but “the expert” in their field – the “go-to person”.
R – reach
E – engagement
A – authority and
L – longevity,
but if the neatness of that makes you think “Here comes another trite business book by an ‘expert’ in the blindingly obvious!”, think again. It’s solid stuff – but not stolid. Yes, there’s a lot of business common sense in there – but there’s also a lot of uncommon sense.
Mindy and I have met a few times on the networking circuit, but I didn’t realise how much common ground we have until I read the book. She recommends getting “REAL” by writing a book, because that’s her specialism and there’s still no substitute for giving someone something tangible to remember you by. I recommend getting “REAL” through podcasting, because that’s my specialism and there’s no substitute for the human voice. Every aspect of that acronym applies to using sound as it does to print. I’m not anti-print by any means, as you know – I’m about to go into it myself! As an obsessive communicator, I’m not anti any medium. A couple of weeks ago, when I was having a go at the BBC Strategy Review, I said I was a “multi-dimensional person” whose needs couldn’t all be met by one product. All the different ways of touching people – personal meetings, phone, email, the printed word, audio, video, online interaction –have their respective strengths and weaknesses. So they all have a place and work best when they work together – like people really.