Posts

Older folk often lament about the good old days when you had good old fashioned customer service.

Then the internet was born, along with the overseas outsourced call centres and customer service seemed to exit stage right

But more recently, there seems to have been a backlash, largely I suspect due to customer complaints, and the modern review driven culture.

Companies now proudly claim to use local call centres, staffed with regional accents, and shout the customer service message loudly from the roof tops.

I called BT (residential) recently and had the happiest Indian based chap in the world, who was falling over himself to make me happy, and finally even resolved my problem. Phoning back 30 minutes later just to make sure I was still happy...

Compared to years ago where you would sit patiently in the queue. I think the worst used to be NTL broadband (what happened to them?) and trying to talk to their patronising support department

With the power in consumers hands via reviews and social media, have things changed?

What are peoples perceptions? Is customer service in general getting better or worse? Or is customer service better with smaller companies who are quick to react, versus the large PLC's who are still playing catch up?

So you've built up your business, it's making a nice return, then all of a sudden during that posh night out, the fish-bone gets stuck in your throat and you croak it 

Ok not the most glamorous exit from this world, but what happens to the business? What happens to your social media profiles, forum accounts, online data etc?

Can the business continue with the loss of its principal?

Probably not that high on most peoples to do list, and not most peoples idea of an exit strategy but it is worth seriously thinking about, and planning for.

I expect a lot will depend on the type of business. If you are a sole trader, trades-person, freelance web designer etc, then presumably trading will cease and those left behind will need to close down your activities.

If you are a business selling products or services with employees, then in theory there is no reason why this can't continue. But who will run it? Will those left behind that inherit the company or any equity be expected to play a role in running the business? Maybe you're loved ones will want nothing to do with the business as it will be a constant reminder.

The hassle of archiving or removing online data

I did a post Successful Digital Empires, Social Networking profiles, then you croak it back in 2010 and suggested it would be a good business model for someone to offer a digital vault service with all of your business ID's, plans, wishes and would close down social profiles and remove online data.

4 years later, I wonder if such a one stop shop or service exists? Seems an obvious model for a legal or will writing firm.

Google launched a policy last year with the subtlety named Inactive Account Manager which handles what happens to your Google data and profiles.

Facebook now has a memorialized option for Facebook personal accounts, I'm not sure if this also covers business pages.

Linked in has a more long-winded option, requiring relatives to fill in a form: Deceased LinkedIn Member - Removing Profile

Twitter also has a long-winded policy requiring documents being sent to San Francisco: Contacting Twitter about a deceased user

Pinterest doesn't seem to have a deceased policy, instead directs you to deactivating or reactivate an account. Re-activating would be quite impressive 

Then of course there are the email providers, forum accounts, ebay, other online communities.

Be proactive and plan now

Save or reduce distress, financial complications and hassle for those left behind. Assign some time and sit down work out a plan of action. It may be a straightforward word doc, or may mean a trip to the solicitors and a professional will drawn up, with your business interests and wishes documented. Talk openly to your partner and loved ones and make sure they understand and are happy with any decisions. 

You may find out they have different ideas. There are all sorts of options, equity can go into trusts for kids, dividends can be paid to partners, businesses can be put up for sale as going concerns, or broken up and asset stripped. Find a solution that works for you. I know from my experience it wasn't as straightforward as I expected, and we've ended up with quite a complicated, but workable plan that benefits everyone, and hopefully ensures the business survives.

Also remember any plan may well need amending from time to time, so schedule an update if circumstances or situations change.

Has anyone else actually sat down and planned for the just in case, or even considered it? Not the cheeriest of subjects I know, but we all have one thing in common, hopefully later rather than sooner!  

I quite like the idea of a deceased digital service, so if a will writer or legal bod fancies joining forces, let me know 

You can see recent posts? 

Well I'll admit it's been a while since I used a recruitment company so things have (maybe??) changed since 

But when I left the military in '99 and was starry eyed looking for IT work, the quality of recruitment agencies in the IT sector was shockingly bad. The impression I got was they were just trying to meet targets and fill quotas. I was repeatedly put forward for jobs I wasn't qualified for or had no experience in. A shiny new Microsoft certified techie going for Linux and Novell Server roles. I was very quickly eaten alive, and is a big knock to your confidence.

Years later when I was experienced and looking to jump ship, things didn't seem to have changed, and when I ended up receiving CV's as a line manager, the quality of candidates was terrible.

Even now I get an occasional emails telling me there is an ideal role for me, regardless of the fact they haven't seen a CV from me in 10 years . One agency I must have tried to unsubscribe from about 20 times until I picked the phone up and unprofessionally let them have a torrent of abuse  Didn't get any more emails though

My only other experience with the recruitment industry was a short lived business venture which seemed a good idea at the time, and was a CV generator, which gave you a word document, and then auto sent CV's over to providers like CV library. The business proved not to be financially viable, but it was interesting to see the sheer volume of poor quality CV's. ie people who couldn't be bothered to complete certain sections, communicate or articulate themselves in basic English.

It also highlighted I knew nothing about the recruitment industry 

Found this great nugget of information, written by Andy Crestodina, and well worth a read and digging a bit deeper, looking at some of the research behind the numbers.

The Ideal Length for Blog Posts, Tweets, and Everything Else in Your Marketing - Andy Crestodina

lol it's re-assuring that you're garage is the same as the rest of us!

Mind you found a new method now, just leave it at the end of the drive  Used to get a scrap man round fortnightly who would only take metal. Now we seem to have battle of the tinkers and they take just about everything. Old Sofa cushions, bits of aluminium, rubbish.

Everything else now goes to the charity shop once we've achieved full sign off from the missus 

Originally Posted by Ryan

“Based on the description above, you guys will probably think we are Amish or something  - not to say it's a bad thing to be Amish. ”

That's it now Ryan, I've got a mental image! The things you London folk do to beat the congestion charge

Will confess to being an ex-smoker bore (after vowing never to). Always having a go at my old fella who is a lifelong smoker and wish he would stop, though I know he never will. I'm with Clive though, I can't believe now how strong and offensive I find the smell of stale smoke.

I think a lot of it now is as an non/ex smoker, the only contact you have now with smokers is friends and family. I know there's a lot of talk (and it's prob true) that the smoking ban killed pubs and restaurants, but it is nice not have to smell smoke, or know you can bring your kids into a clean environment.

Again I suppose it's all relative. Him and his missus have worked incredibly hard building up a pub and hotel on the Whiskey trail, are (I think) debt free, making a very good living and now looking round for new projects and are enjoying life.

Without going all hippy or Buddhist, they are rich in the best way, financially secure and happy. But could they enjoy the same lifestyle further South, I suspect not. So as a UK average, I suppose they wouldn't be classed as monetary rich, but as long as they don't want to head south, then it's immaterial.

My missus regularly tells me we are rich, ie having a healthy family, roof over our head etc, which I know she does to curb my materialistic tenancies and keep life in perspective.

I'm more of a realist and a firm believer that money gives you options. The option to remove stress, ie pay the bills, the option to do nice things, holidays, travel, and the option to help others.

I guess as business owners, we tend to be more naturally materialistic, but you're right, how much you need is down to your own circumstances and I suppose to more of a degree where you live.

Spending £5k a month on rent in London seems madness to me, but if the respective salary is triple that, then £5k rent prob seems reasonable  Now imagine if they moved to Scotland!

For any history buffs, any amazing Digital archive has been launched commemorating the First World War by the Imperial War Museum.

They want to piece together the Life stories of over 8 million people who took part, and are asking for all of our help.

I think it's an amazing project and will become an important reference for educating future generations. livesofthefirstworldwar.org

This is what the internet was designed for 

Hmm an interesting revenue direction which I'm surprised Google Chrome didn't go down, but Sky news is reporting that Mozilla (owners of firefox) plans to introduce adverts on the pages that appear when a user opens a new tab.

I wonder if that will alienate hard core Firefox users? I suspect not as long as they don't start becoming intrusive or moving into the main browser window.