Magazine: Inc., April 2013

My highlights.  Find the issue archive here: Inc.

Magazine, April 2013.

* Book Recommendation -- Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success by Adam Grant.  They give it a 9 out of 10 on their scale, sounds like it has some good lessons I can learn and they say it has some really good case studies.  Added to my list.  (links to Amazon)

* Why I Love My Angriest Customers -- Phil Libin - why feedback is important - and how to use it.

Don't take Internet complaints personally. ... Also, train new team members on how to read Internet criticism without losing their minds.  The second most common type of customer feedback is product suggestions. ... the vast majority are not useful. Your customers can't design your product ... That's your job.  And if you're good at your job, you'll get a sprinkling of the last type of customer feedback: compliments. ... Share them with the team.  Read the whole article.

* Get More Done - unfortunately, this seems only available as a preview or sample, but a cool article with tactics and observations.

* Attention Start-ups: Big Corporations Want to Work With You -- Jennifer Alsever - a look at how big companies are incubating startups.  Perhaps it's in response to how slowly they move on their own?

* What's Your Mission? -- Jeff Haden - this is an absolute must read for any leader.

Every great leader helps all employees feel their job plays an important role in something bigger and more meaningful. ... Great leaders feel accountable, too, but they feel even more accountable to their employees. ...  I'm accountable for explaining results, for explaining my decisions, for apologizing if things don't go well.  Read the whole article.

Great Customer Service: The Great Indoors

So there's a really cool store in Southern California called "The Great Indoors" which is part of the Sears family  I emailed them asking them if they had any plans to open a store in Seattle.

We had not actually purchased anything yet, but if we had stayed in California, it was only a matter of time.  The stuff wasn't inexpensive, but it was awesome, and even though we hadn't yet purchased, it was an inspiring store to visit.  They had some awesome displays set-up, especially for kitchens and bathrooms.  And a water-tight chamber inside which a bunch showerheads were actually hooked to plumbing so you could see how they operated.

Sadly, they do not have any plans to come to Seattle.  But I got a nice email back from their customer support -- and a day later, a phone call from the manager of the Burbank branch we used to visit.  He wanted to thank me for my kind words and to invite me to ask for him so he could say "hi" next time we came in.  (Perhaps he didn't get the part where we didn't live in L.A. anymore, but still...)

That that was pretty awesome.  If you live near one, you ought to check out The Great Indoors.

When You're Here, You're Family

Argh.  It ate it a second time.  Ok, third time is extremely brief.  I wonder if it's the photo that's the problem.

Ok, super-quick summary.

Power was out at Home Depot.  Instead of sending all their employees home and closing the store (and possibly not paying the employees) and frustrating the customers, they opened the store anyhow.  They could only take credit and debit (do people still use checks and cash?  Stop it!) and for what I assume were liability and loss-prevention reasons, they provided each customer with an escort.   I liked that - it was like having a personal shopping assistant.  They helped me find things quicker, and even engaged area specialists on my behalf, preventing me from buying the wrong product (they gave me what I asked for, but then gave me enough instruction on how to use it that I realized I was asking for the wrong thing).

Checkout was dreadfully slow (the same thing written down on three different pieces of paper) and no doubt someone else will have to key it all back in later, but the other customers were all cool, so I was able to get what I needed, despite the power outage.  Yay, @HomeDepot.

Up Late / Brand Tags

I've been seeing this on the blogs but never got around to looking at the site until tonight. Brand Tags - the site shows you a logo and invites you to type in the first word or phrase that comes to mind. It's really interesting to see how well companies do (Apple) or don't (Blockbuster) have a good handle on what people are saying about them. It's hilarious to sit there with another person scrolling through these. I'm picking on Blockbuster because I think so many people have really nailed it with terms like "archaic" and "dinosaur" and "antiquated." It is crowdsourced and unmonitored, so language warning blah blah.

H&R Block @Tweeted Me

Last night as I was clearing out my inbox, I facetiously made the Twitter post:

@h&r block - why are you emailing me? It's May. You are of no use to me now.

In the twitter verse, that's not even legitimate... it only caught @h as the response. But yet, not too long after that, I had a response back from HRBlock:

HRBlock @tvjames Info on tax rebates. Plus, it's what you do now...in 2008...that determines what you'll owe (or get back) come April. Good tips!

So, nice job catching my twit and providing a good response.

I get too much email, so I did unsubscribe, but I've used them for years for my taxes and this goes on to further cement in my mind that they are a quality company.

(And right about now the guy who said "Our logo should just be a bright green square." is probably telling the naysayers to eat his shorts.)

Let's Go, Petco

This is kinda cool. You're thinking about buying a pet and Petco's encouraging you to go acquire a pet elsewhere. Very smart.

First, you might still buy a pet.

Second, if you don't have a strong loyalty to a particular pet store (I know they have distinctive in-store looks, but I can't remember which is which.) but something like this helps... makes them look like they're putting their love of pets above profits. And it might just work. You love pets, they love pets, maybe this is the best place to buy pet supplies.