Santa Rosa couple’s fabulous prefab replacement house featured in new book

Santa Rosa couple’s fabulous prefab replacement house featured in new book: Prefabricated homes have come a long way in style, quality and energy efficiency and are gaining popularity in Sonoma County

Well, Well, Well

 So, it's been a while. My last post was in July 2019. Not much happened over the last couple of years (just some COVID, WFH, isolation, decline, etc., etc.) I've been thinking about some research/writing projects and thought making a new blog post might be a good place to start.

That's it. That's the blog post. Hope to see you again soon.

Is there a theme here?

Links from today's New York Times:

The Roots of Boeing’s 737 Max Crisis: A Regulator Relaxes Its Oversight

Under Brazil’s Far Right Leader, Amazon Protections Slashed and Forests Fall

‘Would Dad Approve?’ Neil Armstrong’s Heirs Divide Over a Lucrative Legacy

‘A Few Dirty Tricks’: Documents Show Audi’s Role in the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal

Gotta Love Contractors!

Ok, so there is a lot of talk about customer service, brand experience, moments of truth, etc. in the branding/marketing world. Well, I must say, I am beginning to think that many smaller construction subcontractors could use a lesson in Customer Relationship Management.

Case in point: I needed to find electrical subcontractors in a relatively large midwestern city recently. I had a list of four subs which I received from one of my colleagues. Here is how it went when I called them:

Sub #1: Answering machine picked up.  I left a detailed message about the project and what I needed and asked them to return my call.

Sub #2: A nice lady answered the phone and after I told her why I was calling she immediately connected with the appropriate estimator. This estimator had not seen the RFP and was not sure if they would be quoting. The decision maker was not in the office today. I offered to send the bid package which I did after hanging up. Not great but not bad as a customer experience goes.

Sub #3: Here is where it gets interesting. I called the number listed on the contractor's website. An answering system picked up and per the instructions I pressed "0" in order to leave a message with the general mailbox. After pressing "0" there was a "beep" and I commenced leaving a message. Almost immediately a series of short "beeps" in groups of three began. I managed to get my name and company name out and then had to hang up.

Undaunted, I called back, this time thinking I would outsmart the answering system and choose "1" to dial by name.  I did not know anyone at this company so I thought (this is where I was brilliant!) I would key in the name of the company (it being a common surname in the United States).  Well, it turns out there is no one at the company with a surname that is in the company name.

Needing to make contact, I settled for sending an email to the generic "info@companyname.com" address listed on their website.

Customer experience: Not good.

Sub #4: Even better.  Two attempts to make contact, both failures. First attempt: no answer, just silence then a busy signal.  Second attempt: Phone company recorded message that "This number is not available at this time, please try back later".

Redemption came when Sub #1 called back, was familiar with the project and said they were quoting.

So, if you are a small subcontractor, how do you ensure your potential customers can contact you and have the kind of experience that you would like to have?

Related link:

Customer Service for Contractors: What Customers Want from Contractors

The Westclox Story

Recently visited Peru IL and the Westclox museum. This visit brought home how American manufacturers failed to compete in the later 20th century with foreign corporations.

As with so many companies, Westclox began with an idea, a new idea about clock making. It was a story of courage and innovation. In it's heyday, Westclox was the largest manufacturer of clocks in the world with the LaSalle-Peru plant covering more than 20 acres with 2,800 employees.

I think what impressed me most was the advanced level of quality control employed in the early century. Cutting edge to be sure. As you can imagine, clock making is an exacting process.

I highly recommend a visit. There are thousands of clocks, watches and all sorts of time related products on display. There are even bomb fuses which Westclox manufactured during the war years.

Visit the website here:
Westclox Museum

Thank You Senator McCain

Many moons ago I was privileged to attend a video conference for business leaders which included panel discussions with such noted business leaders as Ted Turner, Steve Case and Tom Peters. I was especially impressed with Mr. Peters. He told a story about a manager who constantly berated and treated employees poorly and how those employees would "put up" with the treatment BUT will always extract revenge "on the loading dock at 3 AM when management is not around".

Well, it is possible we just witnessed this phenomenon with the 1:30 AM vote in the Senate for the "skinny" repeal of the ACA (Affordable Care Act - I dislike the term "Obamacare"). If you remember, during the presidential campaign of 2016, one of the Republican candidates famously said that Senator John McCain was not a "hero" (he was wrong by the way), that being captured by the enemy did not make one a hero.

Senator McCain voted against the "skinny" repeal bill effectively putting the health care debate to rest. I do not believe Senator McCain would extract revenge because he is a true American Hero. In voting his heart, he displayed the bravery required of American Heroes and for that I thank him. His colleagues in Congress should take notice and emulate him.

Link to NYT story:

Senate Rejects Slimmed-Down Obamacare Repeal as McCain Votes No

THE DEVIL HAD A GOOD NIGHT IN ORLANDO

Incredibly there has been another mass shooting in the U.S. I am at a loss to understand. I am sad for the families. Despite the left-leaning liberal calls for more gun control and despite the arguments from the right-leaning NRA and it's proponents, we now have a new benchmark. I was hoping Sandy Hook would hold the record for at least a few decades. Of course, Virginia Tech was worst in terms of body count, but I could not imagine a more despicable deed than what happened at Sandy Hook. Mark my words, there will be more outcries and more debate over whether more guns or fewer guns, more rhetoric, more opinion pieces on more guns or less guns. And nothing will change. Nothing will change until we human beings start being better human beings. Nothing will change until we begin to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated. Nothing will change until we stop hating others. We do not yet know what the motivations of the Orlando shooter were. There have been some reports that he saw two men kissing in public, found it to be disgusting and possibly was inspired to kill. Whatever the motivation, we can bet hatred was involved. Our politicians cannot legislate love. Our religious leaders try to convince us to love one another. Our parents (the good ones) show us love and most of us (the good ones?) reciprocate. Yet somehow a culture of hate still exists for many. Need to be convinced that there is a culture of hate in the U.S.? Here is a top 12:

www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/heres-what-we-know-about-americas-worst-mass-shootings

Be good humans.