Consumer Maven

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov

After receiving an email (mass mailing) from the Inaugural Committee, I was prompted to visit the new WhiteHouse.gov website. As much of a web-head as I am, I cannot ever recall feeling so interested in doing so. What a surprise.

The first line was: Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov followed by the introduction, "Welcome to the new WhiteHouse.gov. I'm Macon Phillips, the Director of New Media for the White House and one of the people who will be contributing to the blog."

One of the reasons that President Obama has been an effective campaigner and an effective politician is that he and his campaign people have understood the communications model.  Much of the general public does not understand that public relations as a profession has many faces, and unfortunately, often the outdated model of the publicity hound is the only image that is evoked when one hears the words, "public relations."  

However, Public Relations as we practice it and as we live and breath it is a practice of communications, to support and communication the goals and vision of an organization.  It includes social responsibility, and looks at the relevant stakeholders that both are impacted by and impact the firm.  At its' most effective and professionally responsible level, it is what socially responsible businesses implement. 

Tactically, this level of Integrated Marketing Communications includes all relevant, effective modes of communication channels.  From a business marketing communications perspective, I've been fascinated by how the Obama Campaign to elect him for President has employed these strategies. 

Looking at the new WhiteHouse.gov website, I would say that the level of professional Integrated Marketing and Public Relations has arrived, and it is about time that the bar has been raised. 

Sony Cyber shot 10.1 Mega Pixel Camera

I was talking to to blogger Tamale Chica, who has been taking photos for her blog quite regularly.  Originally she used Olympus cameras from the FE series, but recently changed to an Olympus Stylus.  She shared with me that she was unhappy with the results of the Stylus.  They have two of them, one being used exclusively for business.  One is a 1010 and the other a 1020.  She told me that the problem with the Stylus was that it often resulted in blurry photos, and when she mentioned this to someone she knew that also had a Stylus, they said they had the same complaint. 

When photos are taken outside, she said the camera is great, since the hypercrystal lens allows her to see what is on the LCD even in bright sunshine.  She also said it captured motion very well, and images were crisp.  The problem of blurriness occurred when the shutter speed was changed due to taking photos in indoor lighting with the flash off. 

We had just heard about the Sony Cybershot, which not only also sports the hypercrystal LCD but a viewfinder as well.  Tamale Chica told me that she they purchased one of these cameras recently and she looks forward to taking it for a test drive, and that they will be selling at least one of their Olympus Stylus Cameras if this proves to be a better camera for their needs.

Play.com had a succinct but good review of this camera, which should not be confused with their earlier 7.1 megapixel camera with a 3x zoom (this one has a 5x zoom).

• 10.1 Effective megapixels resolution for clear enlargements up to A3 size
• 5x Optical zoom Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 30mm wide angle for panoramic landscapes and large group shots
• Smile Shutter waits until the subject smiles before firing the shutter with adjustable smile threshold setting
• Enhanced Face Detection with high-speed subject tracking for clearer portraits
• Intelligent Scene Recognition automatically selects correct shooting mode depending on subject
• Large 2.7-inch (230K dot) Clear Photo LCD
• HD Output compatible with PhotoTV HD displays for optimised still images on Bravia TV
• Bionz processor for enhanced image quality and fast response
• Double Anti-blur with Super SteadyShot image stabilisation and High Sensitivity ISO 3200 for clearer handheld shooting in low light
• D-Range Optimiser adjusts exposure and contrast in high contrast and backlit scenes

She said that this model came in four colors:  a pleasing beige like metallic color, red, silver and black. 

Knowing my friend, she would prefer pink.

I asked her where she purchased the camera, and she said JR.com.  She's been shopping there for electronics off and on over the years, first for family members and then for herself, and was very pleased with the fast service and shipping, and quality of selection, and most of all, the very good prices. 

T-Mobile Service or Save OUR SMS

For years I had been a Cingular customer, even before they were Cingular (when they were called Cell One).  Over ten or so years of service I became increasingly unhappy with them.  Several years ago I finally got so disgusted that I changed service, something I usually don't do lightly. 

I switched to T-Mobile.  This also allowed me to enjoy being online at their many hotspots, and freed me from being 'stuck' in the office while needing to work.  Now, I-Pod in hand, I have other uses for my T-Mobile service as well, none of which is the focus of this blog.

I have a habit of wanting to keep a record of correspondences, whether they are emails or text messages.  Since I am a prolific texter, this has begun to present a problem, especially since my telephone, not my SIM card, stores text messages.  I use a Nokia phone.  I found this out the hard way after using a SIM card reader and finding only my phone book. 

Wanting a quicker way to get an answer, I emailed T-Mobile's tech support when I couldn't find an answer online on their site.  I should have just gone to the Nokia website, which is exactly what their tech support could have just said.  Instead, they were nice enough to suggest I go to the Nokia site to download PC Suite, where I could then backup and export my SMS text messages.  And yes, they also suggested that I refer to my Nokia User Manual, but not before they were customer service oriented enough to tell me what I needed.

Anyone with a Nokia phone who wants to save or export their SMS text messages can download PC Suite free.  Downloading it will also install the drivers needed to recognize your cable, if you choose to connect that way versus via Bluetooth.  The OEM cable I originally bought did not work - my Nokia phone would not recognize it, and when I received my Nokia cable I immediately saw why (the pin connectors).

In conclusion, I've called T-Mobile many times, and except for once, I have never been dissatisfied or disappointed with the quality of help that I received.  I can't say that for ANY other telecommunications company I've dealt with, and there have been many.  Thanks, T-Mobile!

Lovemarks, Love Bytes and Law Office Software

The study of consumer behavior fascinates me.   Doing field observationals on how people shop reveals physical behavior patterns that help understand the purchasing process.  Understanding why and how people buy is important to getting sales.  Despite this, it is customer satisfaction with the product that can make or break a company’s long term success.  Customer satisfaction isn’t just a survey at the end of the purchase cycle.  It is so much more than that:  it is the sum total of the buying or shopping experience.

For business software, usually the shopping experience is about finding the right software, installing it, and learning how to use it with varying degrees of success.  If another package hits the market and we’re not enthralled with what we have, we often look to see what else is out there and often we replace what isn’t completely working to our needs.  Of the business software on the market today, there are few that were the leaders when they first were released.  For anyone who used the predecessors to MS Office Productivity Software in the 1980s, we all remember multitudes of programs that no longer exist today.  The same can be said for most other user applications. 

An exception to this is Needles, a law office case software program designed to manage cases.  The Needles software was first launched in 1985 under the name PINS, which stood for Personal Injury Negligence System.   Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd., a company already familiar with the application needs of business users, was approached by a group of attorneys who wanted customized software for their practice.  The PINS software was the first case management software to hit the market.  Ten years later, when many software companies disappeared from this application’s landscape, the firm launched Needles, which runs on a PC platform.  In 2005, the company celebrated its 20^th year of business in providing attorneys and law offices a product that they love.  Yes, I said LOVE. 

There are few things more unlikely than to think that attorneys and their staff can find love in a byte, until I heard about the Needles experience.  Customer experiences with one company become a sum of memorable events.  When it comes to software, not all companies can provide consistently positive memories.    In February of 2005, Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd. sponsored a contest  in which customers were asked to finish the sentence, “I love my Needles because…”  Clearly Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd. and Needles have earned much customer love.  When I was given a copy of the book of over 180 responses, (Needles has about 400 client testimonials in total and that number is always growing) I was intrigued at the type of comments. 

Written primarily by attorneys or their paralegals, Needles users proclaimed their love for the software and for the Company.  Apparently the system is so well designed in serving the needs of law offices that it has the ability to capture all pertinent information related to any case and provide any information on any case with relative ease.  Their to-do list, the heart of the system and the love of any calendar aficionado keeps a practice humming and on schedule, without concerns that missed deadlines or statues will be blown.  Needles was frequently credited for: ‘getting my life back,’ ‘being able to provide superior client service,’ and ‘knowing what I need to know when I need to know [it].”  Other comments included outright proclamations of love for Needles, because “Needles loves me back.”  When was the last time you said that about your office software?

In his book titled, “LOVEMARKS,” Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, refers to trademarks that have emotional connections and love. Roberts also makes it clear that where love and products are concerned, love must be also earned.  I was struck at how much of what defined a LOVEMARK also defined the Needles software experience.  Roberts states that companies must be passionate, involve their customers, celebrate loyalty, tell and retell great stories and accept responsibility.  All of these define Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd. and their relationship with customers.  

The firm gives superior customer service in many areas.  The sales staff doesn’t push to “sell” their product.  They help prospective customers understand how Needles can help make their practice better.  The training department doesn’t provide mass training for groups of users, but helps law offices, insurance companies and other users so that the system is set up for their business requirements.  Needles is highly customizable; user configurations then become highly personalized.  Not surprisingly, while Needles has converted customers from other case management programs, they have never lost a customer to a competitor.  Calls to the company will never leave you in voice mail jail.  Are you ready for this??? A person, yes, a living, breathing human being answers all calls and makes sure you get taken care of.  Needles upgrades come primarily from the input of their client user base.  The firm has a Customer Advisory Board.  How much better than that can you get?

You can check them out either at their corporate website, Needles Case Management Software for Law Offices, or their press site, which includes several customer stories about attorneys who love their case managment software programs. 

JR.com Hauppage USB TV tuner

I often order items on line for my mother, who does not use a computer.  On several occasions, the best price/deal seemed to keep bringing up JR.com, and so she's had many orders put in with this company.  I was always impressed at the consistently rapid order processing turnaround.  With on line ordering, one expects that we will receive a confirming email for both the order and the shipping, and JR.com is no exception. 

When my old CRT style television finally bit the dust, I wanted the luxury of shopping around for an LCD that would fit my budget and needs.  Being a continual student of popular culture, I had to watch this season's newer television programs.  I needed a quick solution for the interim, and ordered a Hauppauge USB TV tuner.  It came quickly, I set it up with no problems on both my desktop and notebook, and had fun watching TV on either computer.  In less than a week I had what is known as an equipment failure.  Neither computer would any longer recognize the USB device.  I called JR.com and explained the situation, received an RA and soon after returning it, I've just received an email that my new tuner is being shipped out to me.

Many companies can boast low cost prices, but a company that can provide a competitive price AND great service is the company that I want to return to again and again.  When do we really find out about great service?  Unfortunately this experience comes when we have problems.  JR.com has not disappointed me, and I'll be glad to buy from them again.

EMF WiFi Protection: Love it and Use it wisely

I am part of a virtual organization, which means that the people I work with aren’t in the same office with me. Because almost everything we do requires a broadband connection, before WiFi I was tied to my residence and often felt isolated. WiFi has been amazing in that it has allowed me to literally take my show on the road. Armed with several wireless Internet Connections, I can go to one of several hotspots and use my notebook. Cell phone in hand, I can take care of my voice call requirements as well. Still, one must ask, are there any downsides to Wifi that we aren’t considering???

I am also what some would call ‘a sensitive.’ This has made being at home a huge plus, and being in WiFi environments a huge negative, until recently. My first encounter with WiFi was several years ago when I went to a networking event at a private business club. They were unveiling their newly installed wireless network. Both myself and another attendee found ourselves walking aimlessly and confused while trying to find our luncheon tables.  Being a foodie, normally finding a table to eat at is like a bird with a homing device for me.  I began to notice that other prolonged exposures in wireless environments left my brain feeling similarly twisted up and out of sync. I began to try to avoid them, because I found my brain would turn to mush and I’d go into a zombie like state.

I live in a three flat. After a friend of mine bought a new computer that came with WiFi card, she sent me her old one. Curious, I plugged mine in just to install it. Surprise!! The people above me had a wireless network. I called a friend of mine, who sells products to help protect people from the spiritual effects of environmental electromagnetic fields. It may sound way out there for those of you who don’t live in your spiritual bodies as much as your physical ones. For people like me, products like that speak to me. I told her about the network above me. A psychic, she tuned in. I was only covered 50%, so she upgraded her EMF protection devices. I felt the shift immediately. It also explained why, after the new tenants moved in, I had become increasingly disoriented at home. 

The upgrades left me feeling much more positive about WiFi networks, so positive in fact that I installed one in my place. Eeeee. I began to feel a little odd again. I called my friend. Apparently, by introducing another network (and a total of four computers in the same building on two networks), another upgrade was required. Enter hot, summer weather and a need to escape into air conditioning and have some company. I purchased a month of WiFi service so that I could use my computer at my local coffee shop. The first day there, I checked my WiFi card for available networks. Eeeeks. I was sitting in the middle of six different networks. I called my friend. She did more upgrades. Now that my EMF protection device has been super sized to cover me being in six networks, I’ve noticed that my time in the coffee shop feels so much better, my brain doesn’t feel fried and I can concentrate again.  For anyone interested in feeling better while enjoying the freedom of WiFi computing, her EMF and WiFi Protection devices are a must have!

Must have software for your law or professional services office

A friend of mine is working on a project for a software company. Years ago I had a life managing and implementing financial and other user applications. Despite my education in business, I was at heart a tech nerd. Many years later, I am still proud of my geek heritage. I maintain an unnatural love for almost all things software, especially when I hear about an application area that is still so untapped.

Some time ago, when I needed the advice of an attorney, I was both surprised that they had any computer savvy at all and yet appalled that their offices were so low tech. One of the partners admitted to me that the office was held together by a young twenty-something gal who was attending law school at night and ‘a whiz’ on the computer. Whiz or not, she could only do what the programs they had would allow her to do. I remember going to meetings and watching with amazement as the paralegal, soon to be attorney, manually dug through amazing mounds of physical files and papers while putting cases together for trial. In between it all I would, hear lawyers yelling out reminders to check for issues of conflicts and scheduling concerns, and remind each other about impending filing deadlines that needed to be met. From what I heard about other law offices, this was common in the practice of law. Clearly, the high tech corporate world I was from had not met many law office environments.

Fast forward to 2006 and my friend tells me about something called case management software. Being in a business that requires a lot of contact management and billable time, my ears perk up. It turns out she’s working on a project for a company called Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd. I asked for more information, all the time wondering if this is something I can use to help our own professional services consulting business.

First, I should tell you what this software, called Needles, does. While it was designed specifically for law firms and those in the legal profession, it is a must have for anyone in the professional service industry who needs to track time, have a place to connect emails to projects or clients, add client notes, be able to keep track of all of a case or project’s documents, calendar appointments and deadlines (so we don’t miss important deadlines and meetings), track case status and other important information,  and check our system for conflict of interest issues. (Our consultancy makes it a policy to never take on another client who is a direct competitor of an existing one. Understanding how a client’s connections can affect this policy is also important to us.) By using the software we can track communications, Statute of Limitation dates, provider information, expenses, multiple payments, etc. You can see how, even if you are not an attorney, this software is like having an administrative staffer working for you 24/7. It also has a report writing system so that customized reports can be created on virtually any field, standard or user-defined, in the database.

Besides all of the critical issues that this software handles, it is also highly flexible, or in as we would say in business, it is highly customizable. Remembering in awe the Patagonian sized mountains of files at my attorney’s law office, I asked my friend if this software from Heaven had any solutions for that. “Of course,” I heard my friend respond. The software also had document management capabilities that provided links to any letter, pleading, photograph, diagram, scanned item or other document that needs to be viewed in the case file. I suddenly saw a great leap forward for the environment, as millions of trees breathed a collective sigh of relief that no additional members of their family would end up being fodder for the client’s files or any extra needed copies.

I’ve been an adopter of calendaring systems as soon as I ever found out about them. For those of us who live by our Palm Pilots or our Outlook or ACT! programs, Needles has something for all of us. The heart of the Needles system is the checklist. A daily task list is automatically created as each file progresses that enables the client to easily record completion of items, reassign tasks to accommodate staffing changes, generate or change task due dates, create single and repeating items and track multiple statute of limitation dates or warnings. It is truly a system from the “Goddess of Scheduling.”

While the nuts and bolts of all the unbelievably cool things this software does for anyone who needs it are impressive, what struck me most was the company culture of this organization.  Now that I’ve talked about Needles Case Management Software as if it was the only software on the planet, (Microsoft withstanding; of course), I have to tell you about the company.

Chesapeake Interlink, Ltd. was the first company to ever make a case management software program for law offices. From what I understand, in the early mid-1980s a group of attorneys approached them and asked if they could create what evolved into a case management software. After all that I’ve heard, that alone helped me understand why this privately held business has been so customer focused. Their roots and the core of their business has always been about helping law offices and attorneys do their work more effectively and efficiently.

My friend tells me that their customers are not just customers but customer evangelists who hold a passion for the software and the Needles name. From my experience in enterprise implementations, I’ve seen software companies develop good or bad reputations through their interactions with their user base. Until I heard about Needles, I had never heard of such fierce customer loyalty and passion for a software product. Software, after all, is intangible. You can’t hold it, feel it, cozy up to it, wear it or eat it. Despite all that, Needles Case Management Software for lawyers, and us other professionals, seems to be the closest thing to comfort food a software program can be. The company knows how to listen to their customers and how to keep them happy. Needles is an example of how technology in offices can be a beautiful thing when a company really gets what is important to their customers. In turn, their customers are passionate about them. It’s no small wonder that the company that developed the first case management software for law offices is still an industry leader. Check them out yourself and Go Needles!

 

 

 

HP Computing

Our firm is a virtual agency, held together by the company headquarters and staffed by professionals who work from their homes.   Right now I'm working from home on my HP Notebook. It's almost three years old but I bought it with so many cutting edge features that it easily can still compete with many notebooks being sold today.  I have several HP products.  I've been using Personal Computers now for a very, very long time.  This means that I've also used many different brands of computers, printers, monitors, scanners, etc.  My favorite for the last several years has been HP.  Whenever I had a new HP product, I found their customer service to be superb, and what’s more, when I call I'm speaking to people that are employed here so in between any long waits we can banter about issues that would not be possible if the support were outsourced.  But I digress.

Recently we decided it was time for my location to replace the desktop, which is or was an old Compaq.  My old desktop is something I jokingly refer to as the computer held together by duct tape.  The CD drives both croaked over a year ago.  The sound card has issues (which means I don't get distracted listening to music, to be sure!).  The computer doesn't have enough memory to run some of my programs, and certainly not enough memory to run an external CD drive, and has been at it’s maximum installable memory levels for years.  The hard drive ran out of room a long time ago, requiring many programs to be uninstalled.  The duct tape that was allowing the computer to still be usable was having a 2GB USB Flash drive to work from.  I finally decided that yes, it was time to say good bye to this old thing and to take the plunge and reinstall all the software and set up multiple e-mail accounts and all the good fun that comes with a new computer.    

You can imagine the excitement in finally taking the plunge and placing an order for a new computer. This wasn’t just any computer, but one customized for the needs of this office.  Using our corporate credit card, the order appeared to successfully go through. You can imagine my disappointment when I received an email a few days later saying that the order was declined. Apparently, thanks to the many losers who choose identity theft as a way to spend their days, we can’t have a computer sent to a location that is not the billing address. Since our billing address is different from anyone else’s workplace address, this is a problem. I understand HP’s position in maintaining the integrity of a customer’s credit card usage, but I am so unhappy that I cannot buy the product I want without going through having cash advances, transfers and other rigamarole just to get the computer system that I want. That is, if it is still offered by the time I finish doing everything that needs to be done so I can order it in my name.   If I am going to go through all this extra hassle for this machine, then HP, you must really be worth it!

No Longer a Cingular Girl

As an early adopter, I was also one of Cingular Wireless's first customers.  Years ago when Cingular Wireless was known as Cell One, I had one of those clunky and huge cell phones that looked like they could double as a brick.  A few weeks ago my two year contract was up. After looking at their company website to see what plans they had, I was unhappily surprised at the offerings.  My problem with the offerings related to the costs of the plans given the minutes available and the increasingly poorer service I had begun to notice.  At first I thought it was just a bleep in the Chicago area, but a friend in Texas commented that she had noticed the level of call service decline over the past two years as well.  Another Chicago Cingular customer friend of mine had the same experience. 

After looking at several other companies, I decided to switch to T-Mobile, a company that offers one year contracts.  The idea of not suffering with a company for two years was attractive to me. Previously I entertained the thought of switching to pre-paid cellular but I have to admit that the phones I had seen in most of those plans weren't going to meet my needs for fashion, style and quality, none of that being in the order of most importance.  So... I made the switch. The interesting thing about the switch is this.  After nearly a decade with Cingular, I never so much as received a letter or phone call (I kept my cell number) that asked me why I left them.  Apparently they don't care.