Take a long, hard look your organization’s existing approach to support. How much do you suppose this outdated model is costing? Not just in terms of morale, but the company’s bottom line? Chances are, it’s thousands – maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Would your bosses be pleased if you could trim your budget by even a fraction of that amount?

By popular demand, we are offering our second Knowledge Centered Support (KCS V5) Foundations workshop, December 5-7 in Boston, presented by experts from The Verghis Group. We will be presenting the foundations of KCS, with several Verghis Group twists, particularly “un-mad” measures and internal communications strategies that will accelerate your success!

Want to learn more about how KCS can transform the lifeless pool of support information into useful knowledge, action and excellence? In a cost effect and proven way?

This workshop is specially designed for support/service center directors and managers, Knowledge Management program managers, and other professionals responsible for implementing Knowledge Management strategies.

More info and registration at: http://bit.ly/kcsworkshop

We are excited to announce a new workshop – Support Excellence Intensive from September 12-16 in Santa Clara, CA.  Co-taught with FT Works (this is their first open workshop in 14 years!), this 5-day intensive covers customer service and communications skills as well as the foundations of KCS.  This is a first-time combination of two of the key areas you have to have to be successful in customer support – knowledge and communications.

Sign up soon!  Registrations are limited to 16!

Ready to learn more?

Do have a peek and let me know what you think of it…

Hours before I head to Santa Clara to speak at the conference (bit.ly/marcophilmetrics), and host a breakfast session on Social Media, I’ve updated my web site.

Added more information on the most common assessments and a whole new section on some much-requested training that we have been able to get into public workshops.

Interesting quote from William S. Simon, the chief executive of Wal-Mart USA, after what is seen as a failed store makeover from two years ago. “Customers loved the experience. They just bought less. And that is generally not a good long term strategy.”

Source: April 8th New York Times

They had remodeled stores stores to keep Target shoppers who had moved to Wal-Mart during the recession. They shortened shelves, reduced number of items carried by about 9 percent – all to not overwhelm shoppers.

Interesting juxtaposition of anticipating customer needs, listening to the customer and watching the bottom line…

… something interesting happened. I’ve ended up with over 1,000 LinkedIn connections. The scary thing is that I know almost every one.

Softwareadvice.com has an article and a poll on which company Oracle might acquire next. Weigh in at:

http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/enterprise/oracle-mergers-acquisitions-whos-next-1080310/.

Rest in Peace, Norman Borlaug…

Back in the 1960s, there was a real fear that the world run out of food. Dr. Norman Borlaug pioneered the use of hybrid, high-yield seeds which helped entire countries like Mexico, India and Pakistan feed themselves.

When awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970, the committee said “More than any other single person of this age, he has helped provide bread for a hungry world.”

He passed away on September 12th at the ripe old age of 95. Millions around the world owe their lives to him…

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1970/borlaug-bio.html

For a balanced note including constructive criticism of his techniques, read http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/sep/13/norman-borlaug-obituary

According to this center’s definition, anyone who spends more than 6 hours a day on the internet, and shows little interest in school is an internet addict…

Read more from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8219768.stm

I’ve been a long time customer of Sprint, and had a Palm Treo for a long time. While I keep up with quite a bit of new technology, I’m not typically an early adopter. However, my phone was overdue for an upgrade, and I decided to try the new Palm Pre.

I really enjoy the Pre, particularly the blurring of the internet ‘cloud’ and the Pre, but coverage at my home isn’t the greatest. I called Sprint’s customer service and after a fairly quick series of conversations, they sent me an Airwave for free. That took care of my coverage, and kept me a happy customer.

Superb!