Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You're only a stranger once.

Are Telcos Changing Their Ways Now?

Filed Under Analysis, Business Life, Customer Think, Successful Blog, Trends | 6 Comments

AT&T Call Number One

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About 6 weeks ago, I paid my ATT bill online, as I have for months. I finished. I got a receipt that said, “Successful.” I put it with the bill in the file where such things go. It was 3 weeks later when I got a notice saying my bill was unpaid.

I wasn’t happy. I called them up.

My first surprise was that my call didn’t cross an ocean. My second was that the person at that end listened and wanted to help. She was patient and as perplexed as I was at what happened. She gave me the time I needed to be sure that no money was taken from any of my accounts.

We settled the amount due. She removed the late fee. Subject closed. I said thank you for a most pleasant call. I meant it too.

I was surprised that things went so well.

AT&T Call Number Two

This morning I received the usual update reminder. It’s the one that tells me that my next online bill was about to come due. The “wonky” amount was sitting there again. “Too good to be true,” were the words in my head.

I wasn’t happy. I called them up.

My first surprise was that AGAIN my call didn’t cross an ocean. My second was that AGAIN the person on the other end listened and wanted to help. She assured me that my account was fine.

Then she let me know how I could get FASTER INTERNET SERVICE AT A LOWER PRICE. Did I want that?

Our conversation was professional and pleasant — so much so that I asked her whether AT&T had moved their outsourced calls back to the US. She said that they never had all of them there, but that yes they had moved many calls back here now.

She sounded like a telephone blogger — authentic, transparent.

I’m thinking that NET NEUTRALITY and bloggers have their attention. I’ve never enjoyed a conversation with AT&T until these two — I was thoroughly frustrated with them as recently as June 22, 2006. — Now I’ve just enjoyed talking to them twice in a row!

I’m not at all sure what to think, or what to do with this information. If they start actually doing customer service, I’m not sure I’ll remember how a customer acts.

–ME ‘Liz Strauss

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See Net Neutrality Page I and Net Neutrality Page II.

Chartreuse Gets to the Point

Filed Under Analysis, Great Finds, Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog | 1 Comment

Pay Attention Please

That’s what Chartreuse says. If you want to know what to say when someone asks about the new media. He has the answer in 13 sentences.

Writing is thinking made visible they say. This is brilliant writing.

Click the title. Go see.

The Big Difference Between Old and New

Be sure to follow that first link.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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chartreuse (Beta) Thinks Outside the Knee Jerk Reaction

Scott Karp deserves your attenion.

Filed Under Analysis, Business Life, Great Finds, Successful Blog, Trends | 10 Comments

Wondering What’s Changed?

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You can argue ideology, but I’ve said for a while that American companies are going to hurt when they realize they no longer have the only access to the largest market in the world. It’s not a hard concept — it’s about quality now, not quanity. Scott Karp says it beautifully in just a few words. Don’t let the big words throw you. Click the title and go read.

Making Sense of the 2.0 Ideological Polemic

Thanks, Scott. I agree completely.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
[via Manage to Change]
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Organizational Development 2.0 Style

Filed Under Analysis, Business Life, Successful Blog | 12 Comments

Organizational Development — What Is It?

If you went to business school, you probably learned about organizational development, but the world is changing and organizations are changing with it — at least the ones that have hopes of lasting. Listen in on this post by Gautam Ghosh.

The goals of OD in the the last century were to make workplaces more open transparent and honest. The focus was on generating authentic and non-threatening conversations. About creating workplaces where people were not merely ‘resources’ or ‘talent’.

Sounds a bit like blogging doesn’t it?

Yet, Gautam goes onto say that

However, the overall culture of organizational life never let these concepts come to fruition. Most organizations were and still are, places where your goals are set by others, your performance is judged by others, and your rewards are measured by others.

That’s where today’s enterprise loses the entrepreneurial spirit.

Gautuam goes on to make some great points about what today’s organizations are facing. You can check out his post by clicking the title.

Promise of web 2.0 - True Organizational Development

Thanks Guatam, for this analsis.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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AT&T & ME w/o DSL — Why AT&T Won’t Fix Problems

Filed Under Analysis, Branding, Customer Think, Successful Blog | 53 Comments

The Problem

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5:30a.m. Up and to the kitchen. Turn on the coffee. To the office. Turn on the computer. Take a shower.

5:45a.m. Get coffee. Get to work. OR NOT!

Wait a minute. What’s wrong here? Walk to the router. I have no DSL. I have things to do. It’s still DARK OUT.

6:00a.m. Consider options. Start to execute. Then envision images of screwed system. Recall pact that I will die first, because I’ll never be able to figure out how this home network is configured.

6;30a.m Wake up IT husband. Tell him we have no DSL.
He gets coffee, looks at router, see light off, and confirms it.

6:45a.m. Call AT&T. Listen to recording. Punch in numbers. Answer questions. Find out that we need to call another number.

7:00a.m. Call AT&T Number 2. Listen to recording. Punch in same numbers. Answer same questions. Finally get a person on the line. Start by saying the following.

ME: Hi, before we begin, could I just say that we have a sophisticated system here, that it was working at midnight, that everything is correctly connected, and that I’ve turned things off and on again.

AT&T SHE: Can I call you by your first name? Read more

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