Look for Whinocerous

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This is a short follow up to the previous article on being customer centric. In this article, I want to take you to the marketing zoo…

Lots of animals hang about in the marketing zoo. Some are beautiful but silent. Others look like they’re not alive, but when they move they sometimes stun you. Some too make lots of noise.

Let’s go to a section of the zoo called “Target Market”. In this section, the animals have different looks. But they all like your ABC bananas. Some however make lots of noise. They’re called the whinocerous.

You love these animals because they are the ones you want to have whining. Careful now, don’t listen to the other sounds you might hear when you’re still with the whinocerous. Take care of the whinocerous, cause they are in the Target Market section, your first favourite section. When the whinocerous don’t make noise anymore, then we might try taking our ABC bananas to the animals we remembered (or still are) making noise…

The monkeys.

The Cab Driver Who Should be an MBA Lecturer

I was in the cab when the uncle asked me if I wanted to turn on the radio. I was surprised, and told him that rarely do cab drivers ask such questions. He then told me that it was important to ask, cause some drivers play songs that they understand (in their ethnic language) but their passengers don’t. In his words:

“Wait (Later) the customers not (won’t be) happy, we also not (too won’t be) happy, wait (eventually) both rugi(won’t benefit).”

I’ve decided to make a customer creed, and share this with all you out there who do businesses or produce products and services:

Dear businessman, I don’t know who you are. I forgot where I put away your namecard, or what you said you did. But I see what you do now, and I wish you could just listen to me. The thing is, your ads with spelling errors and blurry graphics get on my nerves. You’re at places and times when I don’t need you. And I have no idea what that service is supposed to do to me, or why I should even care. You say i do, but your arguments sound like any other. I am busy, and you are boring. If you provided some feedback channel, I could give it to you. But you don’t respond to criticisms well. You say I don’t provide solutions, so I’ll stop there, and hence I won’t. So most of the time, I don’t bother to talk to you at all. I am the customer. You don’t matter. I’ll go to the other guy, and bring my friends with me.

Now dear businesspeople, here’s yours:

Dear customer, I know your name. I wish to listen to you. You’ve spotted an error, and I need customers like you to tell us how to serve you better. If we were in your shoes, we’d be pissed too. We are different, which is why we are busy. Yet we will make time for you. I will talk to you personally if you want to. You will be rewarded if your feedback gets implemented. If it’s not, we will let you know why. I am at your service. We hope to matter to you, because you matter to us.

And business people, don’t tell me it’s unrealistic. It’s a mindset, that will not cost you much to change, but will cost you lots in the long run if you don’t wake up your idea.

–

PS: In honour of that cab driver, who did not have the above creed printed on some fancy gold plated sign hanging at his customer desk and yet could communicate these in a few lines of a cab ride.

What Does Your Wallet Say About You?

Interesting read. Behaviour expert and MSN agony aunt Dr Pam Spurr gives you the low-down on what your wallet says about you at a personal level. Find out more here: http://money.uk.msn.com/consumer/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=9164156

I giggled and recognized my wallet immediately: I’m number 9. The description too was interesting. Which one are you?

When Does a Counter Count?

I was at the mall minutes ago, and passed by the clinic. It was 12.40pm, 2 hours and 40 minutes after the clinic’s opening hours. I caught a glimpse of the customer counter, the one that shows the current customer number in service…

“Now Serving: 125″

This is no surprise. Mondays are good days for clinics. The Monday monster, called “Monday Blues” does get to us sometimes.

But the point was the counter itself. I asked myself the following questions:

1. What value does it give me to know what number is the doctor currently serving?
2. Should there be another counter, perhaps something like “Est. Service Time for Each Customer”?
3. What feelings do the numbers “125″ ellicit, with relation to “Now Serving” ?

Here are my answers in brief:

1. It allows me to be certain that the doctor is present. Secondly, it enables me to choose if I want to visit that clinic, or go to the other bigger one with lesser customers (Really).
2. Different counters for different places. This won’t work. But perhaps if the clinic was customer centric, it could have a “Missed Call Alert” - We will miss call you 5 minutes before your est. service time.
3. Now Serving is the standard. “Waiting Time” could be a turn off. But why don’t we see “Now Serving” when the train comes? Like “Now Entering: 187″ at Ang Mo Kio Station? Cause people don’t care how many times the train arrives.

Tricky stuff these counters. Take a site counter for example: a measurement of credibility. But the signal a counter gives might not be apparent for the producer’s point of view. Take point 1 above: how trivial and double-edged.

So when does a counter count? I do know when a counter doesn’t count…

When it’s installed just for the sake of counting.

There is A Deeper World Than This

I’ve decided to categorize this under “Islam” too, and I think you’ll understand why. Enjoy this song the best way you can. c”,)

In the empire of the senses
You’re the queen of all you survey
All the cities all the nations
Everything that falls your way
There is a deeper world than this
That you don’t understand
There is a deeper world that this
Tugging at your hand

Every ripple on the ocean
Every leaf on every tree
Every sand dune in the desert
Every power we never see
There is a deeper wave than this
Swelling in the world
There is a deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl

Feel it rising in the cities
Feel it sweeping over land
Over borders, over frontiers
Nothing will its power withstand
There is no deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl

All the bloodshed all the anger
All the weapons all the greed
All the armies all the missiles
All the symbols of your fear
There is a deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl

At the still point of destruction
At the center of the fury
All the angels all the devils
All around us can’t you see
There is a deeper wave than this
Rising in the land
There is a deeper wave than this
Nothing will withstand

I say love is the seventh wave

Introducing MarketingPress.Net Website

Phase 2 of my aim to deliver better content to my readers. To recap, I analyzed Hafihz.com’s readers and noticed that there were 3 segments:

1. Readers who can relate to my lifestyle and ideas in general
2. Readers who love my motivation articles specifically
3. Readers who love my marketing articles specifically

Weeks ago I launched StressBurner to cater to segment 2. The response has been good. Please visit the site by clicking this url: www.stressburner.com .

Today I’m happy to announce a site for segment 3. Introducing MarketingPress.Net:

This site will feature blogging tips from a marketing perspective, plus juicy plugins to help beef up your WordPress. Click on the above picture or the following link to visit this new site: www.marketingpress.net .

Yeppie, two new sites to better serve readers like you! Let me know what you think ya. c”,)

A Period of Festivities (Plus Winner of AlunanKasih Free Album Competition)

The start of the Olympics in Beijing, the celebration of Singapore’s 43rd National Day, the coming of Ramadhan… what a period to be positive!

Of course here at Hafihz.com, we want to be part of the action and spirit of giving. So today I’m happy to announce the winner of our first ever competition exclusively for Hafihz.com subscribers, the AlunanKasih Album giveaway!

And the winner of the AlunanKasih Free Album competition is….

Miss Nurhannah Irwan! Congratulations! We will contact you via email for further details.

Readers can also read about her by visiting Nurhannah’s blog. As for my other readers, look out for our next competition. Oh, and if you want to stand a chance to win our contests, it’s as simple as subscribing to Hafihz.com.

Beijing Olympics 2008 Begins

Go, and amaze us.

Why Elephants Can’t Sell Chinaware

The rise of the silver dollar group, together with their aspirations to start up businesses is admirable to say the least. Here you have those in their 40s, 50s who have aims of owning companies and being their own bosses.

I am concerned however with the theory of memes that creeps into these aspirations. Too many are trying to be something clearly they don’t have competitive advantage in. Here are some examples:

• A woman in her 40s selling english eBooks on “Secrets of Affiliate Marketing” on a site that hardly has content that builds credibility.
• A man in his 50s talking in his blog with a slang that clearly shows he’s forcing it rather than being young at heart through his words.

A trend I notice is that they tend to swerve towards the motivation aspect of choosing what to offer. However some of the pitches are sometimes plain weird, feel unnatural and clearly, the aspiring businessperson on the other side is not feeling that he/she fits in that role too.

Here is my advice to all you aspiring businesspeople in your late 30s to early 50s:

Do lateral marketing. Lateral means you take two concepts and make them into one. For example Gas Station + Shopping Store = 7 Eleven, Coffeeplace + Malay Barber Shop Sitting Area = Starbucks. So you guys definitely can bank on the experience / wisdom factor. Choose another factor, combine the two attributes, and create something. Here are some examples:

• wisdom + nasi lemak making = write books on nasi lemak
• wisdom + engineering = consultation and work life balance sessions for engineers
• experience + kuih making = be a kuih product consultant
• wisdom + youth = social care service especially targeting your ethnic group who want to be what you were working as.

So many things you can do. And please please please, be yourself. Move away from being the motivation + communication model if it doesn’t fit. You can do those in your normal functions as parents or in other settings.

Singaporeans’ Favourite Presentation Word

I’ve come to a conclusion: Singaporeans love saying this one word during presentations. Actually we don’t just say it during presentations, but actually even during interviews. Actually just about any conversation when we are in the spotlight, we actually tend to use it. When actually, we can use other words and phrases such as “furthermore”, “in addition”, “to add on”, “moreover”. Actually, we don’t even have to say anything at those moments. Actually, this irritating filler that we use for our sentences causes more harm than good. Actually, we should just pause.

And you know what? Actually it gets on my nerves. Actually, maybe even yours, once you realize it too.

Actually.

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