Just Klout Me

Is Klout Score MEANINGLESS!

2012-01-27T09:02:00.000+08:00

Great opinion piece by Colin Kromke http://socialposer.com

About Colin: I am a social media administrator for a Fortune 500 insurance company by day, and a husband, father, blogger and photographer the rest of the time. My passion for social media, digital marketing, and photography is infectious, so don't forget to wash your hands after reading.

Klout Scores range from 1 to 100, and they say “higher scores represent a wider and stronger sphere of influence.” They go on to say Klout Score is a representation of how successful a person is at engaging their audience and how big of an impact their messages have on people.

In the end, though, it’s just a number, and just because your number is the same as mine, doesn’t mean we’re equally influential. No. They also assign every user one of 16 different “styles” based on whether:

you share or create
you listen or participate
you are casual or consistent
your posts are broad or focused

Of course, taking a vacation also had an impact on my Klout style. Before I left, they said I was a Pundit, and described me as follows:

You don’t just share news, you create the news. As a pundit, your opinions are wide-spread and highly trusted. You’re regularly recognized as a leader in your industry. When you speak, people listen.

Now I’m back to being a Specialist, which they describe as follows:

You may not be a celebrity, but within your area of expertise your opinion is second to none. Your content is likely focused around a specific topic or industry with a focused, highly-engaged audience.

Klout for Kids... tell me NO!

2012-01-22T20:08:00.000+08:00

Great article:

Not all of us are social media mavens. Some people visit Facebook on the rare occasion when they have a photo to share or big news to tell. But to Klout and other networks, one visit is as good as an addiction because one visit is all it takes to leave a footprint behind.

The New York Times has a feature story up about Maggie McGary, a mom who makes her living as a social media manager. She was upset when she discovered a Klout profile for her under-aged son. Klout built the profile because the boy was Facebook friends with his mom, which made him fair game. Klout pulled his info and set up a profile without asking for permission and with no regard to the fact that he was a young teen.

Caught, Klout has discontinued that practice but that doesn’t mean the social media world is now safe. It’s not. It turns out that social media is like a giant game of Crack the Whip. Friending or following a person is like grabbing hold of the person in front of you. then your friends grab on to you and their friends to them and so on. Now, where the head goes, the body and tail go, too, like it or not.

Catch the rest here: http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/11/klout-caught-in-kerfuffle-over-harvested-facebook-data.html

Klout Matters

2012-01-12T18:39:00.000+08:00

Great Article on what you should care about KLOUT

How can it not? I’m starting to see these scores everywhere! I see Klout scores in email marketing, social media updates on Twitter or Facebook, and in news articles I read.

This is what I see when you tweet @Biebert.

If I only have 5 minutes every hour to respond to 50 tweets from unknown people, who do you think I respond to first?

If I’m doing it, others are too.

Like all smart leaders, I use data to make decisions. Klout is data.

Klout will also improve artificial intelligence and automation. Computers that know who to target will be more efficient. There could be a time when you are followed, unfollowed, retweeted, or featured in the news based on a computer calculation. That time may be sooner than you think.

Secrets Tactics to add KLOUT to your Klout score

2012-01-11T17:08:00.000+08:00

Get your K+ up and create credibility

For those who don’t know, the Klout score measure your ability to drive action on social media, whether that be through comments, retweets, mentions, shares etc. It ranges from one to 100, and considers how many people you influence, how much you influence them, and the influence of your network. It’s a good measure of how you’re doing with your social media campaigns.

But, it takes work to increase your Klout score and to keep it high. A few days without tweeting, posting, comments, and replies will do damage to your score. The score may seem meaningless, since no one looks at it or evaluates it but yourself. Yet, the Klout score is an excellent indicator of whether or not your social media presence is engaging clients and customers, or is just there. Here are a few tricks to increasing your score, and ensuring that your social media presence is more than “just there”:

Mention Companies on Social Media – If you can, mention another business. If doesn’t have to a competitor. Recognize that awesome coffee shop down the street. Tweet the latest news from your vendors. Encourage your fans to become fans of other businesses. Tell your followers to follow other great businesses with Follow Friday (hashtag #ff). Businesses love press, so throw them a bone once in a while. Not only will they retweet or reply, but they will increase your Klout score as they do it.

Purge the Bad Seeds – If you’re connected to a lot of Twitter users who have never tweeted, or haven’t tweeted in months, you might be better off disconnecting. Same goes for those Facebook users who don’t post news status or share articles. Klout considers the influence of your network, and these people aren’t influencing anyone. On top of that, you’re not influencing them. They aren’t using their accounts enough to be influenced by your or anyone else. Although getting rid of them will make your network smaller, it’s better of have a small network of highly engaging folks than a large one with only a few folks engaging on social media.

Add All the Social Media Sites Possible – Klout can now connect to WordPress, Google+, and Foursquare, with plans of connecting to Quora, Posterous, and Yelp. With 12 popular sites available for connection, you’re only shortchanging yourself and your score by not connecting to all that you have. On the flip side, don’t create accounts for the sake of connecting them to Klout. If you aren’t going to use them, or you don’t know many customers or clients on those sites, then having those accounts won’t help as much as you’d think.

Start and Engage in Discussions – If someone does post a comment or reply to your tweet, say something in return. The whole point of social media is to have something to say to people. Take the time to comment and respond to the content of others as well (don’t just take. Give too). You can also engage by following or retweeting the tweets of highly influential people. This improves the influence of your own network, while giving you a chance to get in touch with someone worthwhile.

Overall, your social media activities need to be consistent in order for your Klout score to say something accurate about your actions. Klout has a score for you no matter what, so if you only tweet once or twice a month, your score would be low simply because you don’t do enough with social media, not necessarily because you have poor influence. If you already do a lot with social media, then pay attention to your Klout score!

2012-01-07T08:36:00.000+08:00

Doing Subway the Klout Way

Apparently you get stuff too:

Here is a post from GeekLessTech setting out their booty from Klout:

Klout has been around since 2008 and measures influence online. If you’re online everyday and active on Twitter, FB or Google + you’ve undoubtedly heard of Klout. There are 100 Million registered Klout users, whether all of them know it or not. While Klout has it’s critics, no one can deny they’ve made an impact on the Social Media landscape in 2011.

I’ve noticed that many of my local friends that find their way to Facebook, Twitter, and Google + a few times a week have no clue about Klout. I usually start with it’s free, and you can get free stuff based on your “influence”. This stuff is called “Perks” in the world of Klout.

Identity Networks You must link to Klout through one of these networks
Twitter
Facebook
Google + (coming soon)

Perks (Some that I’ve received)
Dick’s Sporting Goods $50 Gift Certificate
Subway $10 Gift Certificate
Itunes $15 Gift Certificate
Fox Windbreaker (very nice, although was small on me)
Weather Channel Umbrella (quality)

Klout is really for narcissistic, insecure attention seekers

2011-12-26T10:32:00.000+08:00

Klout is really for narcissistic, insecure attention seekers.

"Klout will contribute to people comparing themselves with others. It will increase peoples' desire to be famous and see their self worth tied up not in who they are, but rather in who they are seen to be. You're measuring yourself, and unless you're Justin Bieber you won't measure up."

And speaking of Justin Bieber, the very fact that he scores a Klout perfect 100 should tell you something about how accurately this measures true influence.

One of the messages of Alfred Crosby's 1997 book The Measure of Reality: Quantification in Western Europe, 1250-1600 is that once we can measure something it becomes important and shapes our worldview.

Klout attaches a number to our social interactions online. The number seems to be bigger for people who are more active online, so we imagine that it's a useful measure. Something very human makes us want to make our own number bigger — presumably by thinking about our social interactions as "creating content" and "engaging".

But us humans will chase any number. Klout could just as well have handed out thermometers so we could compare and compete with our rectal temperatures. Which, when you think about it, is precisely what they have done.

Whether Kred addresses any of these issues remains to be seen. Its main differentiator seems to be transparency. Perhaps it's just a clearer view of the bullshit.

But in the end none of this really matters. Punters get a brag-number to stick on their Facebook profiles. Advertisers get another vast tranche of personal data. And that's what the internet is for, right?

Klout blog quote

2011-12-25T17:25:00.000+08:00

Just read this... but NO answer from Klout yet:

It looks as if there is a majority of people on here that are Social Media Managers that are trying to connect Google+ Pages and Facebook Pages for Business. Anyone who is serious about Social Media is trying to connect their business aspects to these scores and they do not seem to work.

I like the idea of Klout but it seems to be seriously flawed without the implementation of these scores (especially if we are trying to get businesses to take Klout seriously with the scores given).

When do you think we can expect them to be added to our Klout score?

http://support.klout.com/customer/portal/questions/114356-update-klout-to-connect-google-pages-and-facebook-pages

Klout takes aim...

2011-12-19T09:17:00.000+08:00

Found this great article on The Nicky Blog

What’s @Klout? It’s a tool which measures your online influence. It finds out how well you’re doing in the social media world. From what I see, Klout has mixed reactions from people. I am not a huge fan of Klout – but I don’t hate it either. Klout doesn’t take the number of followers into consideration while giving you your score. It sees your retweets, mentions (on twitter), likes, comments (on Facebook) and so on. Some blogs lately have been stressing on the fact that – yes, Klout matters. What do you think? (I’ll keep my detailed opinion for another post.)

We always see tweets in our timeline in which people give +Ks to others and some tweeps thanking others for the same. The feature of +K in Klout is just like giving someone a thumbs up in a particular topic. Here are some of the reasons why you should +K others.

1. You love what they share: A +K is like sending your appreciation to someone’s content. If you like what they share, let them know by giving a +K in Klout. It will help build connections. And the feeling you get when someone appreciates what you share, is great!

2. You would like to express your gratitude: A +K can also be a way of saying thank you. If a tweep shares content which has greatly impacted you, helped you, inspired you in some way or the other, let them know by giving them a +K.

3. They are helpful: If someone from your friends list or twitter followers has always been helpful to you or they always provide great stuff which stands out from the others and makes a difference, I think they definitely deserve a +K.

4. They influence you: If someone you know, has great influence in a particular topic – giving them a +K will not only create another way to engage with them but it will also give them a motivation to keep sharing great content in those areas of interest. It’s like saying, “Hey, you provide great stuff based on a topic (say: social media), keep it coming!”

+K does not affect your Klout score. According to the Klout team, the main intention of introducing it is driving engagement and building a community by dividing the content into topics.

So go ahead, sign in to Klout give someone a +K!

What do you think of this feature? Interesting? Useless? Let me know in the comments!

Klout me PLEASE!! Just Klout me

2011-12-10T09:49:00.000+08:00

Klout today [June 2011] announced in a blog post that it has introduced a new feature to the service called +K.

+K is a button that allows you to vouch for your friends’ influence on certain topics that they discuss via their social media accounts.

According to Klout, a +K should be awarded when that peer has recently influenced you personally on a given topic, verifying Klout’s determinations that it bases on data collection and algorithms.

+K won’t affect Klout Score, instead determining the order of the topics that appear on a user’s page and the length of time those topics appear on the page.

The new feature parallels Google’s +1 in many ways, the least of which is the name. But unlike +1, +K is a currency: each user gets five +Ks to give out each day. You can give the same user a +K for the same topic more than once, but only at 7 day intervals.

Wayne Mansfield's products

Klout also mentions that they plan to allow ‘self-submission’ of topics in the future, allowing you to tell Klout which areas you think you’re influential in.

It’s an interesting concept. Let’s just hope there’s no +K button for sites incoming — we’ve been inundated enough as it is!

What's up Klout

2011-12-07T11:17:00.001+08:00

Klout Numbers Don’t Always Add Up

So I’ve been using Klout for a while now and was surprised to see how odd my numbers add up; in fact, they don’t. In fact, they just don’t add up at all.

Klout touts themselves as “The Standard for Influence” on the Internet in terms of social media. Well, they certainly have a right to make that declaration as they seem to be pretty dominant in that market space. I just signed up with Crowdbooster to see how well they do what they promise in this same service/product segment.

As you can see in my screenshot of my profile, my “Score Analysis” has been between 45 and 47-ish for some time now while my other statistics have significantly increased. My True Reach has gone up 20 points over the last week or so (my guess as to what those points represent), my amplification seems to be up (I have no idea what scale this is…percentage?) and my network has grown from 44 to 53 (of course, that’s some kind of aggregate score).

So, you would think that with these numbers like this that my “Score Analysis” would clearly at least be going up from prior to a week or so ago. NOPE. What’s up, Klout? (I did write them and I plan to post my response and follow up on this over time. I’ll also let you know what I think of Crowdbooster.

Source: http://meshmarketer.com/social-media/klout-numbers-dont-always-add-up/

+K for Google+ Fast growing service of all time

2011-12-05T16:50:00.000+08:00

Google+ is probably the fastest growing service of all time, and is certainly the most discussed launch of the year. Benefiting from Google’s unique distribution position, it’s already changing the landscape of social media, amassing 10M+ members in just a few weeks. It took Facebook two years and Twitter three years to reach the same milestone. Here at Klout, we’re taking a closer look at how it can help provide our users with a complete picture of their influence.

Our internal testing of Google+ has already demonstrated some exciting potential. Simple post-by-post privacy is undoubtedly a reason why so many feel more comfortable with who can access their content. We’ve also noticed people are sharing more, perhaps due to a more intuitive interface. A good example of this is the YouTube sharing integration, which allows users to search for videos, pick from their own uploads or enter a video’s URL.

That said, the most engaging element has emerged from the ability to post publicly (even to users who aren’t logged in) and receive responses in the form of in-line comments. Now users can follow and contribute to conversations in a way that wasn’t previously possible. Here’s a great example of the Gmail team using this feature to get suggestions on how they might integrate Google+.

Source: http://corp.klout.com/blog/2011/07/k-for-google/

10 Most Influential Talk Show Hosts

2011-12-02T13:44:00.000+08:00

The talk show: a genre that feels unscripted and conversational, providing entertainment and sometimes enlightenment. For every talk show, there is a host with a distinct personality. There’s the comedian, the journalist, the provocateur, and the satirist. You can find all these styles represented here on our Klout list of influential talk show hosts. The top three are Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O’Brien, and Jimmy Fallon. What’s the key to their success? It’s a blend of exclusive online content, promotional updates, and daily musings. Oh, and sprinkle in some humorous one-liners like this one from Conan.

“In North America yesterday, for a few seconds, the entire internet went down. Or, as it’s known in my house, ‘The Day I Spoke to my Wife.’”

Check out the rest of the top ten here.

Did your favorite talk show host make the list?

Source: Klout Official Blog

Google + gives my KLOUT score a bump!

2011-11-27T22:22:00.001+08:00

Before adding G+

Found this article here: Mashable

Google+ users might see their Klout scores go up Tuesday. The social media ranking company Klout has built a scoring model to calculate activity from Google’s 5-month-old social network.

Klout — which measures users’ online influence — started allowing users to add Google+ to their Klout dashboards on Sept. 22 shortly after Google released Google+ API. Now the San Francisco-based startup has injected its measurement system with the new Google+ scoring model.

Some users saw their scores significantly increase. Myspace co-founder Tom Anderson‘s score jumped from 64 to 77. Lesser known active users experienced similar boosts. Google TV employee Erica Joy‘s score rose 62 points to 73, and nature photographer Tamara Pruessner‘s score elevated from 11 to 67.

Klout told Mashable it’s taken two months to reach the desired amount of registered Google+ users to accurately create the scoring model. “Once we have a critical mass of users, our science team dives into their data to build a comprehensive and accurate new scoring model for that network specifically.” said Megan Berry, Klout’s marketing manager.

No scores will decrease based on Tuesday’s changes and Klout will measure only public posts, Klout wrote Tuesday in a blog post. Sixty-two percent of Google+ users who connected their accounts to Klout are active on Google+ and “should see it affect their score based on their ability to drive action on that platform.”

After adding g+

“We have always believed that influence was the ability to drive people to actions and Google+ has great signals such as +1s and comments,” CEO Joe Fernandez told Mashable in September. “One thing we have noticed is that the conversation frequency and quality on Google+ really sets it apart from other platforms.”

Klout has integrated 12 social networks to users’ dashboards. The service so far factors in Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and Foursquare. Klout is still building scoring models for YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Blogger, WordPress.com, Last.fm and Flickr.

What's in a Klout Score

2011-11-16T21:23:00.000+08:00

KLOUT retreats when all other indicators increase ???

Over the last month, according to Klout, my:

1: In the past month, your True Reach increased by 655

2: In the past month, your Amplification increased by 1 point

and

3. In the past month, your Network Impact increased by 1.80 points

BUT.... my KLOUT score went DOWN by 1 How does that work??

Creating Buzz and getting KLOUT

2011-11-16T21:17:00.001+08:00

A word of mouth revolution

For decades companies have spent big, big money to try to identify and nurture word-of-mouth influencers. This is an expensive and inexact science. Can you see how amazing it is to now be able to quickly, easily, and cheaply find and connect with the people who are influential about movies in Memphis? Or who generate buzz about beer in Berlin?

You can imagine that companies would be all over this. Some of the biggest and brightest marketers and brands like Disney, Audi, Starbucks, and Nike have incorporated Klout influencers into their traditional marketing efforts. And it is working. According to Klout, each influencer in one of their Perk programs generates an average of 30 pieces of content and millions of possible impressions. The cost per thousand impressions is incredibly low compared to other forms of advertising and it is ORGANIC since it is being generated by people who already love the brands.

Now, you can go ahead and keep writing blog posts all day long about how stupid Klout is and I’ll simply suggest that you are putting emotion ahead of facts and doing a disservice to your customers. Of course all of the negatives at the top of the article are true and valid. But don’t miss the forest for the trees. This trend is happening with you or without you, so calm yourself and start to study this as an important online marketing weapon.

Social scoring is improving. It is a historically significant development. Big brands care. And so should you. Right?

[Edited from "Why Klout Matters" by Mark Schaefer]

Klout CEO Fernandez Responds to Critics

2011-11-14T17:06:00.001+08:00

Klout CEO Fernandez Responds to Critics, Gives Insider Tips and Thinks Ahead | Fox News Latino:

When Joe Fernandez first thought of Klout.com, a growing website that measures how influential a person is on the Internet, he was in the midst of recovering from major jaw surgery. For three months Fernandez had his jaw wired shut.

He was bed ridden, isolated, forced to eat only what could fit through a straw and could only communicate in 140 characters.

“Twitter was still kind of a joke,” Fernandez said. “This was in early 2008, it was before hashtags were even really being used.”

Klout 7 Tips and Best Practices

2011-11-14T04:53:00.000+08:00

Here is a great How to article about Klout
Last week we gave an intro to the world of Klout for those that were not familiar. Today we’ll conclude with tips and best practices for Klout.

These include:

1) Google Chrome and Klout Extension
2) Twitter
3) Klout Score Analysis
4) +K and Thank You’s
5) Klout Topics
6) Klout Profiles
7) Klout Achievements

Google Chrome and Klout Extension: Even if you’re not a Klout user I would recommend using Google Chrome as your browser. The toolbar is clean, not cumbersome, and Chrome provides the best experience for surfing. Internet Explorer (IE) is dead right now. Chrome has something called extensions that work to enhance certain programs and sites. Yes there is a Klout extension with Chrome that I highly recommend downloading. It will make your Klout experience that much more fruitful. Similar extensions available on Firefox and Opera.

Google Chrome Download

Klout Extension

You’ll see the arrows pointing at the K. The K appears next to handles in Twitter after the Klout Extension is downloaded. You can click on the K in Twitter to get to that profile.

Twitter: To really get the most out of Klout, you should really be using Twitter. Klout becomes difficult to manage if you are only on Facebook. Klout’s foundation is Twitter. Register today if you’re not on already on Twitter.

Klout Score Analysis: Each day your score updates and you’ll see the score action on a graph within your profile. Below is an example from my account.

+K and Thank You’s: +K is important part of Klout. +K are something you give to other Klout members in Topics were you’ve been influenced and/or because you like the person. They serve as a nice gesture to other members and are a good way to build rapport. When you first start with Klout you are given 5 +K’s per day to give out. It’s use them or lose them in that 24 hour period. Recently, active members were given 10 +K’s per day to disperse daily. Try to use your daily allotment whenever you’re online. People appreciated receiving these little nuggets. Finally, make sure to thank the person via a tweet, FB message on wall, or by reciprocating with +K back. There are automated Thank You’s within Klout that can be used as well.

Klout Topics: Based on the content of your messages the Klout program will generate Topics. Early on there was a lot of noise on this because Klout was generating Topics for users that had little or no relevance. That has died down, and the Topics generated are now generally on the mark. You also have the ability to hide a topic if you wish. I try to keep number of Topics at about 10 and have a few blocked currently. Topics are generated monthly. Below is an example of Topics.

Klout Profiles: Based on your messaging Klout will provide you with a Profile. An example of profiles includes Broadcaster, Feeder, Thought Leader, Pundit, Specialist and others. Again this is something Klout generates based on your content and behavior.

Klout Achievements: Klout gives you badges based on hitting certain milestones. These are fun and can automatically sent out via Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. Below is an example of some of the badges.

Hopefully this provides a good overview of Klout and what it offers. It’s a fun part of the Social Media experience, and I foresee Klout being around for awhile. They continue to improve and enhance their service. Enjoy the Klout experience.

That is one ugly woman...

2011-11-12T09:37:00.000+08:00

In some cultures this lady is considered beautiful... but I can't see it. Can you?

How to Stay Innovative?

2011-06-30T15:49:00.000+08:00

From one of my favourite people, Tom Peters blog:

[Darci Riesenhuber gives us the entry below. She was excited to meet this person, and she wants us all to know her story and perhaps provide some feedback.—CM]

Sara Blakely, a local Atlantan, started the company Spanx out of her apartment. After several failed attempts to find the right undergarment to hide imperfections and panty lines when wearing white pants with open-toed shoes, she decided to cut the feet off her pantyhose. This worked beautifully! So, she wondered, why doesn't this already exist? Rather than wait for someone else to get the credit, she decided to research it, patent it, manufacture it, and distribute it, all on her own, since everyone she pitched the idea to thought it was laughable. (Not surprising ... can you imagine ... she was pitching the idea to men.)

After 2 years of effort, including research, cold calls, door to door sales, and a prototype, she got her first distribution contract with Neiman Marcus and a spotlight on the Oprah Winfrey Show. (You might even have seen her on The Rebel Billionaire, the reality TV show with Richard Branson.)

Currently, with over 40 different products, Sarah is well on her way to a $30M (solely owned) company. Her biggest challenge right now is how to stay innovative and ahead of her competition as her company continues to grow. So, my question to readers is this: How do you keep the entrepreneurial, innovative, risk-taking spirit alive as you expand from a small to a large company?

The Eight Rules Of Good Customer Service #4

2011-05-08T16:08:00.000+08:00

Rule No. 4: Invoke Your Rights Under Rule 240

Rule 240, which is part of an airline's contract of carriage, spells out passengers' rights due to delays, cancellations and missed connections that are not caused by weather. Unfortunately, each U.S. airline has a different policy. But knowing what that policy is before you go to the airport could be the difference between getting on the next flight and spending a few hours watching CNN in an airport lounge. Don't expect the airline employees to tell you about their policy, either. However, don't forget about Rule No. 1 and the fact that the airline employees are dealing with not only you, but with dozens of angry customers. If you go up to the counter waving a copy of the rule in their faces and demanding they follow it, you probably won't get very far.

Custome Service Myth #2

2011-05-03T08:48:00.000+08:00

I Always Behave Professionally. It’s the Customer that Has the Attitude! "Real Truth": The customer can usually read your mind—and they aren’t nice thoughts.

Customer service providers must recognize that their "attitude" is extremely easy to detect and misinterpret. What is "attitude"? It is the image that you project to the world. It is your outlook, your mood, and your perceptions and prejudices. You project an "attitude" using your body language and tone of voice. The most important "attitude" lesson: customers can detect a bad or negative or condescending attitude in a split second!

Good customer service providers recognize that customers respond most comfortably to a friendly, open-minded attitude. They respond to smiles and the use of their name. They want you to look them in the eye. They want you to listen to their needs and concerns.

If you project another "attitude" (even unintentionally), you are taking a huge chance that you will alienate, irritate, or simply "turn off" a customer.

Leave the "attitude" at home.

Dictionary word of the day.

2011-05-01T15:30:00.000+08:00

luminary: any body that gives light; also, a person of eminence or brilliant achievement.

The Customer Is Always Right

2011-03-12T11:31:00.000+08:00

Fairly brazen statement, isn't it? Everyone in the service industry has seen customers who have been wrong, sometimes blatantly wrong. But it really isn't whether the customer is right or wrong that is important. It is the attitude and trust towards the customer that is important.

One of the worst problems of the service industry is a cynicism that can seep into the attitudes of even the most dedicated people. This cynicism can negate even the best service policies and intentions of a company, and is probably at its peak when service personnel deal with refunds or returns.

Most people would agree that it is important for companies to have a refund policy. What is not so apparent is that simply having the policy is not enough. Service personnel must trust the customer and believe they are telling the truth. Ask these questions of your service employees:

Do your employees and management believe their customers when they return a product?

Do they believe their customers are basically honest? Do they believe that it is a very, very small percentage of customers who actually try to scam?

Do your employees get upset when someone returns an obviously used printer or flashlight that hasn't been in stock for months, complain that it is not working properly and want their money back? Do they feel challenged to prove the customer is wrong?

Do your managers the customer when they say their dinner was terrible and there is only a little bit left on the plate?

If the above scenarios are typically greeted with employee skepticism followed by an interrogation of the customer, then you may as well have no refund policy. The first rule of customer satisfaction is to always assume your customers are telling the truth.

Change the World for Ten Bucks

2010-12-24T20:55:00.001+08:00

Change the World 50 Ideas

Great New Book - 50 ideas to change the world.

I am not sure whether the book's title is "for Ten Bucks" or each action is... but I am inspired to try and get 50 done by January 31st... 2011.

Thanks to the ladies at Holiday Inn Brisbane who sent it to me as my "corporate gift" from the banqueting department... it's greatly appreciated.

Today.. December 24th, 2010 I got started... I paid the Big Issue lady more than the $4 cover price for the Summer Edition and I refused the obligatory plastic bag offered with my purchased today.

Yesterday I made way in my wardrobe for "new" stuff by donating perfectly good clothes to the Salvos... 47 actions to go.

Words of Wisdom - B C Forbes

2010-12-17T17:24:00.000+08:00

B C Forbes

"It is when things go hardest,

when life becomes most trying,

that there is greatest need for having a fixed goal."

B.C. Forbes