She has been an extraordinary part of our team, one that we can all count on, seeing to the most minute of details for our clients and members alike.  She put a new definition on multi-tasking, handling everything with grace and aplomb.

How does one say goodbye to a co-worker, a friend, a trusted employee?  With tears, best wishes, and a very large martini!  You will be missed, dear Lolly!

Our very best wishes on this grand adventure.

I’m currently sitting on an Alaska Airlines flight, flying from DC to Seattle.  It’s a long flight, the seats are average size, and the paid snacks are average too.  However, there are some remarkable things about this flight that do not just have to do with Alaska Airlines.

This plane has WiFi.  Yes, I realize that this technology exists but it’s surprising how many planes do not still have the service (come on airlines, get with it).  I was excited to learn that we would have WiFi, but imagine my glee when I found out that Bank of America (who is the credit card backer of the Alaska Airlines Visa) would be covering the cost of the WiFi for all Alaska flights this month.  Typically the WiFi is up to $12.95 for a flight of this length.  I have a Bank of America credit card, and now I’m more likely to keep that card and to consider B of A for other banking and credit card needs.  I don’t know how the deal worked between B of A and Alaska, and I don’t really care.  I do care that I have free WiFi right now; my experience with Alaska is better and I like Bank of America more.

Bank of America win.

Alaska Airlines win.

Alaska Airlines also has these cool electronic devices called DigEPlayers.  This means that for a fee, you get your own digital player that is preloaded with several movies, TV shows, music videos, music, and more.  This is mentionable in and of itself because I like that I can choose what I watch and I don’t have to strain to watch a movie that I didn’t really want to see in the first place on an overhead screen.  I mentioned that these DigEPlayers have “More” and this is where we find another joint venture win.  I scrolled through the menu and found that the player has Soundview Executive Book Summaries.  I have seen these advertised in a magazine, and they did not look inexpensive, but imagine my glee (AGAIN) when I found that I could choose from over 45 business books and hear the executive summaries during my flight.  Now I’ve been able to try out this service, while I’m a captive, bored audience, and now I will be more likely to actually purchase this summary subscription

In-flight boredom eradicated... (at least on Alaska Airlines!)

from Soundview because I recognize the value and I like that they entertained me.

Soundview Executive Book Summaries win.

Alaska Airlines win.

Since I really enjoyed listening to a couple of these executive summaries, I found that I wanted to know more than just the 20 minute soundbyte on a couple of them.  This means that I opened my Firefox, went to Amazon, and bought the books…from the sky.  I’m sure this is SkyMall taken to a whole new level.

Amazon win.

Author win.

Alaska Airlines win.

So, the next time that you are thinking about running your company as an island, think about how much happier you could make your customers or clients if you give them things that may not cost you any extra but mean a lot to them.  People remember what made them happy and when they were happy.  Shouldn’t that be in your store, in your office, on your website, or on your flight?  I’ve almost even forgotten about the $20 that Alaska charged me to check my bag.

By the way, for inquiring minds that may want to know, I bought Seth Godin’s Free Prize Inside and Rohit Bhargava’s Personality Not Included.  I will keep you posted.

I am a fan of their page on Facebook.  A week ago, they posted on their wall that if they got to 1,000 fans (now “likes”) by the end of May, one of their fans would receive a giveaway.  This is clearly against the Facebook Terms of Service agreement which now prohibits contests being held on a Facebook business page unless offered through a third party vendor or approved by Facebook directly.

I felt a bit like a little kid saying “my mom says that you’re not supposed to do that”, but I wanted to make sure that this salon did not get in trouble and have their hard work on Facebook be for naught.  I commented on the giveaway post by the salon and diplomatically told them to be careful about offering contests on their page.  I also said that I was not sure how actively Facebook was enforcing these guidelines, but I wanted to be sure that they knew.

What did the salon do???  They deleted my comment.  They have then proceeded to post more on their wall about this giveaway, even weekly contests to their “likes” group.  Furthermore, they responded to the people that commented on their post- “Wow!  Thanks for all of the feedback!  May is going to be contest filled so keep an eye on this page!”

What did I do???  I wrote this blog post.  For a moment, I thought about alerting Facebook.  Hell hath no furry like a social media girl scorned!

What is the appropriate way to deal with comments on your Facebook page or blog?  Unless it is vulgar or slanderous, NEVER delete a comment by someone who has taken the time to write it. This is a great opportunity to respond and to make things better.  It may be an opportunity to turn a poor customer service experience around or, in this case, it may be a chance to thank someone for giving your business a head’s up, whether you choose to follow it or not.

What did deleting this comment do for my fondness and future evangelism for this company?  It ruined it.  Poor form.

Too Familiar?

Here is a new system that we created within our company.  I suggest that everyone have the same 3 categories across the team, but that the prioritization is role-specific.

Determine your 3 categories that all of your actions fall under (or should fall under).  In our company, I determined the following as our 3 categories:

1. Revenue producing:  an item on the to-do list that will bring money into the company
2. Service-related:  an item on the to-do list that will make our members or clients lives and businesses better
3. Brand awareness and networking: actions that will help build our brand throughout the industry and beyond

Based on your list, prioritize your categories.  My particular role in our company is bringing in new business and also long-term strategy.  If my role was to service our clients and members more directly, I would prioritize the categories differently.  Therefore, my category prioritization is as follows:

1. Revenue production
2. Brand awareness, strategy, and networking
3. Service

Determine some examples of what each category would entail.  For example, I would use the following examples for our company:

1. Revenue production: sales calls, creating letters of agreement, invoicing, etc.  For your firm, this might also be billable hours or creating proposals.
2. Brand awareness, strategy, and networking:  arranging presentations at design centers, writing blog posts, staying connected with my professional network, etc.
3. Service:  adding functionality to the website that would improve the client experience, monthly member calls, etc.

A few more ideas:

• Establish a “D” category.  There will naturally be things that fall into the “Other” category.  We call those category “D” items.  These will still need to get done but in the prioritization exercise, they will be the items that are least important to your business.
• Every time you add something to your to-do list, make sure that you put a letter next to it or color code it.  This will show you where you need to be prioritizing and what items can be downgraded.

For more great techniques to work smarter, I suggest Gina Trapani’s columns at FastCompany.com. What systems do you use to prioritize your laundry list of to-dos?

Design by Schelfe and Associates | Rendering by Gibson Design Management

Last fall we had the fortunate opportunity to work with Schelfe and Associates, an interior design firm from Raleigh, NC, on a project located 90 minutes outside of Hong Kong, China. The project consisted of converting an existing villa into a high-end boutique hotel, that, when built, will have 6 guest rooms, an owner’s suite, a cinema room, a game room, a karaoke room, a golf simulator room, multiple lounge areas, and more.

Gibson Design Management created four renderings for Schelfe and Associates to present to their clients, helping to better their understanding of the design concept through the renderings and an interpreter. Tim Schelfe, principal at Schelfe and Associates, took our renderings, a plethora of fabric samples and tear sheets, and more for the presentation to his new Chinese client. Upon return, Tim said that the renderings were a hit—they greatly helped bridge the language barrier between his team and the client. The client even said, “I want more pictures!”

Design by Schelfe and Associates | Rendering by Gibson Design Management

Tim wrote the following testimonial about the process:

“Gibson Design Management was instrumental in allowing our firm to organize the creative vision of the project without getting bogged down on preparing our own interior renderings or color boards. With the renderings provided by Gibson I was able to present my client a very clear and precise vision of the finished interior. Our client was ecstatic with our presentation and signed off on our design as presented.”

Design by Schelfe and Associates | Rendering by Gibson Design Management

What happens when you and your client both speak the same language? Should you still use renderings? There are countless times when a client will express his or her wishes using incorrect terms such as “I like modern” when what they actually like is “transitional.” Utilizing renderings can help combat these misunderstandings and ensure that you and your client are on the same page before the room is installed. Furthermore, the level of trust that is instilled once a client sees the renderings is immense—instead of just listening to your description, they can actually see what you mean.

A picture, or in this case a rendering, is worth a thousand words.

UYHU5SFCRWYQ

Domino’s Pizza catering SMC Chicago event from Andres J. DeLeon on Vimeo.

Read more about how exactly DeLeon is using social media and the amazing results he’s getting from this post on SocialMediaExaminer.com.

Way to go Ramon.  We salute you.

After contacting Unilight to get a back plate shipped, it took them ONE WEEK to ship us a plate that probably cost 50 cents.  The reason?  Our contact said that they had to meet about why a piece was not shipped (to figure out what went wrong in THEIR process) and she had to get a replacement plate approved.  From a business perspective, this does not fly.

In your business, you should empower your people to make something right for your clients.  What this requires from you is

1.  Trust in your team’s decision-making,

2.  The ability to not get mad if your people do something that you would not have done,

3.  Becoming comfortable enough to let your people solve a problem from start to finish without necessarily involving you.

In order to empower people to make things right, you have to trust their good judgment.  By punishing people for

making a decision, you are sending mixed messages.  If you feel more comfortable, set a limit of $100 or $200 cost before they have to check in with you or the team about the decision.  If it’s going to make a happier client to overnight the pillows that are already late so they will be there in time for a party, and it will cost you an extra $50, your team should feel like they can fulfill that without asking.  Furthermore, if you can get your team to a place where they do this without the client asking, you are exceeding expectations (but that’s for another post).

The last thing a client wants when she calls with a grievance that can be easily and quickly solved (such as a back plate shipped) is to hear that it will have to go before committee to make a decision.

Once the error on your part is made, and your client is made happy, then it is time to study your process and fix what went wrong.  That should never be your client’s problem or concern, and should never be a reason for delay on fixing her problem.

This is the BARE MINIMUM that your company should be doing.  We’ll talk more later about how further empowering your team can bring the WOW factor…think Zappos WOW.

Holly Hunt - New York

The perfectly sharpened pencils nestled in bins with memo sample request pads handily located next to them, the colorful and imaginative shopping bags full of gorgeous fabrics and funky trims, yours for the taking.

Fadini Borghi Fabrics & Trimmings

Graciously offered space to spread out and work, with water, coffee and snacks readily available. A sales associate ready to offer assistance; pricing and tear sheets swiftly and efficiently proffered.

But showrooms are more than that, they are a designer’s life blood, and designers are theirs’.  A perfect example of a symbiotic relationship.  Showrooms and their well-trained staff should be considered allies, a first line of defense. They are problem solvers, who will go to bat for a customer to help in getting to the bottom of a freight issue, or working with a vendor to push a lead time, or getting a difficult question or problem resolved.

The showrooms I have been fortunate to work both for and with have been much more than the selling, they have been about the relationship and the connection.

Gibson Design Management recently launched a Review Center.  This is a place for the design industry to review showrooms on the customer service that it receives.  We hope for it to be a place for showrooms that are providing great service to be lauded, and for those who are not serving the industry well, to improve from.  The way for this review center to be successful is for you to be candid about your experiences and to share those experiences.  We would love to have you contribute to our review center, and spread the word to your industry partners.

Currently, you can review showrooms in the Denver Design District and the Washington DC Design Center.  Please add your stars and reviews.  Posts can be anonymous if you do not feel comfortable adding your name, and of course, your email address will be kept strictly confidential.

1.)    What kind of inventory system do they utilize?  Does the warehouse have the technology to use photographs in their receiving reports?  Do they an accurate record of quantities of items from each vendor?

2.)    What are the hours of operation?   When you’re contacting the company do you speak with a live person or a switchboard?  Good communication with representatives within the warehouse is key.  Avoid warehouses with limited customer services hours.

3.)    Are they flexible and can they schedule last minute deliveries?  I recently encountered a situation where an office desk and credenza were delivered early to a hotel and needed immediate installation.  I was in a pinch, so I immediately called the warehouse we are using for the project to see if they could send an installer the next day.  Although it was last minute they were able to find someone that was available.  This was a win-win situation for both the client and for me.  Make certain you understand the warehouse’s delivery policy before you schedule an installation.

Talk to showrooms and designers in the area and feel out your options.  Build a personable relationship with your warehouse customer service team early on in the project.  They are there to help you run your project seamlessly.

It was a robot recording from the dermatologist’s office calling to confirm my appointment for the following Tuesday.

While we love systems and technologies as much as (or probably more than) the next guy, this was over the top.  Once my blood pressure lowered, I thought, “What should be our litmus test on whether or not to implement a system or technology?”

Before implementing a new system or technology ask, “Will this system compromise the warm and fuzzy feeling that our clients or our employees feel about our company?”  If the answer is “Yes”, don’t do it, despite the efficiencies gained.

Needless to say, I did not feel warm and fuzzy about my dermatologist.  In fact, I felt like I would probably be put on a conveyor belt and inspected and stamped by #43 (while still paying the full service price).