Doug Shaw

Do It Yourself Slash And Burn.

I spent a very interesting half hour over at the Essex County Council website last night. Yes – I did say interesting. I was drawn to the site after reading an excellent blog post over at Flip Chart Fairy Tales. FCFT is a new discovery for me and I strongly recommend adding it to your reading list. It’s a great look at Business Bullshit, Corporate Crap and other stuff from the World of Work.

The story I read at FCFT is about budget cutting, and about how Essex County Council has published a diy budget cutter tool. DIY Slash n Burn. I spent 30 minutes trying to balance the books at Essex. Basically they (and for they we mean every local authority in the country) need to make swingeing cuts in next years budget. They have to do this against the backdrop of a freeze in council tax. Why central Government is imposing such a freeze at a time of such financial austerity is beyond me. It’s at times like this we should all pull together, get involved, make a contribution (and couldn’t that include a few extra quid on the council tax bill?). In one way I think that’s what Essex County Council are trying to do with this budget cutter tool, and isn’t that in part what Big Society is supposed to be about?

In the end, I managed to balance the books. It was interesting, and it wasn’t fun. Apart from some swingeing cuts in the Olympic legacy and Tourism budgets (sorry about that), I really only tinkered with the rest. Why don’t you pop over to Essex and have a go yourself. The tool is easy to use, and my only teeny criticism is that it doesn’t sit too well with the overly happy image sitting above it.

The Good The Bad and The Ugly

Wow! I had a weird fifteen minute burst of three very different customer experiences today.

The Ugly

I was contacted by International Business Development Group. They are running a business event on engagement in November and wondered if I would like to attend? It quickly became clear that there would be costs associated with this and though I kept asking for more information about these “associated costs”, all I got in response was more sales pitch on why this thing was such a must attend event. The pitch rapidly got harder and harder and the crux of the matter, yup, those “associated costs” seemed to get further and further away. After my umpteenth interjection I was told that I could attend this event for an investment of only £14,500. Game over – but even then I couldn’t stop the sales pitch. In the end I had to get quite direct and hung up, after letting the person know that’s what I was about to do. Hard Selling – Ugly.

The Bad

Within seconds the phone rang again. This time it was British Gas, they had some information for me. The information was about reduced gas prices. I’ve been contacted many times by British Gas and each time I politely ask them to mark my records – no phone contact. The lady from British Gas was polite enough but I know where to go to find out about gas prices thanks very much. If I want you – I’ll call you. Poor Record Keeping – Bad.

The Good

After the two phone calls I needed to take my frustration out on something. So I did a quick blast of vacuuming with my Dyson DC23 Animal. It’s a beast of a machine and sucks up pretty much everything in its path – yeah! Two minutes in the turbine head gave out with a satisfying mechanical BANG! I phoned Dyson and within a minute I was speaking with the customer service team – they’ve ordered me a new turbine head and it will be with me in around five days, free of charge. Listening, Understanding, Responding – Good.

I dread to think what passes for sales training at IBDG. I wish British Gas would take notice of my request. I love the customer service experience delivered by Dyson.

Home Alone. Almost.

A photograph of Ginger, one of Keira’s guinea pigs

There’s a small bubble of fear rising over Carshalton. Carole and Keira are off camping for a week and I’m being left to my own devices. I can come home as late as I like, go for bike rides when the mood takes me, play my music loud. What’s not to like?

Over breakfast this morning Keira shattered my illusions of freedom with 8 short words: “You have to look after the guinea pigs”. Stunned silence. Oh crap. I do.

It’s no secret in our family that me and pets just….don’t get on that well. Sure, I feed Ginger and Muffin from time to time but look after them….nope, that doesn’t happen. Until now. Keira went on. “You’ll have to feed them, clean them, play with them, and buy them stuff from the shop”. Buy them stuff!? What’s that all about? And what shop? It’s at times like this that you reach out to friends for advice and help. They rarely disappoint, and today is no exception.

In a very timely fashion, Brad Jennings has recently written a story about his 5 year old son, a fish called Izzie, and a visit to Pets at Home. He writes warmly about the enthusiasm and genuine care delivered by the staff at the store. It’s a lovely tale, made all the lovelier by the excellent experience provided by the people at the store. We like reading about and sharing great customer, employee, and brand experiences. And this one really hit the spot. The fact that it got me out of a hole too is just the icing on the (fish) cake. I know where I’m going to buy the guinea pigs’ stuff from now. At least that’s one task taken care of, Phew!