Walk the Talk Mid-Week Motivator

I don't know about you, but I really appreciate daily reminders/motivations/affirmations/whatever, especially since the buck stops at my desk. Consequently, I've subscribed to a few regular M-F newsletters to help get me going in the mornings. Certainly, they don't all hit it every day, but they do jump start that internal cheerleader who reminds me of what's important.

So, this morning when I opened the WalktheTalk.com newsletter, I read this list.


OUR CHARACTER IS SHOWN BY…

The jokes we CHOOSE to share…and not to share.
The derogatory terms we CHOOSE to use…and refuse to use.
The promises we CHOOSE to break…and the ones we keep.
The rumors we CHOOSE to spread…and those we ignore.
The resources we CHOOSE to waste…and those we use wisely.
The lies we CHOOSE to tell…and not to tell.
The responsibilities we CHOOSE to accept…and those we shirk.
The courtesies we CHOOSE to extend…and fail to extend.
The efforts we CHOOSE to put forth…and not put forth.
The quality we CHOOSE to provide…and the corners we cut.
The information we CHOOSE to share…and that which we hoard.
The listening we CHOOSE to do and not do.
The respect we CHOOSE to give…and fail to give.
The helpful hands we CHOOSE to extend…and those we keep in our pockets.

As I read each one, I thought about how it applied to me personally, then how it fits into my professional life, as a company owner, a service provider, and an evangelist of the customer experience.

I don't think the "rules" for great customer service can be expressed any more eloquently than in those used above that define character.

Quote for June 17, 2008

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." -- George Bernard Shaw

When I read this earlier today, I was reminded of the last job I had before starting Private Label.

I was fired.

It was the summer of 2000. Companies were imploding right and left. The DotCom where I was Managing Editor was running out of money and the CEO was scrambling for more angel or VC money. The problem was that he did not have a clear vision of what the business was, so he rewrote the business plan after every meeting. It was as if he were jumping from one piece of flotsam to the next piece of jetsam after the boat had already gone down miles from shore.

When I was hired, we, or, at least, I had what I thought was a very clear picture of our mission. And, it was working as evidenced by all the emails I got every day from our faithful readers. But, no one wanted to hear that our site visitors were SAHMs home schooling their kids. They thought it was 25-34 guys.

So, I was fired for being negative, counter-productive, not a team player, and a general PITA. The company crashed and burned six weeks later, out of ideas and money.

In this challenging economic environment, it's easy to get spooked and lose the faith, lose the vision, and stray from the company's mission. Business evolves and companies need to adapt. However, if the map of a clear vision and mission has been drawn at the beginning, the route to the future is already there to follow. It takes accurate observation, a clear action plan, and strong, confident execution minus the Pollyanna-ish platitudes.

In other words, this ain't a popularity contest, except to serve the best interests of the customers!

And, they will give the company kudos when they talk about you!

A New School Year

It doesn't matter how many years it's been since I last sat in classroom. The arrival of September, officially heraled by Labor Day is the new year even more surely than January 1st. So, it is right and fitting, apropos, that we launch the first chapter of the new Private Label InterActive bright and early in September.

PrivateLabel Mail is changing names and will henceforth be known as Venntive. Nope, that's not a typo.

Venn is the name of an Eglish logician who introduced Venn diagrams (1834-1923). Venn diagrams are usually those overlapping circles with common shared areas, especially the center where all the circles overlap and share one common area.

Venn also happens to be Norwegian for a companion and equal, someone who knows and likes another person very well, or a person who acts in a friendly and generous way to people, etc. he or she does not know.

Over the years, PrivateLabel Mail has grown a very nice CRM (Customer Relationship Management) module that makes it unique among email marketing solutions as well as CRM solutions. It is truly a turnkey, pre-integrated, suite of tools that enable small companies to have an affordable, SaaS (Web-based) solution with CRM, sales forecasting, A/P and A/R, and enterprise-level email marketing tools.

We feel Venntive better describes what this great piece of software delivers. For those of you who are current clients using PrivateLabel Mail, nothing much changes for you except the name and the logo at the bottom of the broadcasts you send. We ask that you eventually transition over to logging in to your accounts at the new Venntive site, but the PrivateLabel Mail login remains in place.

If you have not explored all the tools that are included with your email marketing account, please email to schedule a phone conversation and a demo of all that you could also be doing with your account.