Sorry for my absence...

Hi Any and All Readers,

I just wanted to take a moment to apologize for the lack of posts to this blog over the past several months. I have a pretty good reason - it's called Lymphoma.

(I generally try to keep this blog to professional content, so sorry for the divergence here)

I was diagnosed with Lymphoma back in January, and have been undergoing chemo since then. Things look good (except I now have a receding forehead that recedes all the way!!), and I'm optimistic of a full recovery. Last treatment is set for June 2nd.

So now it's business as usual. Our new Director of Sales Jeff Wicks is working hard to bring more people into the Dynamic Intelligence family, and we have plans to bring in another technical resource very soon. We're also now partnering with Tibco to bring their Spotfire Analytics product to more Canadian companies. And we have a number of informational events planned to keep our clients and contacts informed and educated about BI. So as you can see we're keeping busy.

Wishing you happiness, health and prosperity!

Jim Payton

PS - I wrote an editorial about my experience for the Waterloo Region Record - called "The Upside of Cancer". You can read it here if you're interested.

Customer Service Excellence

I wanted to share a brief story with you about a great example of customer service excellence - it went way beyond my expectations, and left me in this case as a really excited customer.

Some time ago, we bought a microscope for my two sons Donovan and Jameson. They were both very excited to finally be able to look at all kinds of gross stuff up really close. And for a while, all was good... until one day, when something happened to the microscope lens and it stopped working. (To this day, no one has accepted responsibility).

So what did we do? Well, as dutiful parents, we said we'd contact the company and get it replaced. But it wasn't really a supper high priority, so it got pushed to the back burner... for about three years!

And then one day I came across the microscope, and decided it was time to sort things out! I emailed the company, and a very polite young mand named Timothy Wade told me that he'd be happy to replace the lens - free of charge! All he needed was the model number.

I was elated! I rushed to the microscope and wrote down the model number. I headed back to my computer and sent it off to Timothy... and he told me that, unfortunately, they had stopped making that model a couple of years ago. But (this is where it gets good!) he said he would be happy to send me a complete working microscope of the replacement model!!!

I said thanks, and gave him our mailing address, and within two weeks, a brand new, 400X Thames & Kosmos TK2 microscope arrived! No product exchange... No proof of purchase/receipt to be sent in...

And to my sons,I was Super-Dad!

I can't fully express how happy I am to have bought from Thames & Kosmos in the first place. As a customer, this was an outstanding experience, and it really shows how a company can make their customers happy. Granted, I'm not likely going to be buying a microscope every day, but I have told this story personally to quite a few people, and I would bet that at some point, a few of them will buy microscopes for their kids. And hopefully this story will mean something to them. (T&K also make really cool science experiment kits!)

What I learned from this is that Customer Service is about making your customers happy, so they will tell your story to their friends on your behalf.

It's really cool what you learn when you look at things under a microscope. :)

We work for our clients!

So far today, I've had two calls with software vendors to discuss their products and how they might fit our clients. And in both cases, there was talk of 'volume commitments' and 'software deals forecasts'. There was some mention of 'low-hanging fruit', and a strong focus on moving software licenses.

And after I got off the phone, I realized... we don't work for the software vendors!

WE WORK FOR OUR CLIENTS!!!

Sure we sell software licenses. But ONLY if it is appropriate to your needs and will help you do things better. Sometimes, what you have is what you need... you may just need to know how to use it better. On the other hand, sometimes you DO need software, and it is our responsibility as your business partner (and experts in this area) to assist you with making the best business choices.

And I promise that we will continue to do that.

How good is Excel?

Is Microsoft Excel a good tool for dealing with calculations and summaries? Absolutely! There’s no better spreadsheet tool on the market, at least that I’m aware of. And when it comes to dealing with day-to-day business activities, most users are very capable of using it for their purposes. But how much of Excel’s capabilities does the average user , well… use?
I recall reading an article several years ago that said the average user only used about 10% of Excel’s true capabilities. Ten percent! That’s all!!! (Funny thing – I think that’s like the portion of our brains that we use on a day to day basis.) Let’s say things have improved lots over the past few years… let’s say we now use 20%.

So if Excel is such a fantastic tool for all our varied purposes, why then do we use only about one-fifth of its capabilities???

Could it be that the small portion that we do use is pretty easy to understand, but the rest of it is pretty hard? Could it be that the real strengths of Excel lie in the stuff we already use it for… and the rest really isn’t its forte?

There’s a saying that goes something like this: “It’s like using a hammer to put in a screw”. Or put another way, “It’s like using a cannon to kill a mosquito”. None of us would ever do that, right? We’d want to find the right tool for the job. The good old KISS principle.

If you'd like to see a cool video that really demonstrates the power of a tool other than Excel, along with a limited time offer to try it out, check out this Excel alternative.

Eureka

Last week, I was with my family on a vacation to Ottawa, and we went to the Canada Science and Technology Museum. It's a great place to take kids, and has lots of hands-on exhibits and interactive content. I happened to notice this little sign bedside one of the displays, and I couldn't help but keep thinking about its simplicity:

Sometimes, I think we adults make things too complicated. Maybe we should pay more attention to what we teach our kids.

Strategic Advantage

Is Business Intelligence just reporting? Pretty charts and tables? Is that all I get for my money?

If you look at information as a vital strategic asset for your business, you'll start to see how business intelligence is NOT just a cost. A lot of us talk about living in the "Information Age" and how we're all "information workers". But if all you're doing is recording transactions so you can pay your taxes, you're missing the point.

It's only data until you start to use it; then it becomes information.

And THAT is a strategic advantage.

What about...

How's your customer churn? How many customers do you 'fire' each year? Could you identify the ones that are costing you money to service??? Do you have the information to make an informed decision about replacing them?