Business: Going to Barter

February 9, 2010 in business, financial, technology | No comments

From Wikipedia:  Bartering is a medium in which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods and/or services, without the use of money.

In this day and age, one would think that this method of doing business is obsolete.  However, with the world economy in such horrible shape and a lot of mega corporations falling under, it is no surprise that the small and medium companies (SME) are getting even worse hit.  But instead of laying down and dying like other companies, they got creative.  They’ve turned back to bartering for products and services.

This movement, according to BBC, may or may not have started in Singapore but it is for certain that a lot of companies around the world are following suit and they’re all doing quite remarkably well.  Some of the benefits are savings on costs, of course.  It also increases the company’s stature and reputation.  It makes things a little better for them in coping with the downturn.

They do their trades online through the barterxchange website and they have their own universal currency.  It’s definitely not the US Dollar, mind you.  To date, it is reported that there are close to half a million companies doing this around the globe.

These companies have remembered that the Chinese word for crisis is composed of two elements:  danger and opportunity.  The world financial situation is the danger.  Barter is the opportunity.

What are you doing with your business today?

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No Customer Left Behind

February 8, 2010 in business, mentat notes, work | No comments

Nowadays I have to hand it to some people who complain about the customer service they receive from different companies.  Most of the complaints they give out are that;

1. the representative didn’t know what they were talking about
2. the representative didn’t know what service was about
3. the representative didn’t care about him/her
4. the company didn’t give a damn about their plight

Those are just the most common ones.  There are other, more colorful complaints out there, of course.  I’m not discounting that fact.

I work in a contact center operation dealing with customer service for particular types of financial accounts.  We hear all sorts of stories.  Plus this particular account makes us all feel the severity of the crisis affecting the US of A, and believe me, we know and we feel your plight, ladies and gents.

Another thing I’d like to say is that we do know what we’re about and what we’re talking about.  Not just because it’s our business to know.  We know and we care.  We do our best to ensure that every single customer gets what they need.  Not necessarily what they want.  (You do know there’s a difference, right?)

Everyday, as our representatives are talking to customers they are thinking, “how can I make sure this customer doesn’t get left behind?”  It’s true.  Sometimes it’s just difficult to do because the customer himself or herself insists on something and screams or shouts at the hapless representative whose reaction is now, “waaah, how do I get rid of this guy quick?”

If you treat the person on the phone like a real person, trust me, you’ll always get what you need and want.  Try it today.  See where it will get you.

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What is Your PC’s Value?

February 7, 2010 in computers, mentat notes, technology | No comments

I’ve admitted that I have been using PCs for a very long time.  Since 1985, to be more exact.  From that time (floppy disk time), I’ve always set passwords and entry restrictions to some of my more precious disks.  I’ve even hacked into the early DOS versions to change the commands to befuddle would be data pirates.  In short, I did my very darnest to ensure that whoever tries to steal my data will have a very difficult time at it.

Of course, this also means that I am always branded as selfish.  That’s what my brothers call me.  I don’t care.  It’s my data.  Not yours or theirs.  And my password’s mine and mine alone until after I’m dead.

I am still the same way today.  On my home PCs I don’t install anything pirated.  I look for free and/or opensource alternatives to the programs that I need to work.  My home network has a router that is using a combination of stealth, encryption (for WiFi) and MAC address blocking.  My laptop is locked and requires a password to use.  Even if I’m the only one who ever uses it.  Private and confidential data is stored on encrypted USB drives.  So on and forth…

Why am I this way?  The better question is, why aren’t you?  Read this post from the Washington Post to get educated on the value of your machine to criminals.  It doesn’t matter how old your machine is or how poorly spec’d.  It is very, very useful to them for their work.

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