Making it Easy for Your Potential Customer to Use Your Service

This is the first post in a while that deals with the topic of business…this is a subject I want to start to explore more on this blog. I don’t feel blessed with much spare time at the moment, but it’s important for me to continue to write somewhere, lest I become too rusty. So here goes…

I was in Mexico recently on vacation, and on the way through the airport in Puerto Vallarta I was reminded again what a clever design the airport has for encouraging people to spend their last few pesos. You literally have to walk through several stores on your way to your gate. Not near them, but through them. It’s less obnoxious than it sounds, and it’s effective. The point is, by the time you get to your gate, you’ve probably spent your last bit of cash. There’s also the thought that most travelers have of not wanting to return home with useless paper currency they can’t spend unless they come back.

After passing through these stores, you finally make it to your gate. In this area there’s a small, two-chair massage station business that offers travelers 15 minute back/neck massages. If you’re sitting at the gate and you’ve got the time, why not, right? That was my thinking, and having a pre sit-on-my-butt-for-five-hours-massage seemed like a great idea. I was practically relaxing already as I walked up to the two massage chairs. The women greeted me with a smile, I smiled back, and before I could say anything my eyes caught a fairly large sign that read:

CASH ONLY

I was quite taken aback by this. Cash only? Really? People are getting ready to board their plane, have walked a gauntlet of stores designed to coax the last pesos out of their wallet, and this business is expecting people to pay for their service in cash? I felt a rush of disappointment come over me, and to my dismay I practically scowled at the woman as I said “Do you think most people have cash on them as they’re about to get on the plane?”. I threw up my hands and walked away, no doubt leaving her somewhat stunned. Anyone who knows me understands that hiding my feelings is something I’m rather poor at.

In that moment, I was a customer who was excitedly looking forward to paying for a service and in an instant I became someone who was turned away because of a poor decision the owner made. It certainly wasn’t the fault of the woman working, but she lost a paying customer and the tip she would have pocketed.

The lesson here? Meet your customers where they’re at in every way possible. If you set up your business in a location where people are unlikely to have cash, take credit cards. Be flexible. Don’t let payment terms be the thing that gets in the way of you making a sale. You’ve done your work, you’ve paid for a prime location, you’ve trained your staff, you’re ready to make some profit. Why destroy all that by being a cash-only business in a place where people are unlikely to have cash?

On the flip side, there was a great business that snagged $25 from me easily: it was a small, tastefully designed kiosk with a large flat-panel TV, and small but powerful Bose speakers playing music from a violin/piano duet called Arcano. They seem to do strictly covers, mostly pop/rock (like this), and since I’m always looking for good music to serve as a back-drop to periods of focus, I handed over my Visa and walked away with two CDs in less than two minutes. That’s how you run a business!

Yes, I’m Still Alive and Kicking

I was never a highly prolific blogger here, but even for me, not having posted for four months is a long stretch. So much has happened, but I’ve found that social networks (namely Facebook and Twitter) have largely replaced what used to get posted here on this blog. I tend to think that the people who care about what’s going in my life are already following me on Twitter or are friends with me on Facebook, so this blog serves a different role in terms of being a home for long-form content and things of merit that I want to share with the world.

The short version of my life right now is that I’ve got an amazing job at HTC, my family and I have moved into our new house in Renton, Washington as of two weeks ago, and I’m learning to live like an American. Most of the things are the same, but there are enough differences that there’s the occasional struggle – mostly around healthcare. When you call your insurance company and even they can’t explain their own rules, you know you’re trapped in a system that tries to keep you from succeeding with it. All in all though, I feel tremendously blessed and honoured to have been given so many great opportunities.

I haven’t given up on blogging, but life is so hectic right now I won’t fool myself into thinking that I’m going to be putting up any more content here any time soon. I’m hopeful by the summer months things will have calmed down.

Microsoft’s Productivity Vision of the Future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6cNdhOKwi0&hd=1

Every technology company has a vision for the future of productivity and interactive computer systems. Above is Microsoft’s. I’d like to live in that world. 🙂

The Groupon Experience: Three Business Owners Share



I’ve long held that Groupon, or any online coupon offering like it, is like juggling a flaming knife for a business owner: only the truly skilled will survived. full article here.

G – GOD | O – OUR | S – SINS | P – PAYING | E — EVERYONE | L – LIFE

Propaganda rocked it at our church a few weeks ago and I’m glad I was able to find this video. “Refreshingly awesome” is what was running through my mind as he shared this with us.

I’m Selling The Thoughts Media Network, Moving to the USA, and I Got a Job Working for HTC. Any Questions?

I’ve been writing and re-writing this post in my head over the past couple of months, and that headline was the best I could come up with. It’s not easy to encapsulate one of the most significant changes in my life in a single sentence. Now let’s unpack that bombshell I’ve just dropped…

The HTC Job

I’ve been working with HTC, the mobile phone and tablet maker, since August 1st of this year. Being a long-time fan of Microsoft’s efforts in the mobile space – and largely tying my career to those efforts, for better or worse – I’ve watched HTC grow from being a nameless, brandless, tiny Taiwanese ODM making Palm-sized PCs/Pocket PCs to the mobile powerhouse they are today. I’ve always had tremendous admiration for HTC as a company and loved their products, so when someone I knew from Microsoft got a job with HTC in late 2010, I reached out and we started talking. The rest, as they say, is history. I believe HTC is uniquely positioned to do some amazing things in the mobile space over the next few years and I’m excited to be a part of it!

Thoughts Media is currently a vendor for HTC USA, and come October 1st, I’ll be a full-time employee. I have an H1B work visa, and after closing the sale of my house this weekend (phew!), I’ll be moving in the near future to the Bellevue, Washington area with my wife and two year old son, and starting my new career. To add a little extra stress into my life, we’re also building a new house and will be in temporary lodging until it’s finished. Oh, did I mention this is the first corporate job I’ve held in 13 years? This is the single biggest career transition I’ve ever gone through.

What am I doing for HTC? I’m a part of their social team – the team that focuses on HTC customers via Facebook, Twitter, and other communities. My title is Senior Manager of HTC Communities. I’m creating something special for them that, when the time is right, you’ll hear about in a very big way. The job couldn’t be more well-suited to my skill-set if I had created it myself. I’m massively excited about the opportunities I’ll have at HTC, and my admiration for them as a company has only grown since I’ve been on the inside. A big shout-out to my awesome team at HTC for making a slightly bewildered Canuck feel right at home.

Effective October 1st, I’ll be retiring from the Microsoft MVP program. This ends a 14 consecutive year run that has been profoundly rewarding on both a professional and personal level. I became a Windows CE MVP when I was 22 years old; I’ve been an MVP for more of my adult life than not, so it was a big decision to remove my name from being renewed for the next year. I have some amazing memories and made some great friends being a part of the program, and I’m forever grateful to Microsoft for allowing me to be a part of it.

You may have noticed my recent posts about HTC on Windows Phone Thoughts or Android Thoughts have contained zero commentary – just the facts. It’s been difficult to try and keep the two worlds separate, which leads me to…

Selling the Thoughts Media Network

Months before I started seriously talking to HTC, I was exploring the sale of my Web sites. I’ve said no to several offers over the years, but it’s now time to sell. I’ve loved running these sites since launching my first one (Pocket PC Thoughts) an incredible 11 years ago, but I’ve felt for a couple of years now that I needed a career change. When you stop acquiring new skills at a job, and you feel like you’ve gotten all the experience out of it that you can, it’s time to look for something different.

I say this with no sense of exaggeration: it has been one of the great joys in my life working with the amazing volunteers who keep things humming across all six of my sites, and I’m forever indebted to them – and to you, our awesome community – for giving me the ability to do this for so long. I’ll have a more eloquent farewell message when I finally sign off for good, but this was easily one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. Leaving my creation – our creation – in the hands of someone else is no small thing.

The logical question is “Who’s buying the Web sites?”. Right now I’m looking for a buyer for all six sites in the network – I’m in talks with several people/companies, but nothing has been finalized yet. If you’re interested in taking over a network that has been finely tuned like a racing car, staffed with amazing volunteers that are ready and willing to work with a new owner, please contact me directly.

Serious inquiries only please, but the selling price of the network might be less than you think. Let’s just say I’m a motivated seller because it’s time for me to move on and jump in with both feet at HTC. I’ll be accepting offers over the next seven days, then making my decision, so if you’re interested please let me know. The ideal buyer is someone who has a passion for technology, community, and an entrepreneurial spirit for making things grow. Oh, and being a little brash and opinionated can’t hurt!

Comments? Questions? Thoughts? Let me hear them…

(this post is duplicated over at Windows Phone Thoughts if you’d like to comment there)

Best Paintball Video Ever? Yes, I Think So…

“In this video for Porter Robinson’s Spitfire, we emulated a videogame style paintball match shot in one take with the Phantom Flex @ 1,000 fps. Dont forget to have a looksy at the chat box ;)”

Porter Robinson // SPITFIRE (aka: CAPTURE THE CAN) from Saman Keshavarz on Vimeo.

ASC Rules David Jones and Wealthstreet Breached Alberta Securities Laws

“An Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) panel has found that David Jones, sole director and shareholder of Wealthstreet Inc., breached Alberta securities laws by acting as an advisor without being registered and engaging in an unfair practice by unreasonably pressuring at least one investor to purchase securities through Wealthstreet.   The panel also ruled that Jones, Wealthstreet and former Wealthstreet president Rachael Poffenroth illegally traded in and distributed securities of Wealthstreet, and that all the conduct was contrary to the public interest.” – Alberta Securities Commission Web site

“A Calgary financial advisor well-known for his market reports on local radio and TV stations provided “disastrous” and “unconscionable” advice to some investing with him, the Alberta Securities Commission ruled Monday, adding David Jones used “scare tactics and falsehoods” with at least one client.” – The Calgary Herald

Not much to say is there? Dave Jones worked very hard to sell a lot of financial products to a lot of different people, and now he’s seeing the impact of his actions. Let’s not forget former Wealthstreet President Rachel Poffenroth – she was right there alongside Dave Jones. Now that the trial is done, sanctions will be determined at a later date.

Start With the Customer Experience and Work Backwards

Truer words have never been spoken: you don’t start with a cool technology and try to market it to customers…you start with the need of a customer, find the cool technology to address that need, then market the solution. It will sell itself. I’ve lost count of the number of products I’ve seen/reviewed where the technology is all the product has going for it; the customer experience is a disaster. I wish more companies understood this…