So what's the UK got to worry about?
No much I would have thought, as long as people buy stuff, they'll be right, hmm, same as us really.
I was just watching the late night news tonight, and there was a piece on the UK market and how the pound was getting ever closers to the value of the Euro - there were slices of old people going on about how they were worried how their pounds would get round, and all sorts.
The problem with a strong currency is that there are always things abroad cheaper, not necessarily better and in a lot of cases definitely not, but cheaper.
The problem here is that, and myself included, is that when we start looking at buying something we look at the general price, then we look for that but cheaper. We research some more and find an alternative that is even cheaper, and we look until we've found the cheapest, forget about any trade off's in terms of quality, availability, convenience (all the things that consumers generally demand in any purchase) - buy it, it sucks, complain to our mates that we should have gone option A, or at the least option B and to stay away from option C because it's junk.
The great thing here, and no doubt somewhere in the UK, is that with our currencies being low it means that locally source goods and services become cheaper as the offshore stuff rises in the price, the void is closed and people get back to looking at what's best value - and start to take into account more different aspects like quality, service, and if I can get it at a reasonable price and can get it today I will.
I especially like it with SMS I must admit - between a local service and an offshore service the price gap is great, the quality isn't there in terms of delivery rate, and to be fair when the services go down they stay down for some time. However, when the local currency falls, at some time it's inevitable that off shore prices will rise and get closer to the local services stealing their one big reason to buy - price.
I can assure you having clients that have come from using cheap services they appreciate where the trades off are, and what their value is - but this isn't to rave on about offshore services, this is a smiley piece.
The Asian markets have known it for years - look at Japan, produce high quality gear at reasonable prices, why? Because not so long ago a single Pound bought lots and lots of Yen, so did an Australian dollar, they still do, but not as much as they did.
Think of it this way, when the dollar fell the price of milk didn't double - petrol didn't stay the same as the dollar fell with the cost of oil. Sure, there maybe slight rises where we buy in parts from overseas to produce goods here, but it's small rise and not a steep step.
So to the Brits who never thought they'd see the day, and are worried about it - don't be, at the end of the day you'll end up buying more local stuff, grow the economy and the Pound, wish you hadn't and be back where you were not that long ago.
Cheers and be safe,
C
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
SMS you way to better health?
This morning I came into the office, and my colleague Skye dropped a cut out article on my desk which I thought was worth blogging about - I would refer to the article, however he couldn't remember where he got it from?
So my apologies in advance for any referencing not referenced correctly...
As the article goes, health professionals in the UK at music festivals have found that most people who have lost consciousness or suffered various anxiety attacks try and SMS their mates as soon as they were able to,
What research has shown is that the mear fact they are able to SMS anything shows a certain level of consciousness - and this may be one of the tools used to over come crowded hospitals.
For me the most important aspect is the fact that the test is recordable - going way back to my early football days I got knocked out, and the test to make sure I was right to go back on was to answer who was winning? We lost every game that season, so it wasn't a real hard question.
But in an age where people are no longer accepting the word of others as to whether something happened or not, this is irrefutable - using features such as automatic responses so that there is clear communication recorded both ways as a double confirmation if you like.
The article goes on to say that there have been calls for further research and investigation into SMS messaging as a tool for hospitals - the one hitch I guess being is I was under the belief that mobiles couldn't be used in hospitals? Hmm...
If I don't blog again, have a happy and safe Xmas from Esendex Australia....
So my apologies in advance for any referencing not referenced correctly...
As the article goes, health professionals in the UK at music festivals have found that most people who have lost consciousness or suffered various anxiety attacks try and SMS their mates as soon as they were able to,
What research has shown is that the mear fact they are able to SMS anything shows a certain level of consciousness - and this may be one of the tools used to over come crowded hospitals.
For me the most important aspect is the fact that the test is recordable - going way back to my early football days I got knocked out, and the test to make sure I was right to go back on was to answer who was winning? We lost every game that season, so it wasn't a real hard question.
But in an age where people are no longer accepting the word of others as to whether something happened or not, this is irrefutable - using features such as automatic responses so that there is clear communication recorded both ways as a double confirmation if you like.
The article goes on to say that there have been calls for further research and investigation into SMS messaging as a tool for hospitals - the one hitch I guess being is I was under the belief that mobiles couldn't be used in hospitals? Hmm...
If I don't blog again, have a happy and safe Xmas from Esendex Australia....
Thursday, 4 December 2008
SMS for business marketing
I was just reading through some of the questions asked on Yahoo Answers, and saw a really good question that I thought was something really valid, how do I write a marketing SMS to customers?
Well there's no set format in my book, just some rules or guidelines if you prefer and it's something that I get asked by our customers all of the time.
SMS is not like email - you simply do not have the room on the page to muck about and be fancy pants with it all. Know what you want to say, say it and be direct! If it's something like a new product that is being launched and there is more to it than can be explained in a single sentance, then point them in a direction that they can see.
At the very least this will encourage a positive movement towards sales - and as I always say, every company in the world is a sales company, and without it there is no trading and effectively no company :)
So if you have no room to move, or give any real teeth cutting information (and it costs) then why would you even bother I hear you saying? Easy...
Cable and Wireless a while a go did a study and found that less than 20% of people who receive an email read them, whilst over 80% of people read their SMS messages.
Working through this, if we said that of the people who read their respective messages 20% of them went on to purchase something then if you sent 100 emails to customers, 20 or 20% of them read the email, and 4 of them went on to buy - that's a response rate overall of 4%.
In truth, anyone that has done email marketing before will know that's actually exceptional, and by no means in the norm.
However, if you sent 100 SMS messages, then at least 80 people or 80% read them, and again 20% of that represents an overall response rate of 16%!
That works out to be a 400% improvement over email!
One question I'll throw back to you... How many times do you receive a SMS message and ignore it, not read, decide you'll read it later?
if it's from someone you know and is in your contact list on your phone, then maybe - if they are not, or they are stamped with the business name, then I would suggest it's a fairly slim chance that you would ignore it, and therefore my figures are a bear minimum of what is possible.
So to come back on topic, keep your messages short sharp and to the point and keep them under 160 characters :)
Well there's no set format in my book, just some rules or guidelines if you prefer and it's something that I get asked by our customers all of the time.
SMS is not like email - you simply do not have the room on the page to muck about and be fancy pants with it all. Know what you want to say, say it and be direct! If it's something like a new product that is being launched and there is more to it than can be explained in a single sentance, then point them in a direction that they can see.
At the very least this will encourage a positive movement towards sales - and as I always say, every company in the world is a sales company, and without it there is no trading and effectively no company :)
So if you have no room to move, or give any real teeth cutting information (and it costs) then why would you even bother I hear you saying? Easy...
Cable and Wireless a while a go did a study and found that less than 20% of people who receive an email read them, whilst over 80% of people read their SMS messages.
Working through this, if we said that of the people who read their respective messages 20% of them went on to purchase something then if you sent 100 emails to customers, 20 or 20% of them read the email, and 4 of them went on to buy - that's a response rate overall of 4%.
In truth, anyone that has done email marketing before will know that's actually exceptional, and by no means in the norm.
However, if you sent 100 SMS messages, then at least 80 people or 80% read them, and again 20% of that represents an overall response rate of 16%!
That works out to be a 400% improvement over email!
One question I'll throw back to you... How many times do you receive a SMS message and ignore it, not read, decide you'll read it later?
if it's from someone you know and is in your contact list on your phone, then maybe - if they are not, or they are stamped with the business name, then I would suggest it's a fairly slim chance that you would ignore it, and therefore my figures are a bear minimum of what is possible.
So to come back on topic, keep your messages short sharp and to the point and keep them under 160 characters :)
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Part 2 of what's new - Inbound MMS
So, what else aside from Voice SMS is new? We are now catching up with our European colleagues and have an inbound MMS service.
Again, initially this is something that can be thought as being one dimensional, but actually in a commercial sense makes for an unbeatable way to do business - and this is what I mean;
First thought would be websites, mainly designed to target teenagers, to send in pics of themselves, pets, family, etc... so that members can see each other for pleasure or competitions, etc... At least that was my first thought...
However, going forward from that, where it could become really would be for those external services offered by various trades and professions. I'll give you an example; you're pipe in your home breaks and you call in a plumber - what's the problem? how about you SMS me a picture to....
The plumber gets the message through, and gets an idea of the situation, and comes around with the correct parts.
Or how about your PC isn't working and there is difficulties in communications for whatever reason - send a pic via MMS to the call centre to the operator, can see what's going on and provide a better level of service, etc...
In terms of sending outbound SMS, as far as I'm aware it's not something that the powers that be are looking at - and to be fair, I can't see a valid reason for wanting to send an outbound MMS except to show that you are using the latest technology... and in my mind choosing MMS to send outbound media over WAP Push, is like choosing reading a book on your laptop versus reading a book - just because the technology is newer, it isn't an improvement on what already exists and so the take up will always be little to not at all.
At this stage the way the service is setup is that the sender will text their MMS message to an Australian virtual number which has been enabled for MMS, and that message will be then passed through to a predefined email address.
That said, it would also be possible if an operator sent a standard SMS through to the recipient and that message was then replied to, to enable direct reply meaning that the inbound messages would specifically go through to the originator.
All in all, with the new products coming on board, one of the things that interests me the most is the creativity in the ways that the services are used - and no doubt I'll be back with some super ideas!
Cheers,
C
Again, initially this is something that can be thought as being one dimensional, but actually in a commercial sense makes for an unbeatable way to do business - and this is what I mean;
First thought would be websites, mainly designed to target teenagers, to send in pics of themselves, pets, family, etc... so that members can see each other for pleasure or competitions, etc... At least that was my first thought...
However, going forward from that, where it could become really would be for those external services offered by various trades and professions. I'll give you an example; you're pipe in your home breaks and you call in a plumber - what's the problem? how about you SMS me a picture to....
The plumber gets the message through, and gets an idea of the situation, and comes around with the correct parts.
Or how about your PC isn't working and there is difficulties in communications for whatever reason - send a pic via MMS to the call centre to the operator, can see what's going on and provide a better level of service, etc...
In terms of sending outbound SMS, as far as I'm aware it's not something that the powers that be are looking at - and to be fair, I can't see a valid reason for wanting to send an outbound MMS except to show that you are using the latest technology... and in my mind choosing MMS to send outbound media over WAP Push, is like choosing reading a book on your laptop versus reading a book - just because the technology is newer, it isn't an improvement on what already exists and so the take up will always be little to not at all.
At this stage the way the service is setup is that the sender will text their MMS message to an Australian virtual number which has been enabled for MMS, and that message will be then passed through to a predefined email address.
That said, it would also be possible if an operator sent a standard SMS through to the recipient and that message was then replied to, to enable direct reply meaning that the inbound messages would specifically go through to the originator.
All in all, with the new products coming on board, one of the things that interests me the most is the creativity in the ways that the services are used - and no doubt I'll be back with some super ideas!
Cheers,
C
So what's new? Voice SMS (Part 1)
Hello Internet people out there, it's been some time since my last post, and mostly because I've been so flat out with things that I either forget to blog, or I'm too busy to even think about it.
So apologies for that.
So then what's been happening?
Quite a lot actually, since we last spoke about anything Esendex we have had a couple of new products introduced, like Voice SMS and Inbound MMS.
The Voice SMS is an interesting product - I'll be quite honest here, outside of people with sight impairments, I struggled to get an idea on what people would use the service for? However, it's been my own customers who have shown me the light.
One example is Copper Mines Tasmania, who use the service for emergency alerts - for example, if there was an incident on site at 2:00 am in the morning, they can send an alert out to those who need to be in the know - the beauty of the product is in both the ability to send a message to both LAN lines, and mobile phones alike, along with the fact that the service continues to ring the phone until it's picked up and receives something (i.e. hitting number 1 on the keypad to listen to the message) - well, it sends it again every 10 minutes there after for 10 times until it's answered.
Another example would be sending information, like a customer order, to a location where the only means of timely inbound communication might be a LAN line office phone from a central hub.
It's a product that is coming along and growing organically - I guess what I like about it is that to a point it's still growing and in its infancy in my opinion and is something that is still being shaped by our customers.
The other beauty, unlike the standard SMS, is that it's possible to see who has listened to the message or not
With the future ability to change and customise many aspects like the number the message originates from, the preamble and post amble of the message, variable speed and test playback to name a few.
I have no doubt though that as we get on, and continue to take our customers feedback that it will develop into a truly powerful tool...
So apologies for that.
So then what's been happening?
Quite a lot actually, since we last spoke about anything Esendex we have had a couple of new products introduced, like Voice SMS and Inbound MMS.
The Voice SMS is an interesting product - I'll be quite honest here, outside of people with sight impairments, I struggled to get an idea on what people would use the service for? However, it's been my own customers who have shown me the light.
One example is Copper Mines Tasmania, who use the service for emergency alerts - for example, if there was an incident on site at 2:00 am in the morning, they can send an alert out to those who need to be in the know - the beauty of the product is in both the ability to send a message to both LAN lines, and mobile phones alike, along with the fact that the service continues to ring the phone until it's picked up and receives something (i.e. hitting number 1 on the keypad to listen to the message) - well, it sends it again every 10 minutes there after for 10 times until it's answered.
Another example would be sending information, like a customer order, to a location where the only means of timely inbound communication might be a LAN line office phone from a central hub.
It's a product that is coming along and growing organically - I guess what I like about it is that to a point it's still growing and in its infancy in my opinion and is something that is still being shaped by our customers.
The other beauty, unlike the standard SMS, is that it's possible to see who has listened to the message or not
With the future ability to change and customise many aspects like the number the message originates from, the preamble and post amble of the message, variable speed and test playback to name a few.
I have no doubt though that as we get on, and continue to take our customers feedback that it will develop into a truly powerful tool...
Friday, 7 March 2008
Last one for the day, but I thought this was worth sharing to show you how people land and bounce from this blog...
I started this blog because I was told I had to... I must admit even the forums I'm signed up with I lurk more than put myself out there... Confident, but not open to ridicule...
However, I'm getting into this business and enjoy the small things like which posts are more popular, how many people in how many countries check my blog out, etc...
So after posting a couple today I though lets have a look... to my surprise in Feb I had people in 17 different countries landing on my page - to some that's nothing and I appreciate that, but I get a bit of a buzz I must admit.
So I went deeper and checked out which blogs were the most popular - no surprises, you dirty buggers, hot guys vs. hot girls was number one!
Then I went a bit deeper and I think this really shows you how as a global village we've really grown to develop our search engine techniques, all these keywords were used to find my blog;
"hot guys don't" - don't what?
girls period sms - what? I mean really, what?
he likes hot girls - that's not as bad as the last...
hot girls on sms - still fairly tame... although like you I'm still recovering from the second one
hot girls australia - hmm, probably find something suitable if you left your bedroom
hot sms thoughts - you're on the internet? surely you can find something good enough there?
Now we get into the insecure faction of my readers...
how to intercept sms from girlfriends phone - told you
nokia "intercept sms" - apparently the Nokia's are big snitches with this kind of stuff
spy on my girlfriend's sms and calls - this guy should buy a new girlfriend I think
stealth call back sms - hmm, possibly a spy who's been speaking with his spy mates about black box operations? I wonder if he knows Jason Bourne?
Can I say whether you intentionally landed on this blog or not (and going by the keywords used to find me, I'll take that as a not) I would like to thank you for looking around anyway, even those buggers that spend less than 2 seconds.
Have a great weekend.
Speak soon.
Cheers,
C
P.S. if you need to speak to someone about the second one (I know I'm still a bit shocked and I knew it was coming) let me know I'll find their IP address and will bill them for your costs! :)
However, I'm getting into this business and enjoy the small things like which posts are more popular, how many people in how many countries check my blog out, etc...
So after posting a couple today I though lets have a look... to my surprise in Feb I had people in 17 different countries landing on my page - to some that's nothing and I appreciate that, but I get a bit of a buzz I must admit.
So I went deeper and checked out which blogs were the most popular - no surprises, you dirty buggers, hot guys vs. hot girls was number one!
Then I went a bit deeper and I think this really shows you how as a global village we've really grown to develop our search engine techniques, all these keywords were used to find my blog;
"hot guys don't" - don't what?
girls period sms - what? I mean really, what?
he likes hot girls - that's not as bad as the last...
hot girls on sms - still fairly tame... although like you I'm still recovering from the second one
hot girls australia - hmm, probably find something suitable if you left your bedroom
hot sms thoughts - you're on the internet? surely you can find something good enough there?
Now we get into the insecure faction of my readers...
how to intercept sms from girlfriends phone - told you
nokia "intercept sms" - apparently the Nokia's are big snitches with this kind of stuff
spy on my girlfriend's sms and calls - this guy should buy a new girlfriend I think
stealth call back sms - hmm, possibly a spy who's been speaking with his spy mates about black box operations? I wonder if he knows Jason Bourne?
Can I say whether you intentionally landed on this blog or not (and going by the keywords used to find me, I'll take that as a not) I would like to thank you for looking around anyway, even those buggers that spend less than 2 seconds.
Have a great weekend.
Speak soon.
Cheers,
C
P.S. if you need to speak to someone about the second one (I know I'm still a bit shocked and I knew it was coming) let me know I'll find their IP address and will bill them for your costs! :)
FIFA 08
This is really going to show my maturity - but it's my destressor which happens to be a lot of fun at the same time.
Recently I bought FIFA 08 for my PS2 - no I don't have the lasted PS3, but no doubt at some stage I will acquire one. Anyway, it has Clive Tisley and Andy Grey as commentators, and generally their comments fit the scenario and well, make sense.
There are some though that I thought I would share - please note these are loose quotations, but you'll get the idea.
At the start of a cup match Andy Grey at one stage makes the comments "well Clive, I don't know about you, but I think this side will either win it or lose today" - one word, insightful... I wonder when he was at the recording studio and that came out of his mouth what he was thinking at the time -no a bad line mate, not bad at all...?
The other comment I thought I would share with you (although there are a few I'll this short);
Again another cup match between the Gunners and some minnow team Clive says "well on paper this match has already been won", in which Andy replies "I don't know about you, but I've never seen a match won on paper" - what about paper football Clive?
I lied, I just had another one pop into my head - it was a FA match between Chelsea and Arsenal, and Clive says "no other competition in the world could put these two clubs together..." umm... OK then... hmm... What can you say? I love it.
Honestly, I'm not taking the micky out of the developers/programmers/designers, etc... in fact if I have to admit I love it - when they say the right things it gets boring, when it's something that makes them look a bit dumb it's great and I find it quite amusing.
Cheers,
C
Recently I bought FIFA 08 for my PS2 - no I don't have the lasted PS3, but no doubt at some stage I will acquire one. Anyway, it has Clive Tisley and Andy Grey as commentators, and generally their comments fit the scenario and well, make sense.
There are some though that I thought I would share - please note these are loose quotations, but you'll get the idea.
At the start of a cup match Andy Grey at one stage makes the comments "well Clive, I don't know about you, but I think this side will either win it or lose today" - one word, insightful... I wonder when he was at the recording studio and that came out of his mouth what he was thinking at the time -no a bad line mate, not bad at all...?
The other comment I thought I would share with you (although there are a few I'll this short);
Again another cup match between the Gunners and some minnow team Clive says "well on paper this match has already been won", in which Andy replies "I don't know about you, but I've never seen a match won on paper" - what about paper football Clive?
I lied, I just had another one pop into my head - it was a FA match between Chelsea and Arsenal, and Clive says "no other competition in the world could put these two clubs together..." umm... OK then... hmm... What can you say? I love it.
Honestly, I'm not taking the micky out of the developers/programmers/designers, etc... in fact if I have to admit I love it - when they say the right things it gets boring, when it's something that makes them look a bit dumb it's great and I find it quite amusing.
Cheers,
C
Advertising and kiddies
Can I say, in general I really like advertising and branding and all of that. I like the way James bond wears an Omega watch and that makes me want to have one as well, and how car ads make me want to buy them as well.
On the weekend I saw my brother and his kids, went out for lunch, then back to my parents for coffee and to raid the fridge (lunch wasn't that great), and the kids sat at the kitchen table and draw pictures.
Now my nephew is 10 - when I was 10 I was riding the streets pretending I was in the BMX Bandits and made up a fictional gang called the "crew of 87".
Outside of that I had no clue about clothing brands, bands (outside of AC/DC of course), or any of the generally accepted products marketed at 10 year olds today, which is what surprised me when I looked over and he was drawing fashion label symbols.
I mean it wasn't until I was 11/12 years old when we discovered Adidas 3 strips - and if you tracksuit pants had 2 or 4 strips you were going to get teased for being poor - ironic because the area we grew up in we were all poor - at least I knew my parents :)
It seems today that advertisers are managing to market to younger and younger kids, and I wonder to myself what kinds of additional pressures are we adding, to kids as well as their families - I mean we all can't be good at shop lifting. But as well as how that impacts on their development as children into adulthood?
I mean socially I found that competition really heated up at the age of 18 when we were allowed to hit pubs and clubs cruising for girls - that's not true, we stood in the corner and wished the footy players from Carlton would bugger off!
So what will life be like for them when competition really heats up in 8 or 9 years time?
One to ponder I think.
Cheers,
C
On the weekend I saw my brother and his kids, went out for lunch, then back to my parents for coffee and to raid the fridge (lunch wasn't that great), and the kids sat at the kitchen table and draw pictures.
Now my nephew is 10 - when I was 10 I was riding the streets pretending I was in the BMX Bandits and made up a fictional gang called the "crew of 87".
Outside of that I had no clue about clothing brands, bands (outside of AC/DC of course), or any of the generally accepted products marketed at 10 year olds today, which is what surprised me when I looked over and he was drawing fashion label symbols.
I mean it wasn't until I was 11/12 years old when we discovered Adidas 3 strips - and if you tracksuit pants had 2 or 4 strips you were going to get teased for being poor - ironic because the area we grew up in we were all poor - at least I knew my parents :)
It seems today that advertisers are managing to market to younger and younger kids, and I wonder to myself what kinds of additional pressures are we adding, to kids as well as their families - I mean we all can't be good at shop lifting. But as well as how that impacts on their development as children into adulthood?
I mean socially I found that competition really heated up at the age of 18 when we were allowed to hit pubs and clubs cruising for girls - that's not true, we stood in the corner and wished the footy players from Carlton would bugger off!
So what will life be like for them when competition really heats up in 8 or 9 years time?
One to ponder I think.
Cheers,
C
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Mind control and sales
I've already mentioned before that it's my belief that every company in the known galaxy is a sales company - meaning every company has to sell something in order to be , well, alive?
Within that, there are many, many different methods to market and sell you product - some companies advertise on TV or radio, others on the net, whilst a number of companies physically go out to their audience knocking on doors.
It's funny, in a previous life I worked in industrial/engineering sales selling to manufacturers their maintenance gear like OH&S, power transmission parts, all the way through to major site work that was up for tender. There's no way, then and probably still true now, that we would have had the same level of business if we purely advertised online, or in magazines or radio for example - you needed to be there face to face to tell the store man, or purchasing manager why they should buy from you, what you can bring to the table and so on.
Almost the opposite is true with Esendex, we have a far more effective sales model through online marketing than we do outbound sales - it's fair to say that we are not always turning up on someones door step unannounced trying to push our services, but we do do outbound.
There are many difficulties associated with outbound sales that are across the board - who do I speak to? Have I got the decision maker? Are they really interested? Am I saying the right things?
Some of the sales courses I've done in the past, without coming straight out and saying it, have a lot to do with reading people and adjusting pitches to suit those people - difficult if you're over the phone and you have a few seconds to make an impression that interests the person you're speaking to, isn't it?
I got an email from a friend, and these sorts of things I cast my eye over and if there's a lot of reading I leave it, because I don't have the time or the interest to read to be honest, but for some reason I read this one - and I'm glad I did.
hopefully this comes out OK, and is readable, and works - it certainly does in the email (it means going below the fold, but if you have the patience then I think you'll appreciate this - plus I have more to say afterwards);
At the end of this message, you are asked a question.
Answer it immediately. Don't stop and think about it.
Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.
This is a fun "test"... AND kind o f spooky at the same time! Give it a try, then e-mail it around (including back to me) and you'll see how many people you know fall into the same percentage as you. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among the 98% or the 2%. You'll understand what that means after you finish taking the test".
Now... Just follow the instructions as quickly as possible.
Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one.
You do not ever need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind.
You'll be surprised.
Start:
How much is:
15 + 6
3 + 56
89 + 2
12 + 53
75 + 26
25 + 52
63 + 32
I know! Calculations are hard work, but it's nearly over..
Come on, one more!
123 + 5
QUICK! THINK ABOUT A COLOR AND A TOOL!
Scroll further to the bottom...
A bit more...
You just thought about a red hammer ! , didn't you?
Now I thought this was amazing - it is and it isn't, it is because someones worked out that thinking about certain things results in likely giving back a certain answer, it's a form of subliminal messaging or mind control.
I'll be honest, I haven't gone through look for patterns or anything like that but at some stage I probably will and try to see if I can replicate it - because I have a massive brain and I think I probably could.
Now imagine that you had a sales pitch which was similar, give some simple questions get some simple answers where they are only thinking about what you asked them (and maybe where you are going with it - lets face it asking mathematical questions during a sales call is probably a bit weird, although you make you stick out) and then hit them with the last question, and that answer is your business name.
I'm not talking about 1984 techniques where you stick a cage on your customers face with a rat in it and ask him what 2 + 2 is (3 obviously), it's about laying the seed of your company name, so that when they think of the goods or services you provide, they think of you as number one - probably even if they don't actually like you, I don't really like one of the big phone companies hear (starts with a "T" and ends with a "elstra") but I use them at home for phone and Internet, because they're known and when I think of those services I think of them.
I know this sounds like a very cunning plan, and probably could contravene international human rights law, but it's an interesting concept none the less.
Within that, there are many, many different methods to market and sell you product - some companies advertise on TV or radio, others on the net, whilst a number of companies physically go out to their audience knocking on doors.
It's funny, in a previous life I worked in industrial/engineering sales selling to manufacturers their maintenance gear like OH&S, power transmission parts, all the way through to major site work that was up for tender. There's no way, then and probably still true now, that we would have had the same level of business if we purely advertised online, or in magazines or radio for example - you needed to be there face to face to tell the store man, or purchasing manager why they should buy from you, what you can bring to the table and so on.
Almost the opposite is true with Esendex, we have a far more effective sales model through online marketing than we do outbound sales - it's fair to say that we are not always turning up on someones door step unannounced trying to push our services, but we do do outbound.
There are many difficulties associated with outbound sales that are across the board - who do I speak to? Have I got the decision maker? Are they really interested? Am I saying the right things?
Some of the sales courses I've done in the past, without coming straight out and saying it, have a lot to do with reading people and adjusting pitches to suit those people - difficult if you're over the phone and you have a few seconds to make an impression that interests the person you're speaking to, isn't it?
I got an email from a friend, and these sorts of things I cast my eye over and if there's a lot of reading I leave it, because I don't have the time or the interest to read to be honest, but for some reason I read this one - and I'm glad I did.
hopefully this comes out OK, and is readable, and works - it certainly does in the email (it means going below the fold, but if you have the patience then I think you'll appreciate this - plus I have more to say afterwards);
At the end of this message, you are asked a question.
Answer it immediately. Don't stop and think about it.
Just say the first thing that pops into your mind.
This is a fun "test"... AND kind o f spooky at the same time! Give it a try, then e-mail it around (including back to me) and you'll see how many people you know fall into the same percentage as you. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among the 98% or the 2%. You'll understand what that means after you finish taking the test".
Now... Just follow the instructions as quickly as possible.
Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one.
You do not ever need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind.
You'll be surprised.
Start:
How much is:
15 + 6
3 + 56
89 + 2
12 + 53
75 + 26
25 + 52
63 + 32
I know! Calculations are hard work, but it's nearly over..
Come on, one more!
123 + 5
QUICK! THINK ABOUT A COLOR AND A TOOL!
Scroll further to the bottom...
A bit more...
You just thought about a red hammer ! , didn't you?
Now I thought this was amazing - it is and it isn't, it is because someones worked out that thinking about certain things results in likely giving back a certain answer, it's a form of subliminal messaging or mind control.
I'll be honest, I haven't gone through look for patterns or anything like that but at some stage I probably will and try to see if I can replicate it - because I have a massive brain and I think I probably could.
Now imagine that you had a sales pitch which was similar, give some simple questions get some simple answers where they are only thinking about what you asked them (and maybe where you are going with it - lets face it asking mathematical questions during a sales call is probably a bit weird, although you make you stick out) and then hit them with the last question, and that answer is your business name.
I'm not talking about 1984 techniques where you stick a cage on your customers face with a rat in it and ask him what 2 + 2 is (3 obviously), it's about laying the seed of your company name, so that when they think of the goods or services you provide, they think of you as number one - probably even if they don't actually like you, I don't really like one of the big phone companies hear (starts with a "T" and ends with a "elstra") but I use them at home for phone and Internet, because they're known and when I think of those services I think of them.
I know this sounds like a very cunning plan, and probably could contravene international human rights law, but it's an interesting concept none the less.
Tuesday, 5 February 2008
SMS for tradesmen?
For those who don't know, I've been involved in renovating my 2 bed flat for quite some time (around 12 months - can you believe it) and at times it's been absolutely soul destroying and other times it's been a great experience.
Over this time I have dealt with what I feel is a huge number of tradesmen for quotes eventual jobs, during jobs, finishing jobs, etc... The one thing that has struck me the most is that on average the were the least reliable people out there.
Now I know in Australia at least, the building trade is enjoying good times - in fact trades are able to pick and choose the jobs they want and don't want and that's great, although I don't quite get it in that they are still a business, and the idea of a business is that it should always try to push upwards and grow, at the very least it insulates itself for when the market isn't as strong without going out of business.
I regularily have conversations with friends (some who are tradies themselves) about if I had a trade business I reckon I would clean up purely through my customer service and one of the tools I would use would be using SMS.
It's so easy it's not funny, just for small things like appointment reminders because they double up as reminders for yourself - when you ge back to the office (whether that's at home or not), set some scheduled messages for the next day confirming when you're going to turn up I guarantee will bring you more business - as long as you turn up on time of course!
Why should they do it? Well, it's cheaper than calling the person to make sure they're home, but further on that like tradies, not everyone is reliable and forget to turn up themselves - so what does that cost you?
A tradesman's money is in their ability to manage time, things like getting lost can cost you money, missed appointments cost even more - phone calls to find out where they are cost them money. With day rates at around $800.00, that's about $100.00 per hour and saving one missed appointment because the owners weren't sure when you were turning up should be enough to warrant getting an SMS service onboard - then anything after that it starts making you money.
Of course we come back to the old arguement that there's so much work out I don't need to do it - and for the younger guys who haven't felt the pain of a resession and don't understand that when interest rates get into the teen's people don't build things, people don't renovate or get that pegola or conservatory knocked up. All of a sudden the only jobs on the table are the disaster struck jobs or the jobs you once knocked back, but instead of having your choice you're up against other guys desperate to maintain your level of earnings and one of the key tools in general that would go a long way is being in the habbit of great service, and that's as easy as using SMS to stay in touch.
Over this time I have dealt with what I feel is a huge number of tradesmen for quotes eventual jobs, during jobs, finishing jobs, etc... The one thing that has struck me the most is that on average the were the least reliable people out there.
Now I know in Australia at least, the building trade is enjoying good times - in fact trades are able to pick and choose the jobs they want and don't want and that's great, although I don't quite get it in that they are still a business, and the idea of a business is that it should always try to push upwards and grow, at the very least it insulates itself for when the market isn't as strong without going out of business.
I regularily have conversations with friends (some who are tradies themselves) about if I had a trade business I reckon I would clean up purely through my customer service and one of the tools I would use would be using SMS.
It's so easy it's not funny, just for small things like appointment reminders because they double up as reminders for yourself - when you ge back to the office (whether that's at home or not), set some scheduled messages for the next day confirming when you're going to turn up I guarantee will bring you more business - as long as you turn up on time of course!
Why should they do it? Well, it's cheaper than calling the person to make sure they're home, but further on that like tradies, not everyone is reliable and forget to turn up themselves - so what does that cost you?
A tradesman's money is in their ability to manage time, things like getting lost can cost you money, missed appointments cost even more - phone calls to find out where they are cost them money. With day rates at around $800.00, that's about $100.00 per hour and saving one missed appointment because the owners weren't sure when you were turning up should be enough to warrant getting an SMS service onboard - then anything after that it starts making you money.
Of course we come back to the old arguement that there's so much work out I don't need to do it - and for the younger guys who haven't felt the pain of a resession and don't understand that when interest rates get into the teen's people don't build things, people don't renovate or get that pegola or conservatory knocked up. All of a sudden the only jobs on the table are the disaster struck jobs or the jobs you once knocked back, but instead of having your choice you're up against other guys desperate to maintain your level of earnings and one of the key tools in general that would go a long way is being in the habbit of great service, and that's as easy as using SMS to stay in touch.
Friday, 1 February 2008
Random translations?
For Christmas my girlfriend and I gave ourselves a brand spanking new Garmin Nuvi GPS unit - it's the 760, because I like to get the best I can afford so it stays up-to-date for as long as possible.
Anyway, I was just going through some of the tools it has, things like a currency converter, world clock media player to name but just a few - one that took my fancy was the language guide? I thought hear's something cool lets have a look.
It covers a number of different languages, but is only a taster for an upgrade (of course why would it be included in full?) although it contains some handy phrases that you might use covering words, recreation, food and drink, entertainment, accommodation, problems and miscellaneous.
I don't have to tell you that the first one I looked at was the miscellaneous list of phrases, and although they didn't go to far, it still didn't dissapoint. The following is a list of phrases ready for translation;
Am I distrubing you?
Are you enjoying your stay?
Are you married?
Are you OK?
It's one o'clock [am] exactly?
Now am I distrubing you, enjoying your stay, or if you're OK? I can see times where I might use that, but it's one o'clock exactly? Sure I might have a chance to say that once a day as long as I'm awake - but who am I going to have to say that to in a different language? Then there's the are you married line, which I think is perfect! because I know when I've been in foreign countries where I didn't speak the local language that was something I was dying to ask everyone!
Pushing through I checked out the phrases for accommodation and there was another one that stuck out - can I have an itemised bill? Itemised bill?? If I needed the GPS unit to find out how I asked the question in the first place what chance do I have of understanding what the bill says anyway? Gold.
Looking through some other phrases one more I found was are children allowed in? What kind of place am I going to that I'm not sure if the kids are allowed in anyway? I don't know about anyone else, but if you have to ask the answers probably no - followed by the next suggested phrase of are there Afrikaans subtitles?
It just keeps getting better - I'm not sure who the people are who nominated to put these phrases in the service in the first place, but I'd like to meet them and probably have a few drinks together because I reckon they're stories must be able to fill a number of books!
It's worth a small chuckle anyway.
Cheers,
C
Anyway, I was just going through some of the tools it has, things like a currency converter, world clock media player to name but just a few - one that took my fancy was the language guide? I thought hear's something cool lets have a look.
It covers a number of different languages, but is only a taster for an upgrade (of course why would it be included in full?) although it contains some handy phrases that you might use covering words, recreation, food and drink, entertainment, accommodation, problems and miscellaneous.
I don't have to tell you that the first one I looked at was the miscellaneous list of phrases, and although they didn't go to far, it still didn't dissapoint. The following is a list of phrases ready for translation;
Am I distrubing you?
Are you enjoying your stay?
Are you married?
Are you OK?
It's one o'clock [am] exactly?
Now am I distrubing you, enjoying your stay, or if you're OK? I can see times where I might use that, but it's one o'clock exactly? Sure I might have a chance to say that once a day as long as I'm awake - but who am I going to have to say that to in a different language? Then there's the are you married line, which I think is perfect! because I know when I've been in foreign countries where I didn't speak the local language that was something I was dying to ask everyone!
Pushing through I checked out the phrases for accommodation and there was another one that stuck out - can I have an itemised bill? Itemised bill?? If I needed the GPS unit to find out how I asked the question in the first place what chance do I have of understanding what the bill says anyway? Gold.
Looking through some other phrases one more I found was are children allowed in? What kind of place am I going to that I'm not sure if the kids are allowed in anyway? I don't know about anyone else, but if you have to ask the answers probably no - followed by the next suggested phrase of are there Afrikaans subtitles?
It just keeps getting better - I'm not sure who the people are who nominated to put these phrases in the service in the first place, but I'd like to meet them and probably have a few drinks together because I reckon they're stories must be able to fill a number of books!
It's worth a small chuckle anyway.
Cheers,
C
Thursday, 17 January 2008
SMS in Australia vs the US
OK, for those that aren't really sure, I just want to give some background here just so you can appreciate where I'm going from on this one.
Our business model is focused generally around business SMS as a core product, and premium rate SMS as a secondary product - we do it, and have a number of customers, etc... however it's fair to say that business SMS is really our bread and butter.
Over the last year and a half, the one thing I have seen which is fairly common is that customers looking to take SMS on within their business generally don't really have a good understanding of things such as MSISDN's or what we refer to as virtual numbers - a virtual number is really the same as a mobile number except it's not attached to a SIM card - it allows for two-way communication as the networks route the messages back through that path.
This is the same for many countries - probably the most similar would be the likes of New Zealand and the UK.
Also, we as a country are subject to abiding by anti-spam laws which effective say you can't send a marketing SMS to someone you don't know (i.e. buy a marketing list), and you need an easy opt out on the service - certain parts are a little less clear with regards to implied consent, etc... but you can definitely send informational messages, such as "don't forget your appointment" and that kind of thing.
Typically the most common uses for SMS are internal communications like server alerts or an easy way to contact external staff members and so on. The other use are reminders, whether that be from your accountant about your BAS statements, restaurant bookings, job alerts and so on - and all of these are perfectly legitimate - and generally are very helpful as well as acting as a cost saving to the business which is always good news.
The US however are somewhat different.
Probably one of the most challenging things to communicate through to people is the difference between Australia and the US.
The US is a lot more conservative when it comes to SMS in an attempt to protect the greater community from unwanted SPAM - putting this into perspective it's not uncommon for a US business to receive 10-12 telemarketing calls a day and with changes in technologies businesses are constantly attempting to find new ways to sell their product that would otherwise be unguarded.
Because of this certain things aren't available in the same way (there are work arounds, but they are something generally really open to US consumers, but I'll talk about that later). MSISDN's for example aren't available as we know them here, instead messages need to be sent with a vanity number or shortcode which have been applied for through Neustar and it takes 3 months instead of around 4 weeks for a premium shortcode in Australia (depending on your timing).
People with US SIM cards can send SMS messages via the web and their phone account, however as far as I'm aware it's not really a robust enough service for a business sending any real volume out to go with.
However, that said, which is the reason for the vanity numbers in the first place, by law you are not allowed to send an SMS from application to consumer without the vanity number - and for those who have tried, the delivery rate is really poor. It's because about 20% of SMS messages into the US are blocked by US networks due to SPAM filtering - especially if someone tries to send something like 100 - 500k worth of messages it raises all kinds of bells.
The other thing is that US handsets have to subscribe to receiving the messages as well, which is another hindrance, although they do allow soft opt-in's there are penalties for being a little naughty sending messages to people who don't want them.
Generally speaking I don't think it's a bad thing, in that there are rules that you can work to, and it doesn't take a creative genius to work out ways in which you can still achieve want you want to do - like stick a clause into your T&C's that they may receive these messages, they can always unsubscribe if they don't want to receive them.
Because we're all people and concerned with ourselves and the ways we would like things to work first before thinking about the rest of the community I know that people wishing to setup server alerts, and contact staff members like roaming engineers about breakdowns and certain plants probably think it's ridiculous - and in their circumstance they might be right, but it's about having one set of rules that encompass everything and working to the minority in order to please the majority.
Instead I think the biggest burden is two fold - it's the setup time it takes in order to get a dedicated vanity number, and the costs involved. truth be told, the actual costs of sending messages are pretty much on a par with sending messages within local countries through local networks.
The only thing in their defence I would say is look at your market size - 300 million people isn't quite the size of China or India, but if you were serious about it, I think it's probably a fair statement to make that actually US citizens have more disposable income on average to spend on the products/services you are selling.
They are 15 times the population of Australia, 5 times the population of the UK and 75 times the population of New Zealand, so it's reasonable to expect operating costs will be higher - higher setups/monthlies on the SMS service, higher advertising costs online, and in various publications - but also a bigger opportunity to make even more money than in other countries so before you shy away, I would say really think about the possibilities rather than the bare costs alone - as they say you need to spend money to make it.
Cheers,
C
Our business model is focused generally around business SMS as a core product, and premium rate SMS as a secondary product - we do it, and have a number of customers, etc... however it's fair to say that business SMS is really our bread and butter.
Over the last year and a half, the one thing I have seen which is fairly common is that customers looking to take SMS on within their business generally don't really have a good understanding of things such as MSISDN's or what we refer to as virtual numbers - a virtual number is really the same as a mobile number except it's not attached to a SIM card - it allows for two-way communication as the networks route the messages back through that path.
This is the same for many countries - probably the most similar would be the likes of New Zealand and the UK.
Also, we as a country are subject to abiding by anti-spam laws which effective say you can't send a marketing SMS to someone you don't know (i.e. buy a marketing list), and you need an easy opt out on the service - certain parts are a little less clear with regards to implied consent, etc... but you can definitely send informational messages, such as "don't forget your appointment" and that kind of thing.
Typically the most common uses for SMS are internal communications like server alerts or an easy way to contact external staff members and so on. The other use are reminders, whether that be from your accountant about your BAS statements, restaurant bookings, job alerts and so on - and all of these are perfectly legitimate - and generally are very helpful as well as acting as a cost saving to the business which is always good news.
The US however are somewhat different.
Probably one of the most challenging things to communicate through to people is the difference between Australia and the US.
The US is a lot more conservative when it comes to SMS in an attempt to protect the greater community from unwanted SPAM - putting this into perspective it's not uncommon for a US business to receive 10-12 telemarketing calls a day and with changes in technologies businesses are constantly attempting to find new ways to sell their product that would otherwise be unguarded.
Because of this certain things aren't available in the same way (there are work arounds, but they are something generally really open to US consumers, but I'll talk about that later). MSISDN's for example aren't available as we know them here, instead messages need to be sent with a vanity number or shortcode which have been applied for through Neustar and it takes 3 months instead of around 4 weeks for a premium shortcode in Australia (depending on your timing).
People with US SIM cards can send SMS messages via the web and their phone account, however as far as I'm aware it's not really a robust enough service for a business sending any real volume out to go with.
However, that said, which is the reason for the vanity numbers in the first place, by law you are not allowed to send an SMS from application to consumer without the vanity number - and for those who have tried, the delivery rate is really poor. It's because about 20% of SMS messages into the US are blocked by US networks due to SPAM filtering - especially if someone tries to send something like 100 - 500k worth of messages it raises all kinds of bells.
The other thing is that US handsets have to subscribe to receiving the messages as well, which is another hindrance, although they do allow soft opt-in's there are penalties for being a little naughty sending messages to people who don't want them.
Generally speaking I don't think it's a bad thing, in that there are rules that you can work to, and it doesn't take a creative genius to work out ways in which you can still achieve want you want to do - like stick a clause into your T&C's that they may receive these messages, they can always unsubscribe if they don't want to receive them.
Because we're all people and concerned with ourselves and the ways we would like things to work first before thinking about the rest of the community I know that people wishing to setup server alerts, and contact staff members like roaming engineers about breakdowns and certain plants probably think it's ridiculous - and in their circumstance they might be right, but it's about having one set of rules that encompass everything and working to the minority in order to please the majority.
Instead I think the biggest burden is two fold - it's the setup time it takes in order to get a dedicated vanity number, and the costs involved. truth be told, the actual costs of sending messages are pretty much on a par with sending messages within local countries through local networks.
The only thing in their defence I would say is look at your market size - 300 million people isn't quite the size of China or India, but if you were serious about it, I think it's probably a fair statement to make that actually US citizens have more disposable income on average to spend on the products/services you are selling.
They are 15 times the population of Australia, 5 times the population of the UK and 75 times the population of New Zealand, so it's reasonable to expect operating costs will be higher - higher setups/monthlies on the SMS service, higher advertising costs online, and in various publications - but also a bigger opportunity to make even more money than in other countries so before you shy away, I would say really think about the possibilities rather than the bare costs alone - as they say you need to spend money to make it.
Cheers,
C
Wednesday, 16 January 2008
How to get a free upgrade on your long haul flights
I know what you're thinking - upgrades are urban myths!
Believe me, I used to have the same belief as you - especially when I flew enough to attain silver level on my frequent flyer program that I signed up to within a matter of a handful of months and nothing.
It didn't matter if I was flying by myself, or with someone or if I asked for it or asked for nothing and got zippo!
Any each time I would think to myself, how the hell do you get it - I'd spoken to people previously who got it for random things, like there was a baby next to them or something like that - one time flying out of Hong Kong I was showered down upon during take off from all the condensation built up in the fuselage, and I'm talking I was soaked properly.
It was too the point that I was put into a crew seat which had no entrainment or leg room only to be returned to a seat that had plastic down on it - now imagine planes aren't generally the best air conditioned vehicles in the world at the best of times, and wearing a pair of jeans whilst you're sitting in the same seat and virtually the same positions for hours can cause you to get a little sweaty, even for the less sweaty amongst us!
Don't get me wrong, I was given a nice bottle of wine down from first class - but I would have preferred a business class seat for my troubles.
It wasn't until I was leaving Heathrow one day back to Melbourne and it happened - well not straight away (that I knew).
Heathrow is a bloody busy place at the best of times, let alone on a Saturday afternoon - the queues were massive in all directions, and I knew I had my silver class which gives me priority check in so I went to the business check in only to be sent down the other end. Wheeling my luggage down, I then got told to go back to where I'd just been?
Half way down, I saw the priority bag drop, so I went onto the screen checked in and over to the desk to throw the bags on - now to give you a better idea, I was wearing a very lovely V-neck jumper I bought from H&M which was very preppy (which is funny, because I'm not the preppy kind of guy) and had my Polo by Ralf Lauren scarf that I just picked up from Harrods after lunch there (very nice) - so I was pretty well dressed, plus the fact I'm incredibly good looking (not as good looking as the class referred to in an earlier bog "hot guys vs hot girls" but right up there.
I checked, didn't say too much, and went through.
I sat at the gate waiting to board - now I typically am very happy to be the last one walking down the aisle of the plane, because lets face it what's the first guy on there thinking? "Oh, I'll get on early and get comfortable wedge my legs in under the seat between the bar and the box for the entertainment" - what? No thanks...
Just as the last few were walking through the gate I lined up in the queue - now what makes me laugh now is that there was this really obnoxious bloke in the queue over talking about upgrades and how he always mentions he's a silver level, blah blah blah - I'm thinking yeah good on you mate. I walk through hand over my boarding pass only to be told "Mr Bartlett, you've been upgraded"
That was ace - so ace that when we pulled into Bangkok I didn't get off in case they changed their mind half way through!
Then just recently going back to the UK, this time with my girlfriend (sorry ladies - the sounds of hearts breaking everywhere), just as we were walking to the car, I changed my mind and went back inside to change - I was wearing a pair of cargo shorts, a hoody and thongs (for your feet) and put some nice jeans and V-neck on - still with the thongs though.
At the airport back through the business check in I must admit I did have to argue a little to let the woman check us in there (which I'm fairly confident was never going to do me any favours), but then we settled into conversation about why we were going, blah blah, when it happened - "I have some great news you've been upgraded to business!"
You wouldn't believe twice in a row - and all the way through as well!
The best thing apart from better food, wine and bed about upgrades is you get to take a shower and reset during the stop overs - it's so much more comfortable, plus you get free pyjamas as well!
So now I know V-necks definitely work.
Coming back, however was a different story - again this time with my Gant V-neck (very nice) and Polo scarf (in case you missed before, very nice) - however, the night before I'd been out in Islington with some mates finishing at the Walk About, an Australian themed pub somewhat lacking in Australian, but anyway... My eyes were puffy and a little bit closed, and I'd been a little bit sick that morning, combined with a definite air of bourbon and snake bites (I think I'll do something on snake bites at some stage too) - fully expecting to get an upgrade through sheer pity, but no, nothing damn it!
So there we have it, I believe the combination to those magical upgrades - a nice V-neck jumper, and/or scarf, and devoid of smells from the night before!
Believe me, I used to have the same belief as you - especially when I flew enough to attain silver level on my frequent flyer program that I signed up to within a matter of a handful of months and nothing.
It didn't matter if I was flying by myself, or with someone or if I asked for it or asked for nothing and got zippo!
Any each time I would think to myself, how the hell do you get it - I'd spoken to people previously who got it for random things, like there was a baby next to them or something like that - one time flying out of Hong Kong I was showered down upon during take off from all the condensation built up in the fuselage, and I'm talking I was soaked properly.
It was too the point that I was put into a crew seat which had no entrainment or leg room only to be returned to a seat that had plastic down on it - now imagine planes aren't generally the best air conditioned vehicles in the world at the best of times, and wearing a pair of jeans whilst you're sitting in the same seat and virtually the same positions for hours can cause you to get a little sweaty, even for the less sweaty amongst us!
Don't get me wrong, I was given a nice bottle of wine down from first class - but I would have preferred a business class seat for my troubles.
It wasn't until I was leaving Heathrow one day back to Melbourne and it happened - well not straight away (that I knew).
Heathrow is a bloody busy place at the best of times, let alone on a Saturday afternoon - the queues were massive in all directions, and I knew I had my silver class which gives me priority check in so I went to the business check in only to be sent down the other end. Wheeling my luggage down, I then got told to go back to where I'd just been?
Half way down, I saw the priority bag drop, so I went onto the screen checked in and over to the desk to throw the bags on - now to give you a better idea, I was wearing a very lovely V-neck jumper I bought from H&M which was very preppy (which is funny, because I'm not the preppy kind of guy) and had my Polo by Ralf Lauren scarf that I just picked up from Harrods after lunch there (very nice) - so I was pretty well dressed, plus the fact I'm incredibly good looking (not as good looking as the class referred to in an earlier bog "hot guys vs hot girls" but right up there.
I checked, didn't say too much, and went through.
I sat at the gate waiting to board - now I typically am very happy to be the last one walking down the aisle of the plane, because lets face it what's the first guy on there thinking? "Oh, I'll get on early and get comfortable wedge my legs in under the seat between the bar and the box for the entertainment" - what? No thanks...
Just as the last few were walking through the gate I lined up in the queue - now what makes me laugh now is that there was this really obnoxious bloke in the queue over talking about upgrades and how he always mentions he's a silver level, blah blah blah - I'm thinking yeah good on you mate. I walk through hand over my boarding pass only to be told "Mr Bartlett, you've been upgraded"
That was ace - so ace that when we pulled into Bangkok I didn't get off in case they changed their mind half way through!
Then just recently going back to the UK, this time with my girlfriend (sorry ladies - the sounds of hearts breaking everywhere), just as we were walking to the car, I changed my mind and went back inside to change - I was wearing a pair of cargo shorts, a hoody and thongs (for your feet) and put some nice jeans and V-neck on - still with the thongs though.
At the airport back through the business check in I must admit I did have to argue a little to let the woman check us in there (which I'm fairly confident was never going to do me any favours), but then we settled into conversation about why we were going, blah blah, when it happened - "I have some great news you've been upgraded to business!"
You wouldn't believe twice in a row - and all the way through as well!
The best thing apart from better food, wine and bed about upgrades is you get to take a shower and reset during the stop overs - it's so much more comfortable, plus you get free pyjamas as well!
So now I know V-necks definitely work.
Coming back, however was a different story - again this time with my Gant V-neck (very nice) and Polo scarf (in case you missed before, very nice) - however, the night before I'd been out in Islington with some mates finishing at the Walk About, an Australian themed pub somewhat lacking in Australian, but anyway... My eyes were puffy and a little bit closed, and I'd been a little bit sick that morning, combined with a definite air of bourbon and snake bites (I think I'll do something on snake bites at some stage too) - fully expecting to get an upgrade through sheer pity, but no, nothing damn it!
So there we have it, I believe the combination to those magical upgrades - a nice V-neck jumper, and/or scarf, and devoid of smells from the night before!
Friday, 11 January 2008
SMS being used in irrigation investigations for more efficent water usage
It's probably a fair comment to say that when it comes to business' using SMS they most likely to be used for sending appointment reminders, or marketing updates or service alerts - and it's all great and more the diverse our customer become helps improve ourselves as to the level of advice we can give new customers coming on board.
However, one of our customer, the CSIRO, are looking at the effectiveness of SMS for Decision Support Services - basically software solutions that can help advise irrigators on the soil, plants and weather.
Now some people's peepers maybe drawing shut slowly and they think this might be a bit technical and what not - however, according to the initial research paper by Nicholas Carr irrigators in Australia use 60-70% of all water consumed in Australia. Further to that according to previous studies by the CSIRO, these Decision Support Systems, or DSS, showed a reduction in water use by sugar cane farmers from 35-40 mega litres per hectare down to an average of 21 mega litres! That's almost a reduction of 50% on their water usage which benefits everyone in a number of ways.
First off it benefits us from the farmers having lower operating costs that don't need to be passed on so farmed products are cheaper - it also means that as precious as water is as a resource, we are then able to allocate elsewhere helping to relieve some of the pressure points building from a lack of rain and water resources.
But how does SMS come into the picture. A major flaw in using DSS is the fact that farmers just aren't taking up the services the way you would have thought they would - this could be because they're old school and don't really use computers, to only using computers for accounting. Other reasons could be the fact that to get the information from their home to the farm where the work is carried out maybe too difficult, or inconsistent - really there are a whole host of reasons obstructing the farmer from effectively making use of the information available.
So the solution as part of the research was to use SMS for the delivery of the information. it means that the farmers are able to retrieve information quickly and easily on site and able to go back and retrieve the information on a timely basis.
Now at this stage the study only includes water balance, but leans towards a larger scope for use with SMS in both an interactive or non-interactive applications that would vastly improve the use of DSS and the water consumption in Australia.
However, one of our customer, the CSIRO, are looking at the effectiveness of SMS for Decision Support Services - basically software solutions that can help advise irrigators on the soil, plants and weather.
Now some people's peepers maybe drawing shut slowly and they think this might be a bit technical and what not - however, according to the initial research paper by Nicholas Carr irrigators in Australia use 60-70% of all water consumed in Australia. Further to that according to previous studies by the CSIRO, these Decision Support Systems, or DSS, showed a reduction in water use by sugar cane farmers from 35-40 mega litres per hectare down to an average of 21 mega litres! That's almost a reduction of 50% on their water usage which benefits everyone in a number of ways.
First off it benefits us from the farmers having lower operating costs that don't need to be passed on so farmed products are cheaper - it also means that as precious as water is as a resource, we are then able to allocate elsewhere helping to relieve some of the pressure points building from a lack of rain and water resources.
But how does SMS come into the picture. A major flaw in using DSS is the fact that farmers just aren't taking up the services the way you would have thought they would - this could be because they're old school and don't really use computers, to only using computers for accounting. Other reasons could be the fact that to get the information from their home to the farm where the work is carried out maybe too difficult, or inconsistent - really there are a whole host of reasons obstructing the farmer from effectively making use of the information available.
So the solution as part of the research was to use SMS for the delivery of the information. it means that the farmers are able to retrieve information quickly and easily on site and able to go back and retrieve the information on a timely basis.
Now at this stage the study only includes water balance, but leans towards a larger scope for use with SMS in both an interactive or non-interactive applications that would vastly improve the use of DSS and the water consumption in Australia.
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