This got me thinking about customer service, so I’m providing you with a chapter of my book, Reality Check, that explains the Art of Customer Service.
I’m pretty sure you can check this box off at Virgin.
The irony of customer service is that at an intuitive level, most people know that it largely determines a company’s reputation, but companies spend less money on it than sales and marketing. The double irony of customer service is that nothing I’ve listed is particularly expensive. Now you know what to do, how to do it, and how cheap it is to do, so you have absolutely no excuses for poor customer service.
And the next time I fly to London or Las Vegas, I’m going to give Sir Richard’s airline a shot especially because there’s WiFi in some of his planes.
Did you ever realize that the letters, A B C D do not appear in the spellings of the numerical 1 to 99 !!
D appears first in Hundred.
A appears first in Thousand.
B appears first in Billion.
C appears first in Crore
Reason -
Everyone must wait for his turn and his share of success !!
***
From Amitabh Bachchans Blog.
This is my 75th post.
Here's the problem: Stars are named by the International Astronomical Union -- and they aren't selling. Names for stars (and most are given numbers) are assigned according to the internationally accepted rules of the IAU. Anyone else who claims to be able to name stars has no more legal standing than your neighbor's Rottweiler. When they say your star is going into a "registry," they mean whatever registry they made up -- not the official catalog that is kept by the IAU and used by all astronomers.
According to the IAU's Web site, "such 'names' have no formal or official validity whatever. Like true love and many of the other best things in human life, the beauty of the night sky is not for sale, but is free for all to enjoy."
If you want to give someone a star, save yourself some money: Go to the closest planetarium, pick a star you think is pretty and ask the astronomer for the coordinates. Then go home and make your own certificate on your own computer.
Many charities will come knocking, calling or mailing you for donations because during the holidays, people remember that part of being human is helping out those less fortunate. Unfortunately, many of those so-called charities are fakes.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, many of the calls you get this year will be from scam artists. The FTC has a checklist of warning signs to help you steer clear of charity scams. Your best bet is to not make any quick decisions, ask for information in writing and research the charity before cutting any checks.
It is unfortunate that spam scams have become so prevalent that they are virtually indistinguishable from legitimate advertisers -- and there are legitimate advertisers out there. But as this is the current reality, don't take the risk.
Bid wisely and pay for items using your credit card, if not PayPal, so you can cancel payment if you don't receive your merchandise -- or if you receive that tea set you were bidding on only to discover that it is dollhouse-sized.
Rest assured, there are lots of carrot juicers in the world, and if one person is willing to give you a "good deal" on it, someone else will too. Go home, research the product and prices online, and save yourself from paying too much.
Abraham Lincoln 's Letter to His Son's Teacher
He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just, all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish Politician,there is a dedicated leader... Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,
Steer him away from envy, if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter.
Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick... Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books... But also give him quiet time to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.
In the school teach him it is far honorable to fail than to cheat... Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong... Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough.
Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon... Teach him to listen to all men... but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.
Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad... Teach him there is no shame in tears, Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness... Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tagon his heart and soul.
Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right. Treat him gently,but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient... let him have the patience to be brave. Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.
This is a big order, but see what you can do... He is such a fine fellow, my son!
Horror gripped the heart of a World War-I soldier, as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. The soldier asked his Lieutenant if he could go out to bring his fallen comrade back.
"You can go," said the Lieutenant, "but don't think it will be worth it .Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your life away."
The Lieutenant's words didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway.
Miraculously, he managed to reach his friend, hoisted him onto his shoulder and brought him back to their company's trench.
The officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend.
"I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead and you are mortally wounded."
"It was worth it, Sir," said the soldier.
"What do you mean by worth it?" responded the Lieutenant." Your friend is Dead."
"Yes Sir," the soldier answered, "but it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say.......
"Buddy...I knew you would come."
1) Complete works of Plato: http://www.ac- nice.fr/philo/ textes/Plato- Works/Plato- Works.htm
2) Philosophers and their works: http://academic. cengage.com/ cengage/discipli nesolutions. do?solId= 2270&page=discipline
3) The perspectives of Nietzsche: http://www.pitt. edu/~wbcurry/ nietzsche. html
4) The world as I see it, An Essay by Einstein: http://www.aip. org/history/ einstein/ essay.htm
5) Squashed Philosophers: http://www.btintern et.com/~glynhugh es/squashed/
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Dr. Phil gave this test on Oprah. Some folks pay a lot of money to find this stuff out. Read on, this is very interesting!
Here's something that you may find interesting ...psychological profile.
This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today. It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and prospective employees.
It's only 10 simple questions, so ... grab a pencil and paper, keeping track of your letter answers.
Ready?? Be Honest!
Begin..
1. When do you feel your best?
a) in the morning
b) during the afternoon & and early evening
c) late at night
2. You usually walk
a) fairly fast, with long steps
b) fairly fast, with little steps
c) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
d) less fast, head down
e) very slowly
3. When talking to people you
a) stand with your arms folded
b) have your hands clasped
c) have one or both your hands on your hips
d) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
e) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your hair
4. When relaxing, you sit with
a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
b) your legs crossed
c) your legs stretched out or straight
d) one leg curled under you
5. When something really amuses you, you react with
a) a big, appreciative laugh
b) a laugh, but not a loud one
c) a quiet chuckle
d) a sheepish smile
6. When you go to a party or social gathering
a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
b) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know
c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed
7. You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're interrupted; do you ...
a) welcome the break
b) feel extremely irritated
c) vary between these two extremes
8. Which of the following colors do you like most?
a) Red or orange
b) black
c) yellow or light blue
d) green
e) dark blue or purple
f) white
g) brown or gray
9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before going to sleep, you lie
a) stretched out on your back
b) stretched out face down on your stomach
c) on your side, slightly curled
d) with your head on one arm
e) with your head under the covers
10. You often dream that you are
a) falling
b) fighting or struggling
c) searching for something or somebody
d) flying or floating
e) you usually have dreamless sleep
f) your dreams are always pleasant
POINTS:
1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1
3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2
6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4
8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1
10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1
Now add up the total number of points.
OVER 60 POINTS: Others see you as someone the should "handle with care". You're seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.
51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement your radiate.
41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.
31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.
21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It'd really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then, usually decide against it. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.
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| Blogging can be a fun way to express your thoughts on anything you want from music to movies. But it's important to remember that information that is on the Internet can be read by anyone - including strangers. Follow these tips to keep yourself safe:
Blogging Facts:
source: Lydia Seabol, The Tuscaloosa News, Alabama |
Market is equally divided between those who are seeing further upside and between those who are expecting a substantial correction in near term.
The reasons for a deeper correction/profit booking in Crude Oil are numerous.
There are many reasons to assume that market is overreacting to Oil bullish factors. What is being ignored is the fact that Commodity business is a cyclical one. Higher Crude Oil prices (or any other commodity) are self defeating as it directly translates into a reduction in demand as the consumers start cutting down on consumption or switches to cheaper alternative. Arjun Murti of Goldman Sachs who has to his credit many doomsday prophecies (including the recent Crude at $ 200 one) himself drives in a Hybrid car.
Many banks and investment firms have come out to defend the rise in oil prices, saying that it is based on fundamentals and that prices could rise much further. Analysts like Arjun Murti, Pickens, Guppy etc. and market movers like Goldman Sachs, UBS are constantly raising the projection levels in prices, thus sending the prices over the roof. While they go on saying this and prices continues to move upward, open interest in crude futures contracts has been moving steadily downward since a high of 1.58 million last July to 1.36 million now.
But aren't there fundamental reasons for this rise in oil prices? In some ways yes, demand from China and India is increasing, but at a slower pace than oil has gone up. The chief market strategist for one of the world's leading oil industry banks, David Kelly, of J.P. Morgan Funds, recently admitted something telling to the Washington Post, "One of the things I think is very important to realize is that the growth in the world oil consumption is not that strong." One of the stories used to support the oil futures speculators is the allegation that China 's oil import thirst is exploding out of control, driving shortages in the supply-demand equilibrium. The facts do not support the China demand thesis however. The US Government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its most recent monthly Short Term Energy Outlook report, concluded that US oil demand is expected to decline by 190,000 b/d in 2008. That is mainly owing to the deepening economic recession. Chinese consumption, the EIA says, far from exploding, is expected to rise this year by only 400,000 barrels a day. That is hardly the "surging oil demand" blamed on China in the media. Last year China imported 3.2 million barrels per day, and its estimated usage was around 7 million b/d total. The US , by contrast, consumes around 20.7 million b/d. That means the key oil consuming nation, the USA, is experiencing a significant drop in demand. China, which consumes only a third of the oil the US does, will see a minor rise in import demand compared with the total daily world oil output of some 84 million barrels, less than half of a percent of the total demand. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has its 2008 global oil demand growth forecast unchanged at 1.2 mm bpd, as slowing economic growth in the industrialised world is offset by slightly growing consumption in developing nations. OPEC predicts global oil demand in 2008 will average 87 million bpd -- largely unchanged from its previous estimate. Demand from China , the Middle East , India , and Latin America -- is forecast to be stronger but the EU and North American demand will be lower.
Not only is there no supply crisis to justify such a price bubble. There are several giant new oil fields due to begin production over the course of 2008 to further add to supply.
The world's single largest oil producer, Saudi Arabia is finalizing plans to boost drilling activity by a third and increase investments by 40 %. Saudi Aramco's plan, which runs from 2009 to 2013, is expected to be approved by the company's board and the Oil Ministry this month. The Kingdom is in the midst of a $ 50 billion oil production expansion plan to meet growing demand in Asia and other emerging markets. The Kingdom is expected to boost its pumping capacity to a total of 12.5 mm bpd by next year, up about 11 % from current capacity of 11.3 mm bpd. In April this year Saudi Arabia 's Khursaniyah oilfield began pumping and will soon add another 500,000 bpd to world oil supply of high grade Arabian Light crude. As well, another Saudi expansion project, the Khurais oilfield development, is the largest of Saudi Aramco projects that will boost the production capacity of Saudi oilfields from 11.3 million bpd to 12.5 million bpd by 2009. Khurais is planned to add another 1.2 million bpd of high-quality Arabian light crude to Saudi Arabia 's export capacity.
Brazil 's Petrobras is in the early phase of exploiting what it estimates are newly confirmed oil reserves offshore in its Tupi field that could be as great or greater than the North Sea . Petrobras, says the new ultra-deep Tupi field could hold as much as 8 billion barrels of recoverable light crude. When online in a few years it is expected to put Brazil among the world's "top 10" oil producers, between those of Nigeria and those of Venezuela .
In the United States, aside from rumors that the big oil companies have been deliberately sitting on vast new reserves in Alaska for fear that the prices of recent years would plunge on over-supply, the US Geological Survey (USGS) recently issued a report that confirmed major new oil reserves in an area called the Bakken, which stretches across North Dakota, Montana and south-eastern Saskatchewan. The USGS estimates up to 3.65 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken. These are just several confirmations of large new oil reserves to be exploited. Iraq , where the Anglo-American Big Four oil majors are salivating to get their hands on the unexplored fields, is believed to hold oil reserves second only to Saudi Arabia . Much of the world has yet to be explored for oil. At prices above $60 a barrel huge new potentials become economic. The major problem faced by Big Oil is not finding replacement oil but keeping the lid on world oil finds in order to maintain present exorbitant prices. Here they have some help from Wall Street banks and the two major oil trade exchanges—NYMEX and London-Atlanta's ICE and ICE Futures.
Moreover, the argument that Crude Oil is tracking a weaker dollar doesn't hold true anymore. Euro has corrected sharply from its high of 1.6018 against the dollar. Signs of slowdown are being identified in Eurozone as well and ECB's Trichet has come under pressure to review his tight monetary policy. On the other hand recently released US economic indicators and have been largely mixed and point towards relative stabilization of Housing and labor market. Moreover with commodity prices going over the roof, US Federal Reserve may soon return to the policy of Inflation targeting. Interest-rate futures show the Federal Reserve may start to raise U.S. borrowing costs by the end of the year as the economy recovers and inflation accelerates. Earlier, seven interest-rate cuts by the Fed since September sent the dollar to an all-time low against the euro in April, boosting gold and other commodities.
Moreover, Crude Oil being a political (and strategic) commodity, we may very well see intervention from US on the issue of high prices. Entire global economy, especially that of US is under strong pressure due to Crude Oil induced inflation. Recently, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude price. Already, President Bush in his recent trip to Gulf has pressurised Saudi Arabia, the most influential OPEC member to increase the Crude Oil production by 300,000 million barrels per day. Also, if recent indications are to be believed, U.S. Government is soon expected to force regulators to raise margin requirements under current market conditions, specifically with respect to the oil markets. This could have a dramatic downward effect on prices. (Remember silver and the Hunt Brothers in 1980.) In April 2008, U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, told Congress, "There is an orgy of speculation in futures markets. This is a 24-hour casino with unbelievable speculation." He and others in Congress have been raising the idea of changing margin requirements that traders must pay up front in order to engage in oil speculation. Dorgan said stock speculation requires a 50% margin, but commodities like oil demand a much lower threshold, just 5% or 7%.
No doubt, Crude Oil, being in limited supply, is fundamentally strongest commodity around. But the way the recent spike has pushed the prices of the liquid gold has raised many an eyebrow and in coming days we may expect a substantial correction. Though a break below $100 is certainly not anticipated and too far fetched, a correction to the tune of $ 20 from current levels cannot be ruled out. However, traders should refrain from taking a short position arbitrarily and should wait for the confirming trend. Like any other market analysts, I too have faith in the old adage "Market is always right" and "Trend is your friend".
Job Search Links
| It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on... All or most specimens are?? Look closer... again all or most of them are bachelors... And why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!!! This is the scene in most research centers and software companies and other off-shore offices. Bachelors "Time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they've nothing else to do... "Working" (for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the institute or company culture. With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback, (oh, he's a hard worker... goes home only to change..!!). To hell with bosses who don't understand the difference between "sitting" late and "working" late!!! Very soon, the boss start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours. So, My dear Bachelors let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family... office is no longer a priority, family is... and For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become a "early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regular time... after doing the same amount of work. People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labeled as work-shirkers... Girls who thankfully always (its changing nowadays... though) leave on time are labeled as "not up to it". All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on "working" not realizing that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realize that they wuld have to regret at one point of time. So what's the moral of the story?? Learn music... Learn a foreign language... Try a sport... TT, cricket......... Importantly,get a girl friend or boy friend, take him/her around town... * And for heaven's sake, net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low (plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change. Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: *"Life's calling, where are you??"* Please pass on this message to all those colleagues and please do it before leaving time, don't stay back till midnight to forward this!!! IT'S A TYPICAL ASIAN MENTALITY THAT WORKING FOR LONG HOURS MEANS VERY HARD WORKING & 100% COMMITMENT ETC. PEOPLE WHO REGULARLY SIT LATE IN THE OFFICE DONT KNOW TO MANAGE THEIR TIME. SIMPLE !
Your Boss |
'Love your job but don't love your company because you can't say when the company will stop to love you.'
Dr. Abdul kalam.
Here's to all my buddies who are married, getting married, and looking forward to getting married.....
The Secret to a Lasting Marriage: Embrace Imperfection
When I was a little girl, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work.
On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage, and extremely burned toast in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet, all my dad did was reached for his toast, smiled at my mom, and asked me how my day was at school.
I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that toast and eat every bite! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the toast. And I'll never forget what he said: "Baby, I love burned toast."
Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his toast burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said,"Debbie, your mommy put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides, a little burnt toast never hurt anyone!"
In bed that night, I thought about that scene at dinner...and the kindness my daddy showed my mom. To this day, it's a cherished memory from my childhood that I'll never forget. And it's one that came to mind just recently when Jack and I sat down to eat dinner.
I had arrived home late...as usual...and decided we would have breakfast food for dinner. Some things never change, I suppose!
To my amazement, I found the ingredients I needed, and quickly began to cook eggs, turkey sausage, and buttered toast. Thinking I had things under control, I glanced through the mail for the day. It was only a few minutes later that I remembered that I had forgotten to take the toast out of the oven!
Now, had it been any other day -- and had we had more than two pieces of bread in the entire house -- I would have started all over. But it had been one of those days and I had just used up the last two pieces of bread. So burnt toast it was!
As I set the plate down in front of Jack, I waited for a comment about the toast. But all I got was a "Thank you!" I watched as he ate bite by bite, all the time waiting for some comment about the toast. But instead, all Jack said was, "Babe, this is great. Thanks for cooking tonight. I know you had a hard day."
As I took a bite of my charred toast that night, I thought about my mom and dad...how burnt toast hadn't been a deal-breaker for them. And I quietly thanked God for giving me a marriage where burnt toast wasn't a deal-breaker either!
You know, life is full of imperfect things...and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. And you might be surprised to find out that Jack isn't the perfect husband! He likes to play his music too loud, he will always find a way to avoid yard work, and he watches far too many sports. Believe it or not, watching "Golf Academy" is not my idea of a great night at home!
But somehow in the past 37 years Jack and I have learned to accept the imperfections in each other. Over time, we have stopped trying to make each other in our own mold and have learned to celebrate our differences.You might say that we've learned to love each other for who we really are!
For example, I like to take my time, I'm a perfectionist, and I'm even-tempered. I tend to work too much and sleep too little. Jack, on the other hand, is disciplined, studious, an early riser, and is a marketer's dream consumer. I count pennies and Jack could care less! Where he is strong, I am weak, and vice versa.
And while you might say that Jack and I are opposites, we're also very much alike. I can look at him and tell you what he's thinking. I can predict his actions before he finalizes his plans. On the other hand, he knows whether I'm troubled or not the moment I enter a room.
We share the same goals. We love the same things. And we are still best friends. We've traveled through many valleys and enjoyed many mountaintops. And yet, at the same time, Jack and I must work every minute of every day to make this thing called "marriage" work!
What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is the one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting marriage relationship.
Have a great day! May God bless your marriage.
