I sat down to write something brilliant and inspired last night to post today – and Blogger was down for maintenance. So you’re getting table scraps on this lovely Thursday, I’m afraid. Work has been beyond hectic lately, but I am determined to “keep ‘er goin” on PITF or die trying. Here are a few questions I’ve been mulling over this week. Feel free to answer me, or otherwise extrapolate:
– In client services, is it normal to have to react to so many things that you never get a chance to be proactive and head problems off at the pass before they ever become problems?
– Why do self-professed ‘dog people’ always hate cats, and yet ‘cat people’ just prefer cats to dogs? And is everyone’s gay-dar currently going off like a three alarm fire having just observed me asking that question?
– Do movie studios not realize that placing unskippable trailers at the beginning of DVDs defeats the purpose of having bought the DVD in the first place? Does actually leaving one’s apartment on a Saturday also defeat that purpose?
– Do the homeless have no strategy whatsoever? If I am asked for money, and am assured in the same breath that it is for food only – and I then offer to buy them some food instead – and then they get angry – does it then make sense to give me the same line of crap the next day, or even when I am on my way back home that very same afternoon? The homeless gameplan as I understand it is… actually I’ll save that for it’s own article.
Dave,
With anything that is client serviced based, it is all about time management. Sure things are going to pop up that you did not see coming, but if you have good time management skills, something that may start as a small brush fire, will not rage into a forrest fire. I think it is important when being reactive to client problems to triage it as much as possible to find out the sense of urgency. If it isn’t truly a 911 issue, then push back on the customer, and set a reasonable response time based on your own schedule. When you do have time on your hands keep in touch with customers to find out how things are going, and what can you be doing to help, without calling to just “check in”. Position it as you are always trying to better yourself, and if there are areas you can improve upon, to please let you know. Or maybe you call with a new product offering they may be interested in. I have found that if your customers know your schedule they will try to work around you.
Q: Why do self-professed ‘dog people’ always hate cats, and yet ‘cat people’ just prefer cats to dogs? And is everyone’s gay-dar currently going off like a three alarm fire having just observed me asking that question?
A: My experience with this is that most people who “hate” cats are usually allergic to cats – and it snowballs from there (Snowball being one of those names for any pet that can make you hate something). Also, for the most part it is harder to “hate” dogs because they are so goofy and tend to want human interaction. A buddy of mine pointed out that the only two animals that really seem to generally like humans are dogs and horses (I added perhaps pigs too). Cats on the other hand only seem to tolerate humans.
Q: Do movie studios not realize that placing unskippable trailers at the beginning of DVDs defeats the purpose of having bought the DVD in the first place? Does actually leaving one’s apartment on a Saturday also defeat that purpose?
A: Most infuriating! I just paid the bloody studio money for their product and they then have to increase their profits by forcing me to watch commercials. It is things like this that make me feel less guilty about pirating content. In response to part two of this question: doesn’t it make even less sense to watch a movie that is being broadcast on TV when you already own it on DVD?
Q: Do the homeless have no strategy whatsoever? If I am asked for money, and am assured in the same breath that it is for food only – and I then offer to buy them some food instead – and then they get angry – does it then make sense to give me the same line of crap the next day, or even when I am on my way back home that very same afternoon? The homeless gameplan as I understand it is… actually I’ll save that for it’s own article.
A: I live in the panhandle capital of Canada which also happens to be the crackhead capital of Canada, and I find it so refreshing to be approached by a good old fashioned drunk who wants money. One guy’s approach is so straight forward and honest I can’t help but give me some coin, “Can you spare some change so I can buy a beer?” It makes me smile every time.
I feel pretty much the same way about homeless people as Dave. Basically I think they are all lazy gits. The ones that piss me off the most are the ones asking for some change to buy some food, while they sit there with a beer smoking a cigarette. They’ve missed the point. They obviously have enough cash for that, so why am I going to fuel your alcoholism, when I have my own to worry about.
I believe it’s totally possible to be a drunk and hold a job, and I think I’m a perfect example of that.
Cheers
A real mans beer
I’m a lazy person that wants unconditional love. So I’m completly torn on the cat vs. dog issue. I gt attention from the cat on HER terms. Dogs, all love all the time.
I can’t beleive I went on even that long about that issue.
Pye, could you explain what spidered and indexed means – I have no idea what that implies.
DVS – great comment. That was actually very soothing.
Graeme – I’ll give you a hint: it has absolutely nothing to do with experiencing arachnaphobia in a public library.