Month: March 2009

Connecting With Your Customers

The last few times I’ve visited the Taco Time in Bellevue, WA the manager has approached our table near the end of our visit to ask if we were pleased with the food and service. The last time I purchased tires, the manager of Discount Tire stopped by to meet me when I returned to pickup my car. He wanted to ensure I was satisfied with my new tires and the service his employees rendered. And I recently wrote about my experience at a local carwash where the owner went out of his way to learn about me.

This got me thinking about how well I know the customers in my line of business and how often do I reach out to them.  And more importantly, how well do I know what they are looking for. Why do they choose to do business with us over a competitor or vice versa? What could we do better? Which customers are our biggest fans?

These are a few questions I’ve asked myself as our business has become more competitive yet our market is shrinking.

If given a choice, I will do business with people I know and have build a relationship. That ranges from a $20 haircut to a $20,000 car. I find it curious that some owners make it a priority to get to know their customers and some don’t seem to care. Are you willing to step out from behind your desk and actively search for opportunities? Or will you kick back and browse through the customer surveys once a month?

I once worked for a company where, at the end of every project, the CEO called the client. Instead of focusing on the survey return rate, his focus was on listening to each customer. He’d organize the feedback, both positive and negative, and present it at our company meeting each month. This feedback was much more valuable than raw numbers. Most customers appreciate the opportunity to speak with the CEO. It sends the message, “Your business is important to us”.

A few weeks ago I took in a pair of shoes for repair. The man who took my shoes was the owner. He repaired the shoes and took my money when I came back for them. When he said, “I appreciate your business” I knew he meant it. It wasn’t some required scripted question we’ve all heard like “Would you like to save 10% today by applying for a Target card?” Not every business is small enough to allow the owner to interact with all clients. But I believe all business owners should look for opportunities to listen to their clients and encourage their employees to do the same.

Luca’s Baptism

For an hour today everything except my daughter took a backseat.

It was a wonderful, peaceful, spiritual hour.

Luca and I wore white jumpsuits as we sat next to each other in the chapel. She told me her feet were cold. I told her mine were cold too. She placed one of her feet on mine to prove hers were colder. They were.

baptismluca

When it was our time, I held her hand as we walked down the hall towards the baptismal font. She entered the font through one door while I went through another.

Down the stairs and into the water we waded. She stretched her hand towards me not knowing how deep the water was. I whispered in her ear that everything would be fine.

A group of friends had gathered around the font to witness this special event in the life of our oldest daughter. I know Luca was comforted by the sight of familiar faces in the crowd.

After the prayer, I gently immersed her entire body in the warm water. She regained her balance and gently shook her long, wet hair. Everything was fine.

I kissed the top of her head before leading her back up the stairs where mom was waiting.

And like that, the hour had slipped away.

It’s now midnight in Seattle and the kids are down for the night. The house is quiet except for the dog snoring at my feet. I’m watching the snow fall outside the window on this cold, dark night.

These are a few of the details I will remember about the day I baptized our first child.

Because for an hour today, everything except my daughter took a backseat.

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Through The Window

She wasn’t expecting to see him. All she knew was that he’d  be at her baptism on Saturday. But she wasn’t expecting to see him at her school.

Yet there he stood in Lincoln’s classroom waiting for the bell to ring. A line of kindergarten students stretched across the room. Jackets were zipped and backpacks thrown over shoulders. Twenty little bodies of bottled up energy ready to burst out the door.

lucabirthday

I stood at the back of the line with my father. He’s not small in stature and, his booming voice can be intimidating. But he’s a gentle man with immeasurable love for his grandchildren. Although my mother has been ill for many years, making trips for her to Seattle a rarity, he’s flown up on his own every six months to see his only four grandchildren who live outside Utah.

Still waiting for the bell to ring. Once out the door we’d head down the hall towards Luca’s 2nd grade class where we’d hand out donuts to celebrate her birthday.

And that’s when I noticed a little girl with long brown hair wearing glasses and a bright pink shirt push her face up against the window. Her hair was wet and her glasses fogged up but that didn’t stop her from looking into Lincoln’s classroom. I waved, but she didn’t see me.

But when her grandpa waved, she saw him. Her eyes lit up and a huge smile stretched across her face. I turned to catch my dad with the same sized smile. Does it get any better than having your grandpa visit?

As I stood there taking it all in, I was filled with joy. This might be a very small slice of life. But sometimes the smallest slices are the most flavorful.

I’m thrilled my oldest daughter has a close relationship with her grandpa. I didn’t mind being overlooked as she peered through the window today. Her smile. That gorgeous smile told me everything I needed to know.

The Yellow Jersey Guy

The first time I saw him hand out yellow scrimmage jerseys I thought, “Is this guy serious? This is a friendly game of pickup basketball where players call their own fouls, not some adult league with referees”.

But it’s now been a couple of weeks since I first dragged my body out of bed at 5:30, laced up my Nikes and stumbled out the door for a good hour of basketball at the local gym. Most mornings we’ll have ten to fifteen guys show up hoping to knock down a few threes or, at a minimum, get in some exercise before putting in a day’s work.

And each morning the guy with the armful of yellow jerseys is there greeting everyone who steps foot on the gym floor. But his dedication doesn’t end with the jerseys. He’s constantly barking out plays and calling screens through a mouth guard that looks like it was made for football in the 1960s. He makes sure the teams are divided up evenly and keeps the games moving along briskly. He’s not shy about stopping play if there’s any question about the score. Games are to 15 and teams must win by 2.

Yet he’s not the most gifted athlete. In fact, he won’t shoot the ball unless he finds himself near the basket at point blank range. Instead, he sets screens and keeps the ball moving. He’s the gym rat. He’s the last guy picked to a team but nobody can imagine playing without him. He’s valuable to his team, but in ways that won’t show up in a stat line.

Watching this guy has made me think about how important role players are to any team, be it basketball or a group of employees assigned to a project. Every team needs a guy who hands out the yellow jerseys. He’s not the most talented. But he’s the glue that keeps the team together. He doesn’t care who gets the credit because he’s not looking to pad his own stats or resume. His primary concern is for the team.

I can look back to those teams I was a part of that were the most enjoyable and productive, and I can name the yellow jersey guy. I’m convinced nearly all successful teams have one. 

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The Flip Mino HD Rocks

Last year I bought a small Canon camcorder. It fit in my hand but turned out to pain in the butt to use. I didn’t enjoy fumbling around with the tiny tapes and getting video off the tapes was an exercise in tedium. Toss in the fact that the battery life was pathetic and it’s no wonder it seldom saw use outside of the occasional birthday party.

I looked for reasons to use our Nikon D40 instead. It’s not like I don’t enjoy taking video of the kids but the Canon was more hassle than fun. flipmino

So I started looking for a video camera that’s easy and fun to use a few months ago. And then I came across a post from Robert Scoble who loved his wife’s Flip Mino HD. I decided to check it out. Wow was I impressed!

If you’re looking for a tiny, easy to use video camera that’s a total blast to use, check out the Mino HD. It’s simply the coolest device I’ve purchased in years. Whenever I pull it out to take video, people assume I’m using a tiny camera, and they are blown away when I tell them I’m taking high def video.

My favorite features are:

  1. USB connector flips up from top of camera. No cables. USB charges battery too.
  2. Stores an hour of video on internal 4 GB memory.
  3. Supports 720p resolution.
  4. So simple, anyone can figure it out in seconds.
  5. Uploads directly to YouTube and other video hosting services.
  6. Tiny! About the size of two packs of Bubble Yum.

I could go on and probably will if you happen run into me using the Mino in public. I tell everyone I see about how cool this little gadget is. Here’s the first video I took of my kids riding their Kett cars.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3313083&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1
Kett Car Racing from Brett Nordquist on Vimeo.

It retails for $229 for the HD version. Less expensive, non-HD versions are available for about $50 less, but I suggest grabbing the HD. The video quality is stunning for such a small device.

I’ve spotted the Mino HD at Best Buy although I bought mine at BH Photo for $209. Highly recommended.

Something With Computers

“He’s a high school coach”.

That’s what I’d tell people when they asked what my father did for work. He was also a teacher for over 30 years. And a driver’s ed instructor. And a swimming pool manager.

But to my friends he was Coach Nordquist, and everyone who knew my father understood his love of athletics. He believed that participating in athletics could teach a young boy or girl lessons that academic classes could not.

Everyone knows what a coach does. Same goes for teacher, mechanic, dentist and electrician. None of these professions require further explanation. We all have a good idea of how a dentist spends his day.

I hadn’t given much thought to this topic until I overheard a conversation between Luca and Lincoln last week.

Lincoln: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Luca: “I don’t know. Maybe a baker”

Lincoln: “What does dad do at work?”

Luca: “I don’t know. Something with computers”

Although she’s only 7-years old, this is as good a description of my job as any I’ve heard before. In my career in technology, I’ve never had a job title that’s easy to describe to someone outside the industry. Not that job titles mean much anymore. I doubt few of my coworkers know my title is “Technical Operations Manager”. It’s so bland and so vague that many people probably hear “I’m the Technical blah blah blah blah….” They immediately tune out at technical.

Lately, my job feels like it’s changing each day. I used to think my primary responsibilities included hiring, training and leading a group of technicians who support Microsoft conferences, trade shows and product launches. Although these tasks are important, they don’t bring a lot of job satisfaction to me at the end of each day.

What does bring joy to my work is listening. Listening to the idea of new hires who haven’t become jaded by the industry. Listening to my best techs on how we can go after new business. And listening to customers who appreciate the work our people put in on their behalf. Leading doesn’t mean speaking all the time. Sure, occasionally my voice should be heard but it shouldn’t be the only voice that’s heard.

I still have a lot to learn, and I make a lot of mistakes. But I’m beginning to listen more which allows me to catch issues as they arise at an early stage. That gives me time to solve or at least minimize problems. But it doesn’t come naturally. 

Years may pass before my kids are able to describe what I do at work. But until then I’m happy to hear them call me goofy dad.

Telling Scary Stories

We have this ritual at our house where Kim takes the first crack at getting the kids to bed. Success at this stage of the night is recognized when each child has pajamas on. That’s when she clocks out for the evening and I’m supposed to use whatever means necessary to get the kids into their beds and down for the night. 

Kim thinks I should take a calm approach which includes using inside voices, a few hugs and lots of love mixed in with a story or two that doesn’t include monsters or robbers hiding under beds or in closets. 

But after 12 years of marriage, Kim should know better. My idea of getting the kids down is to wind them up to the point where there’s not a single ounce of energy remaining in their small bodies, and they collapse from exhaustion. Or just the opposite of Kim’s approach.

lincolnbw

Tonight I decided to tell Lincoln a scary story. For the story to be extra scary I lay next to him so he can see the expression on my face. I whisper certain parts of the story into his ear that always includes a big hairy spider coming out from under the bed or through the closet to wreak havoc on a normal 6-year old boy who happens to have three sisters and a dog and whose name begins with an “L”.

But any similarities to Lincoln is pure coincidence. He loves that part.  He grins knowing he’s in on the secret. Tonight’s story took off in a direction that wasn’t making much sense even by my standards.

And then Lincoln had a question that put everything in perspective.

“If I saw a spider, even a big one, why couldn’t I put my shoes on and just STEP ON IT?”

I started to laugh. Lincoln was laughing so hard I wasn’t sure he was breathing. We both recognized the absurdity of my story simultaneously and could not stop laughing. The more I laughed the louder Lincoln laughed as he rolled around the bed.

And then he laughed so hard he fell off the bed and onto the floor.

Of course, this made us laugh even more.

But sure enough. Once I helped Lincoln back into bed, kissed him on the cheek and pulled the covers up high (exactly how he likes them), he was fast asleep in minutes.

When Lincoln is older and doesn’t find much humor in my stories I’m going to remind him of the time he laughed so hard he fell out off the bed.

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A Mix of Customer Service

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve received customer service ranging from very good to very bad. Here are a few that come to mind:

BMW of Bellevue – I needed a turn signal bulb so I visited the service department at BMW of Bellevue. I spoke with a man at the service desk who said the light I needed was $2. I told him I’d take one and he rang up my purchase. He then took a small paper bag and put 5 lights in it and said, “Consider those spares. They will save you a trip next time”.

Hanna Andersson– Two very different experiences at two stores. We visited the outlet store in Woodinville looking for coats for next winter. A size we needed wasn’t available, but an employee called the Portland store, and the coat in the correct size was shipped to us overnight for $10. The next week I went to the Hanna Andersson store in University Village looking for a dress for Luca’s baptism. I walked to the counter where an employee was ringing up a customer. Another employee stood to the side folding shirts. I wasn’t carrying anything and it should have been clear that I had a question. But she continued to fold shirts for nearly 10 minutes, never once asking if she could help me.

Verizon Wireless – Experience tells me that I’d rather have a root canal than deal with a cell phone company. I’ll save the details of my experience with Sprint for another blog, but needless to say, I will never give Sprint another dime. Avoid them at all costs. But two weeks ago I called to cancel our two lines with Verizon Wireless. I was expecting a painful process where I was transferred from one person to the next. But, to my surprise, the first person who answered was able to cancel my account in a polite and efficient manner without the usual run-around. Verizon valued my time and didn’t insult me by saying their computers were down like Sprint did a few years ago. I have no problem recommending Verizon, and would consider going back to them if I have problems with AT&T.

The Pearl – This is a fancy but reasonably priced restaurant located in Lincoln Square in Bellevue. A friend and I wandered in for lunch last week and were met by a friendly hostess. She seated us, and for the next hour we were treated to some of the best salmon I’ve ever had. And yet their prices (at least for lunch) were very reasonable. The service was stellar. Our waitress was there when we needed but didn’t bother us by interrupting our discussion every five minutes. When she heard my friend worked at Lincoln Square she took 20% off the bill. Highly recommended.

DirecTV – I would not want to watch TV without my dual tuner DirecTivo. And when I can’t find anything on TV, I’ll browse through the PPV movies. I’ll usually find one or two to purchase and record to watch later. The key was that I was able to record movies to watch at a later date. The movie was there at the time we wanted to watch. But DirecTV has made a major change to their PPV service. Now each movie must be watched within 24 hours of purchase or DirecTV sends a signal to your DVR which erases the movie! On top of this absurdity, they raised the price of PPV movies from $3.99 to $4.99. This is a knucklehead move on the part of DirecTV. I’ve gone from purchasing a few movies each month to not purchasing any. How is this a smart business move?

Kent Commons – I’ve been playing basketball at the Kent Commons a few mornings each week. Unlike some gyms that won’t let you past the front desk without paying (Yes, you Pro Club and your $18 guest fee), the commons operates on the honor system. A group of us meet in the gym and play for nearly two hours. We then pool our money and pay on the way out. Makes the place feel the quintessential small town community center.

Spit Polish

I never knew how shiny my black Rockports they were supposed to be. All I knew is that if they weren’t shiny enough for my mission president I’d get yelled at in front of the other elders.

So I’d sit on the floor with my back against my bed with a can of Kiwi polish in one hand and a cotton rag in the other. I’d only been in Germany six months but was learning quickly how to spit polish my dress shoes. I was with my fourth companion, and each of them taught me their secret to getting the best shine. Some swore by a certain brand of polish. Others used a special rag with just the right percentage of cotton or nylon. One elder would only apply polish with pantyhose. polish

But I had my own process that was working well. In the same manner I’d extract just the chocolate from a carton of Neapolitan ice cream, I’d carefully cut a section of polish and place it in the lid. Then I’d take a lighter and heat the bottom of the lid until the polish melted down about half way. With a very thin cotton rag, I’d swirl the polish around until it was thin enough to seep into the crevices on my shoes. Occasionally, I’d wet the tip of the rag with my tongue which made the polish shine when brushed.

The key to getting a shine that would last more than a few hours was to apply at least three layers of polish. It wasn’t uncommon to spend a hour or two per shoe before important meetings we knew the mission president would attend.

As strange as it may sound, I enjoyed this time immensely. It gave me time to chat with my companion about sports and girls or whatever was on our minds at the time. One evening we ate several pounds of cashews and were sick the next day. My companion at the time was a guy I met at the training center in Provo, Utah. We became good friends, and the month we spent together in Unna, Germany was one of the best of my two year mission.

I’m reminded of this time of my life whenever I hear Pink Floyd’s “Momentary Lapse of Reason” which was released about the same time I arrived in Germany. My companion had it on cassette, and it became the backdrop to our weekly shoe shining sessions.

One slip, and down the hole we fall
It seems to take no time at all
A momentary lapse of reason
The binds a life for life

Songs like One Slip and On the Turning Away captured how lonely and isolated I felt at times. It brought a small portion of Utah to our tiny apartment. The music helped keep me going from one slammed door in the face to the next. The instrumental songs like Terminal Frost were soothing to the soul, and each song gave us a topic to discuss. Pink Floyd takes some time to appreciate. Most songs take a few listens. Maybe they are an acquired taste. But their music reaches me like few other bands have.

Eventually we’d come to the conclusion that our shoes were as shiny as we could make them. Once I could see my reflection in the shoe I knew I had it. We had an early train to catch the next morning and it was getting late.

We awoke early the next morning and put on our suits, ties and freshly polished shoes before jumping on our bikes and peddling as fast as we could to the train station.

We finally made our way to the church. I knew my shoes looked good. I’d checked them about 50 times on ride in. No way was I getting yelled at today! It wasn’t long before I noticed the mission president and his wife greeting elders just outside the chapel. Why not walk over and shake hands now and get this little game out of the way?

So I started walking towards the mission president. But before I could reach him, his wife put her hand on my shoulder and yelled, “Stop!”

She glanced down at my shoes without saying a word. She then checked the creases on my pants. They were neatly pressed as was my jacket which she asked me to remove to check my white long sleeve shirt. It was pressed as well. Even my silk tie had stayed in place.

Yes, I had passed the test! Was it ok to smile?

As I reached my arm out to shake her hand she barked, “Your hair is too long. Get it cut”.

Picture by Darwin Bell

The Red Chair

“If you don’t put them away, they will grow legs and disappear” 

That’s what my parents told me day after day referring to toys, bikes and sporting equipment I left on the grass in our front yard. I recall a football or Frisbee going missing but nothing major like a bike.

And now I find myself saying the same phrase to my children who listen as well as I did to my parents. The kids were able to spend a few hours of bike riding during the few times the sun came out this week. When I returned from church, I looked out the window to see this kid’s chair sitting on the grass.

Most everything else made it into the garage.

And now huge snowflakes are falling from the sky. It looks like the heavens are releasing tiny pillows of cotton down on our city. And this little red chair looks so peaceful that I’m thankful my kids left it on the grass.

Spring can wait a few more weeks.

snowchair

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