Latest posts from Danny Brown

Enjoy the latest posts from Danny Brown, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments after the post.

Sounding Off

Sorry for the interruption to normal service, but I just wanted to get a few things off my chest. Hope you don’t mind, and normal service will be resumed tomorrow with a great guest post from Christina Kingston. So…

To the douchebags on the train that insist on using the external speakers of their iPods, at least put some decent music on. If I must be subjected to your unplugged iPod, can it be something other than the crap you play?
To the Internet famous who continuously say, “It’s not about me, it’s about you”, start meaning it. Frequently pimping your book, upcoming book, friend’s book, sharing links that just include you and boasting of your numbers (even though it’s “not about the numbers”, right?) just makes you look the exact opposite of what you’re saying. Enough already, please.
To the consultants that say you can’t measure the ROI of social media properly, quit BS’ing your clients and tell them the truth. Of course you can – if it can be deployed, it can be measured for ROI. And yes, that includes financially.
To the Twitter specialists who say what you should and shouldn’t tweet about – it’s 140 characters, for crying out loud. There are no rules for Twitter – get over it!

Okay, that’s better. Thanks for letting me unload a little, I appreciate it. How about you – anything you want to sound off about? Comments are yours.

Angry kitty
photo credit:?Tambako the Jaguar

We’re Watching

We’re watching.

We’re watching what you say; how you say it; and the conviction behind it. We’re taking in the words you use; the directions you’re giving; the recommendations you’re sharing. We’re taking you at face value and trusting what our ears hear and our eyes see.

Our eyes are our cameras and cameras never lie.

So next time you’re about to speak, remember – we’re watching.

Why Sony Canada Should Fear Ryan Meray

Misleading Customer Service Kills Your Business Sometimes, as much as you’re a fan of a brand, they’re so far off the ball that they’re not doing themselves any favours. Sony Canada seems one such company.

I bought a Sony VAIO laptop for my wife’s birthday on December 8. A little after that, the network connection for wireless Internet went down. I thought it might be something to do with the router, so I checked that out.

After all, a company like Sony wouldn’t have products that died within a couple of weeks, would they?

But my media centre works fine wirelessly, as does my Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. So, not the router.

Then I remembered we had a power surge a couple of weeks back, and thought that might have something to do with it. So, I thought I’d jump online and chat with a Sony Canada tech support representative. Unfortunately, Sony Canada had other ideas.

Instead of allowing its customers to chat live with an online customer service or tech support agent (like most other large tech businesses today), Sony Canada has the option of either email support or telephone support. So, I’m screwed unless I want to hang on a “You’re call is important to us” line for whatever amount of time.

Except I’m not.

Step in Ryan Meray. He’d seen me tweet about my issues, DM’d me and asked if I needed help, and to send my Gmail Chat details. Even though it’s a Saturday night. Even though he has plans himself.

Ryan must have spent a good 40 minutes with me, going through every single possibility as to what the issue could be. He was patient; knowledgeable; helpful and really wanted to resolve the issue.

All the things Sony Canada should want to be, in fact. Except they’re not.

Instead, they make customers go through the rigmarole of phone trees, or emails that may or may not be answered within a specific time-frame. They have a crappy FAQ system on their website that simply tells you what you already know. And they don’t have even basic online live support.

This is a multi-billion dollar corporation. This is a company that prides itself on innovation. This is a company that aggressively looks for ways to stay ahead of its competitors. Sadly, they seem to have forgotten about one of the key parts of any business – the customers. And as we leave behind a year that saw huge corporations fall because of a lack of customer trust and satisfaction, it’s a dangerous game to play.

No company is too big to fail. No company can afford to short change its customers. Otherwise, people like Ryan Meray will step in and take your customers’ business away from you by offering the service you should have (because I sure as heck know what tech company will be on my mind in the future).

You’re treating your customers right. Right?

Update Sunday January 3 – I received an email from Candice Hayman of Sony Canada’s PR team, asking what the issue was. She then came back and advised that the VP of Service has said that Sony Canada is planning to implement email chat for VAIO. Additionally, there is online chat if you go here. However, this is for Sony U.S. and is for product information problems only. Which still leaves me in the lurch.

photo credit: libraryman

Leaders Don’t Just Lead

If you’re considered a leader, what type of leader are you?

Do you lead from the front and refuse to ask those under your guidance to do anything you wouldn’t yourself? Do you hang back in the shadows and delegate from afar? Do you have lieutenants under you that carry out your work for you, and you just sign off the paperwork?

Whatever different form of leadership you take, one thing is common across all leaders – the knowledge that they need to be led as well.

Your troops are your front line of defense. This could be a sales team; a customer service team; a tech support team; or commenters on your blog. They can tell you what’s happening every day. They can see changes you miss in the ivory towers of leadership. They can be the eyes that see new opportunities and best practices.

Leaders – true leaders – don’t just lead; they’re led as well.

If you’re considered a leader, what type of leader are you?

Old and New

Old often equates to age, and wisdom. Old shows staying power and stamina, and hard battles fought and won.

New often equates to eagerness, and a willingness to experiment. New shows paths yet to be journeyed and successes to come.

Mix old and new and you have the wisdom to journey the right paths. The staying power to battle to success.

Old and new are two different words but they don’t need to be two different worlds.