Newsletter Issue 159, December 2008

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 159, December 2008

Hi guys,

To understand why your younger and older workers sometimes appear to be from different planets, read Boomers & the XY Generation below.

Watch out for a dilly of a trojan called Mebroot. Get your defences in place now.

Registry Patch for Old Office Files   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Boomers & the XY Generation

Australian company Expr3ss! recently published the following article on CEO Online (http://www.ceoonline.com/). They have kindly given permission for me to reproduce it for you.

Working with the über-cool X and Y generations is often an insurmountable challenge for the older manager. Boomer bosses complaints about X / Y workers are legendary, the stuff of many indignant long-lunch conversations.

Now a new study sheds light on the reason and offers hope of a solution. The study shows that the stereotypical outgoing, open and socially-networked younger worker is not necessarily all that they seem. The results of the study showed that, with X / Y's levels of friendship and help-seeking behaviours more than 20% higher than average, and Boomers 15% lower than average, younger workers outscore their Boomer equivalents by 300%.

The study also showed that this hides a level of distrust in younger workers that is nearly three times that of those they typically work under, along with significant levels of oppositional behaviour that peak in 24 - 29 year olds.

The generational trend identified by the study highlights why older supervisors and managers struggle to work productively with younger employees, and explains why the typical Boomer struggles to manage effectively and to understand why. Boomers on average are 55% more trusting than they are friendship and help-seeking, whereas their younger colleagues are much more friendship and help-seeking than they are trusting, to the extent of a massive 400%.

"A fatal dislocation in relationships and communication exists between the younger and older worker", says Dr Glyn Brokensha, Joint Managing Director of Expr3ss!. "This dislocation means that each will respond in their own preferred style, which is exactly the opposite of what the other expects and needs. Boomer managers mistakenly assume that the strong friendship and help-seeking behaviours of younger employees are evidence of high trust, whereas exactly the reverse is true."

Brokensha says from the younger worker's perspective, the relative lack of friendship-seeking and help-seeking behaviours in their seniors is taken as evidence of lack of trust and, worse, lack of trustworthiness. Boomer managers fail to work at building trust in their relationships with younger workers because they mistakenly believe it already exists. Younger employees fail to communicate their intrinsic levels of distrust because their natural friendship-seeking and help-seeking behaviours obscure the true picture.

"Boomer managers and X / Y employees enter a deadly interlock where each assumes that what they see in the other is evidence of that which does not actually exist", states Brokensha. "Boomers assume that X / Ys have levels of trust even higher than their own, because of their friendship-seeking and help-seeking natures. And X / Ys assume that Boomers are untrusting and, worse, untrustworthy because they lack those very same friendship and help-seeking characteristics. Unlocking that struggle is the key."

Expr3ss!® is a web-based applicant management solution enabling employers to prioritise candidate job applications and communicate with applicants easily and quickly, improving time-efficiency and reducing costs through "better people intelligence®". Expr3ss! For more information visit Expr3ss! at www.expr3ss.com

Mebroot

Those of you have the sneaking suspicion that there is something wrong with your PC, yet your AV programme is showing nothing amiss, you may well be right.

There is a Trojan called Mebroot (formerly Sinowal) that drops and loads a password stealing component on your system and steals account information. It also tries to steal information that is required to access certain online banks' and online payment systems' websites. It flies under the radar of most firewalls, AV software and Malware checkers. It is a very stealthy little application that does all sorts of trickery to fool your operating system and normal defences (read more at http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/trojan-psw_w32_sinowal_cp.shtml).

How you can prevent getting it is by going to http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/ and downloading the free, personal use scanning application and running that each month.

How you can get rid of it once you have it is to isolate the PC from your network as soon as the problem is detected, reformat your PC's hard drive and any external hard drives (eg memory sticks or back ups) and reinstall all your software and clean data. General consensus is to be very, very careful about copying any files off an infected PC; you are probably better to dump them.

Prevention is better than cure with this little beauty.

Registry Patch for Old Office Files

If any of you have downloaded Service Pack 3 for XP recently, you may suddenly have found that your old versions of MS Office documents no longer open.

There is a very easy work-around for this (although it took me a long time to find it!):

• Go to http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;938810
• Click on "Method 1"
• Then click on the executable file hyperlink for the appropriate Office software patch you wish to download
• When you have finished downloading, double click on the downloaded executable file to load the fix into your registry.

Easy, isn't it!

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs for you:

• eCRM, electronic Customer Relationship Management. Web-based applications added to customer relationship management systems. Moving management of customers up to the enterprise level and away from individual departments.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Alt and letters. This time it's one lonely V:

• Word "Auto Text" Alt & Ctrl & V

Hot Linx

A quick reminder about when to use 'who' and when to use 'which' at http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/writing-for-business/quiz-writing-for-business-who-or-that/

To discover the best of New Zealand television and film, check out NZ On Air's new foray into an online, publicly accessible film archive at http://www.nzonscreen.com/

The World Bank has a page charting youth action, to encourage young people to make a difference in their community; viewable at http://www.youthink.worldbank.org/

Tech Republic has distributed a pdf showing how to create your own training presentation using PowerPoint's Photo Album feature. I have downloaded the pdf and it is available at http://www.samyoung.co.nz/TechRepublic_ppt_training_presentation.pdf

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read more "Newsletter Issue 159, December 2008"

Newsletter Issue 158, December 2008

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 158, December 2008

Hi guys,

Are you killing yourself at work? Then read Personal Energy Management below & learn how not to.

If you think price drives customers to change suppliers, then you need to read Service is Key for Customer Retention. 

Word Page Setup Shortcut   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Personal Energy Management

The American Management Association ran an article by Karlin Sloan of Karlin Sloan & Company (http://www.karlinsloan.com/) on keeping balance in the workplace. Karin has kindly allowed me to share her article with you all.

The term “energy management” was coined by Nina Merer, a corporate trainer and coach practicing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Merer took traditional time management concepts and reframed them to prioritise people’s energy resources.

Current work habits of 90 hour weeks, being the last to leave, never being out of contact beg a conversation about energy management—versus time management—and why it’s an increasingly relevant concept in a global, technology-fueled work environment.

Energy management is both an art and a science. To better manage your energy, you need an equal amount of input to output. Deplete your energy stores without “recharging” them and you jeopardize your ability to work efficiently and effectively.

It’s great to demonstrate commitment and competence to your company, but how do you know when “above and beyond” becomes overkill and puts your energy at risk? Ask yourself:

1. Is what I’m doing sustainable over time?
2. Is what I’m doing something that really adds value?
3. If what I’m doing isn’t sustainable and doesn’t add value, am I gaining something important from it?

If you can’t answer “yes” to any of these questions, it’s time to set some boundaries.

Setting Boundaries: Rules of the Road

Follow these three simple yet powerful rules, and you can avoid sacrificing your “ROEI”—return on energy investment.

1. Value your Time. Understand that your time and energy are valuable. If you don’t protect your energy, who will? Unless you are superhuman, you need to set up some parameters about when you will—and won’t—jump to the rescue or go beyond the call of duty.
   • Everything feels important—your boss, your customers, and your short- and long-term deliverables—so how do you balance it all? Prioritise the time that most feeds your energy—versus simply doing or reacting—and set clear expectations of what you can and cannot do.
   • A coach on my team recently told this story: Two principals in a mid-sized organisation hired Ken, an outside consultant, to facilitate an upcoming team meeting. When the principals expressed concern about holding the meeting in the company conference room—a space they had custom designed and built for their new offices—Ken asked them why. “Because we always get interrupted when we’re there versus offsite, and it makes it impossible to get anything done.” The interesting assumption here is that the executives can’t set appropriate boundaries when they’re in the office, but they can when they’re at a remote location. It’s not that other things don’t crop up when they’re offsite, it’s that they just don’t know about them. Their challenge was to set clear boundaries at the office—absolutely no interruptions—and, to be able to use their new conference room to do productive work, as intended.
2. You don’t have to kiss up to look good. I agree with Dr. Wayne Dyer, well-known self-development author and speaker, who says, “We teach others how to treat us.” At work, you teach others to respect you by respecting your own time and energy—and refusing to be at others’ beck and call. Stan, one of my executive coaching clients, is a key account director for a big-name global consulting firm. One of his clients is very demanding and frequently calls Stan at night and on weekends. Instead of “redirecting” his client to reserve these calls for business hours, Stan makes himself available 24/7 and works hard to meet every request. Unfortunately, this behaviour is not sustainable, nor does it add any value. Stan’s core belief, that the client always comes first, is admirable, but what happens when that belief ceases to serve the client? Stan is often so physically and mentally exhausted that he can’t do his best work. With good intentions, he has created a dynamic in which his client expects him to go above and beyond at all times and at all costs. Stan’s challenge is to create a new dynamic, set limits, and show his client that he delivers his best work when he preserves his time and energy.
3. You have a choice—sustainability or burnout. To perform at the top of your game, it’s critical to work in ways that stave off fatigue and burnout. Sustainable work practices support your ongoing role and responsibilities over time—not just in the heat of the moment. Vow to stop blaming others for your overwork and start taking responsibility for setting your own boundaries. Doc Childre, an expert on human performance optimisation and personal effectiveness, teaches that blame is one of the biggest contributors to low or lost energy. Sure, there are those “human” moments when you point a finger or complain about something or someone. In the end, however, you do have a choice. You can choose when to go above and beyond, when to set and stick to your boundaries, and when to adapt to a certain work environment—or to leave that environment if what you’re doing isn’t sustainable or adding value, or you’re not gaining something important from it.

Author Bio: Karlin Sloan is founder and CEO of Karlin Sloan & Company. She is an executive coach and leadership consultant and the author of Smarter, Faster, Better: Strategies for Effective, Enduring, and Fulfilling Leadership (Jossey-Bass). Contact: www.karlinsloan.com

Service is Key for Customer Retention

According to a survey by Marketing Sherpa (https://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.html?ident=30719), service is more important than price for retaining customers.

And interestingly, companies and customers think there are different primary reasons for customers parting company with a a company. Companies think it is a decision based on price; customers say it's poor service that made them decide to go.

The key thing to remember: customers don't think price is a major reason for customer retention; service is.

Kenn Butler wrote in his Leadership article Week 95: Reaping the Rewards of Listening "have you ever wondered what would happen if you invited your customers in to give you & your staff direct performance feedback?

"If there is one thing I have learned in my journey over 35 years, it is this: Your customers will tell you everything you need to know to succeed. Consequently I am often encouraging managers I mentor to set aside an hour regularly (like six monthly), & invite three customers to come & talk to all their staff about what the organisation does well & how that helps them, what the organisation does poorly & the problems that causes them, & what they expect & need from the organisation. It particularly works best if you bring in customers who are quite demanding & not afraid to speak their minds. It is also a great way to strengthen relationships with customers who, I have to say, are always chuffed they have been invited to express their views & impressed the organisation would allow them to come & talk directly to staff.

"Sadly, I am also quite sure that whenever I suggest such events, very few people act on the idea. From what I understand, the biggest obstacle is the fear about what the customers will say. Managers in particular feel threatened because they would not only take any negative observation of personally; they would feel embarrassed in front of their staff.

"...Imagine having so little confidence in your organisation's performance that you are too scared to invite customers to come & talk to your staff. Additionally, imagine having such low self-esteem that you could not handle any criticism personally. I wonder how well the All Blacks would do if they were too frightened to look at the video of their last game. But the saddest part of not holding customer-staff meetings is everyone misses out on the opportunity to hear what they need to do to become, or continue to be, successful. In my experience, customers not only provide positive & negative feedback, they clearly outline what they need, want & expect from the company.

"It is really like being given a recipe for success."

Ah, customer service, eh.

Word Page Setup Shortcut

Debbie Mayo Smith had a great Word shortcut in her latest newsletter (http://www.successis.co.nz/).

When you have a Word document open in Print Layout view, double-click in the blued out upper or side margin to pop up the Page Setup dialogue box. A very handy & quick shortcut indeed!

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs for you:

• ARE, “acronym-rich environment” - that's a good one!

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Alt and letters. This time it's U:

• Word "Update Auto Format" Alt & Ctrl & U
• Word "Update Fields" Alt & Shift & U
• PowerPoint "Chose AutoShape on the Drawing toolbar." Alt & U
• IE "Change paper, headers and footers, orientation, and margins for this page. " Alt & U

Hot Linx

A new idea from a Kiwi company is Pago - you can shop online without a credit card, send or receive money by txt or web and not disclose your personal bank details using a Pago wallet. Check it out at http://www.pago.co.nz/section261.aspx

Have you heard about EZCodes? The concept has been around for a while, but does not appear to have been widely adopted yet. Check out the articles at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_scannable_world_barcodes_scanning_in_the_real_world.php

When you are next feeling like you need a blast from your chemistry past, cruise by http://periodictable.com/ and check out all the elements of the periodic table. Clicking through on all the elements is very enlightening!

Blinkbox is a service coming to you soon; they've got thousands of classics, new releases & trailers. Some movies are free, some you can rent or buy; just download to your PC. Check out http://www.blinkbox.com/

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read more "Newsletter Issue 158, December 2008"

Newsletter Issue 157, November 2008

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 157, November 2008

Hi guys,

Consumer had a list of how we can Make Power Savings at home in their October magazine. Read on below.

Are you careful of your clients' time? Are you focused on saving your clients' time? Read Time ...and Time Again. 

Tiling Windows   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Make Power Savings

In Consumer Magazine in October 2008, their team reported on a private home 'audit' looking at power wastage. They focused on the accumulation of small usage such as appliances on standby. They go on to say that most modern appliances are never actually "off" unless you turn them off at the wall; such as computers, monitors, TVs, DVDs, video recorders and printers. If you are a consumer member, click here to read the full article.

Their results were:

• One computer with the monitor, scanner and printer can use up to 20W while apparently being off. Consumer's average house audit had two; 40Wh
• Older model TVs, DVD players, VCRs, stereos and game machines can use 15 - 25W. Consumer's average house audit had three TVs - one plasma (plasma TVs use six times more power than the old cathode ray tube and LCD screens), a VCR, a DVD recorder, a Playstation, a home theatre amplifier, a CD player, and a stereo. All up, 74Wh.
• The Sky decoder can be switched off, although Sky prefers you to leave it going. It burns up a toasty 17Wh on standby (and Sky only uses another 0.4 of a watt when running!).
• In the kitchen a microwave clock, stove clock, cordless phone, a dustbuster, and three chargers (toothbrush, iPod & digital camera battery charger). If all these are left on, that's another 20Wh.
• Consumer's average house audit had five mobile phones for four people. However, CDMA phone chargers use between 0 and 1 watt per hour if left on (some use nothing), so this has hardly any impact.
• Your doorbell has its own small transformer. 5Wh
• So the potential standby waste in the average house is 156W at a cost of $264 a year.
• The garage may have the old household fridge as a beer fridge; a 1994 fridge is rated at 490 kWh per year. So that's 490000 Watts, using 60Wh once averaged out (fridges don't run constantly).
• So an adjusted total would be 216W at a cost of $365 a year.

That works out at $30 per month savings on Consumer's average household power account, just by flicking the switch.

Time ...and Time Again

I was just reading on Trendwatching's website that a lack of time is still one of the biggest consumer issues. They quoted some statistics around how time-poor we feel ourselves to be:

• 43% of Americans, 39% of British, 60% of Dutch and 47% of Australians rate themselves as ‘time poor’, ie short of time (source: J. Walker Thompson)
• 70% of Americans 16 years and older say they don’t have enough time to do all the things they need to do, and half of US consumers now say that a lack of time is a bigger problem in their lives than a lack of money (source: Yankelovich)

In addition, Nationmaster provides statistics on how many countries have a 'normal' expected working week of over 40 hours. In fourth place of 140 nations comes little old New Zealand, with only Japan, the US and Switzerland ahead of us in the let's-be-a-work-stress-monkey stakes.

So, from a customer service point of view, anything you can do to help save your client's time is — in the words of Trendwatching — "worth its weight in, well, long lazy uninterrupted days".

Trendwatching report on the Netherlands-based private bank Insinger de Beaufort (http://www.insinger.com/shoebox/). Trendspotters say they "have launched a new service aimed at saving (valuable) clients the time and hassle of dealing with the minutiae of their personal finances. Insinger's clients are sent a big shoebox by courier every month, into which they drop anything admin-related: bills to be paid, bank statements, receipts, tax returns, speeding tickets, insurance documents, etc. At the end of the month, Insinger sends a courier to pick up the box, and then processes its contents. Clients are sent a complete overview of actions and transactions within three business days, after which the bank takes care of the entire follow-up process, including paying bills, filing tax returns and processing business expenses."

There may be an add-on that you can provide your top ten clients that other clients might want to aspire to. Think about it.

Read the full article at Trendwatching.

 

Tiling Windows

Last time (Newsletter 156) I gave you a tip on reducing your Outlook mailbox size, and mentioned that to copy email messages from Outlook and into your file system, you needed to tile your Outlook and Windows Explorer windows.

I promised to give you that tip next time, so here it is.

1. Close all windows other than Outlook and Windows Explorer.
2. Right click on an empty place on the taskbar (ie to the right of the Windows & Outlook open tabs)
3. Select "Tile Windows Vertically" from the pop up menu.

That's it. Now you can drag files from one window to another. Another "Easy when you know how" tip :-)

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs for you:

• ROAR, Right of Admission Reserved. An oldie but a goodie.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Alt and letters. This time it's T:

• Word "Insert the trademark symbol while working" Alt & Ctrl & T
• Word "Insert a Time field into a document" Alt & Shift & T
• Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, FrontPage, Word "Open the Tools Menu" Alt & T

Hot Linx

If you aren't already online, then check out http://www.squidoo.com/ & see if you want to create your own page there.

For those of you who want to know more about the technology, history and coming trends of the interweb, check out the stories at http://nethackz.com/

If you need any new driver files for software or hardware, then head over to http://www.dllfiles.com/ and search & download what you need for your particular problem

Have a cruise by http://www.timeforone.com/home.php and see what you can do when in London; where to eat, where to recreate, where to relax. I can see this site going global :-)

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read more "Newsletter Issue 157, November 2008"

Newsletter Issue 156, October 2008

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 156, October 2008

Hi guys,

Can you see when politicos are being somewhat expedient with the truth? Then read Reading the Candidates below.

Are you Getting the Most out of Exhibitions that you attend? Check out the EEAA tips below. 

Reducing Outlook Mailbox Size   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Reading the Candidates

Ah, election time. Carol Kinsey Goman recently published an article in the US detailing things what to watch our for when politician-watching, which she has kindly allowed me to share with you all.

When you read this though, remember that there is no such thing as a 'universal' body language. Not only are there cultural, dialect and family differences, but every individual has their own set of normal nonverbal behaviours. The trick is, through observation, to work out what is 'normal' for the person, and then look for changes.

1. Eye blinks. Under pressure or discomfort, eye blinks increase dramatically. Watch to see what topics cause a candidate's eye blink rate to race.
2. Congruence. When someone totally believes what they're saying, there is an automatic synchronicity between words and gestures. Watch to see when nonverbal signals are aligned with the spoken word and when they are out of sync (a cue that there is some conflict between what's being said and the speaker's true feelings).
3. Narrowed lips. Lips that tighten (or almost disappear into the mouth) are almost always a negative signal. Watch for this gesture as a signal that someone is either holding back key information or they really don't want to respond to a particular question.
4. Breathing patterns. Holding one's breath is a natural human reaction when facing danger. Watch for a sudden, sharp intake of breath or a change of breathing into small, shallow breaths as a signal that someone feels threatened.
5. Hand gestures. There are a variety of hand gestures that speak for themselves: Hand-to-mouth gestures (the hand brushes the lips or touches the nose) are deception cues that people unconsciously use when lying - or when listening to someone else who they believe is lying. Open palm gestures are convincing signals of candour. And the "steepling hands" gesture (palms separated slightly, fingers of both hands spread and finger tips touching) is a display of high confidence. In fact, if either candidate uses steepling, you will notice it at a time when that person feels the most prepared and assured.
6. Body leans. People lean toward other people or things they like or are interested in. Watch for candidates to lean in slightly when they feel they are being asked a question that addresses a strength and lean back slightly when confronted with a question that might expose a weakness.
7. Smiling. There is a big difference between real and fake smiles. Watch to see which situations or comments elicit a real smile that lights up the candidate's entire face and crinkles the eyes - and which rate a "fake" or social smile that simply pulls up the corners of the mouth. And pay attention to the appropriateness of the smile. A smile at the wrong time (like when discussing solemn issues) is a disconcerting signal that words and feelings are out of alignment.
8. Micro-expression. Fleeting facial expressions often allow the truth to slip through in brief, unguarded moments. Watch for flashes of anger, disgust, surprise, joy or fear that are expressed before the conscious mind can rein them in and create a more appropriate reaction.
9. Security gestures. A security barrier - one that is favoured by politicians, television personalities, salespeople and others who don't want to appear nervous or unsure - is formed when one arm swings in front of the body so that the opposite hand can touch a shirt cuff, bracelet, watch or other object on the arm. In fact, any time you see someone move their arms across their body, chances are they're silently (and unconsciously) reassuring themselves.

Carol goes on to say that we shouldn't try to decode body language cues without FIRST considering each individual's baseline behaviours. Otherwise, we get a "false read".

Carol Kinsey Goman (PhD), is an executive coach, keynote speaker and author of "The Nonverbal Advantage - Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work." Contact by email CGoman@CKG.com; by websites www.NonverbalAdvantage.com or www.CKG.com.

Getting the Most out of Exhibitions

On the New Zealand branch of the Exhibitions & Events Association of Australasia, there are some very useful tips to remind us how to get the most out of going to exhibitions and trade shows. It is very easy to get caught up in the logistics of going, and forget about WHY you are going.

The EEAA website has some excellent little tips to remind us that we need to get the most bangs for our buck.

1. Set specific goals: Companies who exhibit with clearly stated realistic objectives achieve results.
2. Boldly state your business: Whether you're putting your stand together on a shoe-string or hiring a designer, do everything you can to create an eye-catching stand.
3. People buy people: It's vital to have the right staff. They need to be knowledgeable, energetic and focused. They also need regular breaks.
4. Entice visitors: Movement, entertainment, demonstrations, quirky giveaways all grab visitors' attention and give you the chance to engage with them.
5. Collect contacts: Have a systematic approach to gathering contact details. Design a lead collection form so you can collect the specific information you require from visitors.
6. Quantify outcomes: As with any marketing investment, you need to know if it delivered the right result. Measure the success of your objectives.
7. Follow-up leads: Post-show activity is critical for securing future business. Contact your visitors, reinforce your offers made at the stand and convert these leads into clients.

Go to http://www.eeaa.co.nz/ for more information.

Reducing Outlook Mailbox Size

If you are constantly getting messages from your helpdesk about your mailbox being over the corporate size limit, or if you are finding that Outlook on your PC is very slow, you may need to either delete some files completely or at least purge them from Outlook and into a file system folder.

So, to cut Outlook's size:

1. Open Outlook. Click on the "Search Folders" option in the folder sidebar. Select "Large Files".
2. If you don't see the summary "Size: Enormous (>5 MB)" or "Size: Huge (1 - 5 MB)", click on the header field "Size" to sort by size.
3. Now you can either:
   • Permanently delete large emails that you no longer need (Shift & Delete), or
   • Open a Windows Explorer window, Tile with your Outlook window (ie split-screen the windows - see Newsletter 157's tip if you don't know how to do that), then drag the large emails into an appropriate systems folder, then permanently delete the email (Shift & Delete).

Easy once you know how, isn't it.

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs for you:

• RAOK, Random Acts Of Kindness. A selfless act performed by a person wishing to help another being. There will generally be no reason other than to brighten someone's day. Can be either spontaneous or planned.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Alt and letters. This time it's S:

• Word "Split a document while working within it" Alt & Ctrl & S
• Excel, PowerPoint, Word "Send the active file as an e-mail message" Alt & S
• Outlook "Save, close and Send when in an email message, or go to Sent Mail" Alt & S

Hot Linx

If you have a friend who dotes on their pet cat or dog, flog a jpg of their fur-baby and send them a personalised moggy or doggy card from the website at http://www.talkingpets.org/

And those of you with a colour bent who are wanting to view the world through rose - or cerulean - coloured glasses should head off to http://labs.ideeinc.com/ and use the homepage tools to select images matched in ways you hadn't considered before.

For a bit of a light entertainment puzzle, have a crack at solving some of the abbreviations you will find at http://intelligence-test.net/part1/

To keep up-to-date with all the happenings at the latest Tech conference, CEATEC in Japan, check out Panasonic's "digital information mirror" at http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20081003/159082/?ST=english_PRINT

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read more "Newsletter Issue 156, October 2008"

Newsletter Issue 155, October 2008

Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 155, October 2008

Hi guys,

Find out just how many NZ insurance companies are real "Kiwi" Insurance Companies below.

How has your customer service experience been lately? Time for a change? Have a think about Real Hospitality then. 

Printer Set Up Tip   TLAs for SMEs        Tips, Short & Hot Keys        Hot Linx

Don't forget, if you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

"Kiwi" Insurance Companies

So just who's who amongst our New Zealand general - ie, not health - insurance companies? And where do their loyalties lie? Unless we had done a lot of digging, most of us would have no idea when we went in the front doors of an insurer, or if we dealt with a broker, just who we were actually paying our money to.

But thanks to Consumer New Zealand, who published a very useful list in their September 2008 magazine, I have expanded on their very useful information to show you some of the tortured web of who owns whom. Most policies in New Zealand are underwritten by the following:

1. Australia. Insurance Australia Group (IAG) trades under the State and NZI general insurance brands in New Zealand and underwrites car policies for ASB Bank, BNZ, HSBC, NAC and PSIS. Brands owned include NRMA Insurance, SGIO, SGIC, CGU Insurance, Swann Insurance, State, NZI, Hastings Direct, Equity Insurance Group, Open+Direct Insurance, Safety Insurance, China Automobile Association, People's Choice, Diamond, Advantage, Equity & AmAssurance. Interests throughout Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, China, Thailand & Malaysia
2. Australia. Vero is a subsidiary of the Suncorp Metway Group (a merger between Australian Government Insurance Office interests and Metway Bank, so Ozzie's 6th largest bank & 2nd largest insurer). Suncorp Metway trading as the "Promina Group" owns AAMI, APIA (Australian Pensioners Insurance Agency), Just Car Insurance, Shannons, InsureMyRide, Vero, Asteron and Tyndall insurance brands in Australia, and Vero, Asteron, Guardian Trust, Tyndall, Vero Marine, Vero Liability, AA Insurance, SIS, AXIOM, Mariner, Comprehensive Travel Insurance and Autosure brands in New Zealand. Vero puts out policies under its own name through brokers, and owns AMP general insurance. AA Insurance is a joint venture between Suncorp Metway and the New Zealand Automobile Association. SIS is underwritten by AA Insurance Ltd.
3. UK. Tower puts out its own policies, & is wholly owned by RSA (Royal Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc) from the UK, operating in 130 countries, with direct operations in 27 countries. It also owns FinTel and underwrites the policies for ANZ, Kiwibank, TSB Bank and The National Bank. Brands owned include Codan, Trygg Hansa, MORE TH>N, Balfour Beatty plc, Stanley Leisure plc, Travis Perkins plc, Royal & SunAlliance Life & Pensions, Royal & SunAlliance Linked Insurances, Phoenix Assurance, Tower, FinTel, InTouch, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited, DIRECT Pojistovna, National Pacific Insurance Limited, etc etc.
4. Scotland. the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) owns Direct Line, Churchill, Privilege, NIG as well as insurance sold branded as Tesco Insurance, Natwest, Virgin Money, MBNA, BMW Insurance, MINI Insurance, Mint, Egg, Nationwide, Age Concern, Vauxhall Insurance and several others.
5. Australia. Westpac's policy is underwritten by Lumley General (owned by the Perth-based Westfarmers Group - who owns a huge chunk of Australian retail including Coles Meyers, Bunnings etc).
6. USA. A good source tells me that AIG (American International Group Inc) apparently does some retail business in New Zealand, but I have been only able to find AIA life insurance and the Good2Go travel insurance brands. AIG appear to form only a very minor percentage of our general insurance market. In the US, Europe, Asia and Africa they are into property, insurance, marine, health, life and retirement funds.
7. New Zealand. AMI is a New Zealand company effectively owned by its policyholders.

I was surprised how much of our insurance market was controlled in Australia - I had expected far more investment from Europe. I was also surprised that there appear to be only tiny interests based in the US operating here in the general insurance market.

It is also very interesting to know that there is only ONE independent insurance company in New Zealand. Like Southern Cross in the Health Insurance sector, like Origin Pacific used to be in the airline sector, they are only indie group we have. We should support AMI, before we are at the mercy of global giants with no reason to work for the locals.

Real Hospitality

Kenn Butler puts out a newsletter on topics that inspire him, and others, each week. Kenn has kindly agreed to allow me to reprint part of a recent article on customer service and hospitality, which I thought you would all find as useful as I did.

Brian Meredith (CE of The Marketing Bureau, www.themarketingbureau.co.nz) wrote of an experience of a business that was then, and is now, one of the most impressive examples of total customer experience management. Both he & his wife booked a stay at Grassmere Lodge, a high country lodge in South Canterbury. They had not been there before & the initial experience on the telephone was excellent.

Having confirmed the reservation, the person with whom they were dealing enquired as to how they would be arriving. They told the lady that they had not decided. She then recommended that they fly to Christchurch & catch the Trans Alpine Express. She advised them to make a reservation as the train was always busy, so they enquired as to which station they should book to? “Oh there is no station,” she replied. “Just say you wish to be dropped off at Mount Whitebridge. There is a little white bridge by the side of the track & we will collect you from there.”

Now this was a London boy who was used to getting on trains at Euston & getting of at Birmingham. Asking a reservations clerk if they could be dropped off at a little white bridge – you can imagine the trepidation in making the call.

“NZ Rail Reservations – how can I help you?”

“Ah yes, I would like to make reservations for two passengers on the Trans Alpine Express from Christchurch"

“Certainly & how far will you be going?”

“Ah, well, that’s the point. Apparently there is a little white bridge...”

“Yes that is right - Is this Mr. Meredith?”

Blown away. Totally. Utterly. In the time it had taken him to grab a coffee after speaking with Grassmere Lodge, the Lodge had called NZ Rail & briefed them to expect his call. That set the tone for the rest of the Merediths' total guest experience, and what an experience it was.

The Trans Alpine Express, full with several hundred mostly American visitors, shuddered to a halt in the midst of the magnificent high country, the only landmark in the breathtaking landscape being that little white bridge alongside the track. A Landrover parked on the bridge had a picture of Southern Man standing alongside, waiting.

The Merediths’ were the only two passengers to disembark, with much assistance from Southern Man & the train’s staff. Bags were unloaded from the train, & loaded onto the Landrover. As they were warmly welcomed by Southern Man, the trains’ occupants watched in wonder. No doubt they wondered at the scenery, at the perfect weather, and wondered just who these two people were for whom the trained stopped to order.

Through this meticulous design & management of the whole hosting experience, Grassmere Lodge continues to operate at the leading edge of overall guest satisfaction. Every detail of the Meredith’s stay was flawless & memorable.

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How Grassmere Lodge operates says a lot about how their organisation thinks, their corporate values, what they think of their customers, and how important each customer is for them.

Imagine if your customers could say that of the experience with your organisation; that their experience with you was flawless and memorable. I think it takes two paradigm shifts to get that kind of accolade. The first shift is to truly putting the customer first, like Nordstrom's Inverted Pyramid (below, represents Norstrom’s philosophy and structure, placing customers at the top. Next are those who directly serve customers, running on down to the CEO at the bottom). 

The second is to have the consistent foresight and be looking for ways to continually smooth the customer's path.

How many of us will honestly take the time to start to do either of those things? Two key reasons why "customer service" usually isn't.

At your next team meeting, stress the importance of working with your customers. Give your team more ability to respond positively in difficult customer situations. Remind your team that they may not know who people are or who they know, so treat every customer as valuable and take the long term view.

Don't be one of the lip-service customer service deliverers. Start building some habits around putting the customer first and smoothing their path. Before you know it, you too will be at the leading edge.

Printer Set Up Tip

Woody's Office Watch this month published a great tip on setting up a 'new' printer, specifically to print black & white, saving you time and money. You create multiple profiles of the same printer in Windows with different settings for each one. The process to do that is:

1. Click on Windows Start button & select Settings | Printers and Faxes
2. Change the name of your default printer from eg "HP 8600 series" to something that tells you this is your colour printer profile - eg "Colour Printer"
3. To make your 'new' B&W printer:
   • Click on Add a printer and go through the wizard the same as you did to install it the first time choosing the same settings and drivers as for the original printer
   • When asked if you want to use your existing drivers, choose 'Keep existing driver'
   • Name the 'new' printer, giving it an appropriate name for its intended use, eg "B&W Printer"
   • Tick the 'Do you want this to be your default Printer' "Yes" button if you want to make B&W printing your default option.
4. Your still need to change the "B&W Printer" settings to match its name:
   • Right-click on "B&W Printer" and select 'Printing Preferences'
   • On the colour management tab, tick "Print in greyscale" (saving colour toner)
   • On the quality tab, consider changing print quality to eg 'fast normal' (saving toner & time)

 Pretty easy, isn't it. To see the original, go to http://news.office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=682

TLAs for SMEs

Here are this newsletter's TLAs for you:

• NAS, Network-Attached Storage. Hard disk storage set up with its own network IP address rather than being attached to the department computer, delivering applications to users. Removing the applications frees up department servers for faster file delivery to users, as the both applications and storage are no longer competing for the same processor resources.

Please feel free to email me with any TLAs that you want to get the bottom (meaning!) of.

Tips, Short+Hot Keys

Over the next few newsletters, we are going to look at all you can do with Alt and letters. This time it's R:

• Word "Insert the registered trademark symbol while working" Alt & Ctrl & R
• Windows "Restore the active window" Alt & Spacebar & R
• Excel "To restore the window to its previous size and location" Alt & Spacebar, Then R
• Word "Copy the header or footer used in the previous section of a document" Alt & Shift & R
• Excel "Move a selected field into the Row area while working within the Pivot Table Wizard" Alt & R

Hot Linx

To find out how New Zealand rates internationally for economic freedom, go no further than the Index of Economic Freedoms website at  http://www.heritage.org/research/features/index/country.cfm?id=NewZealand (and we are 6th worldwide, by the way)

Find out how much money you waste by taking accounting software company Quicken's "Spare Change Challenge" 42 question quiz at http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-tips/quiz-spare-change-challenge-money-management.jsp

If you would like to find out where people of a certain name are distributed in the world, go to http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/Default.aspx and key in the firstname or surname you would like to search. Very entertaining.

Mt Vesuvius cut short the life of Herculaneum and Pompeii, but the Museo Archiologico Virtuale (MAV) is not only a wonderful interactive museum, but also a great website at http://www.capware.it/. Click on any of the places under "Computer Grafica" and enjoy the view

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                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here

read more "Newsletter Issue 155, October 2008"