What a great time to be living

How many times in your life have you thought, wow, incremental change in technology is so incredible, never again in our lifetime will we be part of such radical change? One could have said this virtually every decade since the mid 1980's.

Well, the cycle of change and the speed of adoption is so incredible, we have seen so much innovation, web1.0, web 2.0, and now next generation. Even before this, we had the rapid adaptation of computing and the PC at work and home. Then we began with basic mobile phones, and then early generation smart phones, and now virtual computer smartphones for everything you need. The PC is come and though it's not gone, it's been sup,emended with so many diverse devices.

It was not that long ago that Word Perfect (at one time bought buy Novall another name from the past) and Lotus 123 began the early  PC revolution, only to be replaced by Microsoft Office. And pardon me if I'm not quite sequential in my historical alignment, next came AOL and dial up, and even Netscape. Wow, I remember when I would travel east I would arrive so late at the hotel and leave my computer on all night downloading files. It would take hours but it was novel. Change  is so rapid, I no longer rely on Microsoft Office or other Microsoft products. By the way my sons do, they love their Xbox 360.

In 1999 myself and partners formed a CRM company called eAssist. Our vision was a term called "ASP". Our target market was eCommerce companies. We had a hell of time, with some success convincing companies to store their data in co-location of site.  Today, it's called the cloud, and it's pervasive, it’s in the enterprise, and it's with your personal data. just when you think you have seen it all, the pace picks up like never before. Moore's law of computing is really true more broadly with the speed and evolution of technology, rather than the inverse relationship between power and cost Gordon Moore was referring to.

Oh yes back to the cloud. Having worked so hard to convince businesses to manage their data remotely, it is truly amazing how that barrier has been broken down so quickly and dare I say easily. I actually pay extra for the ability to store data and emails in the cloud. And I trust it's okay to leave important personal data remotely. So do most of you!

But more than the cloud, I love disruptive innovation. Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and my favorite because it's a great business tool, LinkedIn. Social media may be working thru various revenue models, but valuations are justified when you have 100's of millions of people using it. I mean the fact is social media is everywhere, it is responsible for so much change including even government (Arab spring) and elections (President Obama's election).

What I find so amazing is how willing people are to share their life moment by moment and even more so, how much people care. But this disruptive innovation is so rapid because it's practical.  I enjoy going to sporting events, and I no longer call Ticketmaster or the venue hosting the event, I go to Stub Hub. Ditto, when I purchase an airline ticket, I check one of the various aggregation sites. And finally, although I still receive a newspaper to the house(I'm I'm not sure why), I get my news from my iPad. Even the way news is delivered is incredible. I love sites such as Zite, Pulse or Flipbook. Oh yes the iPad . I remember all the booms I had to carry around in business school. What an I pace the iPad is going to make in the school.

Have you noticed we no longer have Polaroid or Kodak cameras? That is not because we stopping taking pictures. In fact, to fulfill my social media obligations I'm taking more pictures than ever. And I'm not consciously carrying a camera, but I'm sharing with all my friends!

Being an early adapter of a Bluetooth earpiece, I was once was asked if I was in the secret service. It looked kind of James Bond like.  Can you imagine a decade ago someone walking and talking with no one beside them? You might thing they are pretty strange. Companies that do not adapt will not survive. Individuals that do not embrace change will not succeed. But on the positive, how many of us a decade ago had heard of Google, Facebook, Twitter and Groupon to name a few companies? Going from 0 to a few or a 100 billion in a decade is possible. It's the wild west, and everything is possible. All one needs to do is think big and have a little luck. What a great time to be alive!

Make the Most Of Your Customer Relationship

Maybe its my desire to apply my undergraduate economics degree, but when I heard this morning estimates that true improvement in employment according to USA estimates is still at least 3 years away (a number below 6 %), I got to thinking about Canada as well. For my fellow Americans that do not know Canada, while the USA has suffered thru probably one of the worse economic downturns since the depression of the early 1930's, Canada's economy has surged like know other of the economically developed countries. Housing prices are "irrationally exuberant", employment is pretty good, the Canadian stock market has outperformed (gold and mineral based), and the Canadian dollar, as measured against the greenback is above par versus the $ USA! The Canadian dollar value is really hard to believe. And I'm not sure if it is good for Canada or bad, especially since Canada does the majority of its trade with the USA.

When we started SP Data 7 years ago, it was about 3/4's of a $ USA, and before  that it was even as low as $ 0.62 of a Canadian dollar. Oil, gold and potash aside aside, Canada is over heated. I do not mean to be a pessimist as I'm very proud of my Canadian roots, but my gut tells me that things are not as good as they appear. I forecast a downturn for Canada, and an upturn from the worst for the USA. The worse may be over, though new dynamics with similar despair are going to persist. I see huge debt leverage, radio adds pushing refinancing, personal credit improvement, all the same products that hit the USA market. The only difference is Canadian consumers used to be different.

Nonetheless, across the board, we are seeing call volume forecasts, whether sales, tech support  or service miss forecasts to the downside. Oh sure, several clients have closed call centers or other operations, but that is more systematic due to their market position. For example, just take a look at the USA mobile market, where the big 2 have continue to increase their market share. Having said that, aside from customer defection due to inferior service or offering, lies another trend. Volumes are lower across the board, and companies are fighting hard, not just to grow, but to remain whole. One must look closely sometimes inside the numbers to see the whole story. Al large media Company yesterday reported a gain in profit, but that gain came form broadcast and other digital properties. The original "core" cable business, actually lost customers.

My point is the drop in customer volume is not because customers are using social media or other channels. At SP Data we are constantly evolving our service offering, and the social media channel is bursting with opportunity and excitement. The reality is that volume is driving down because customers lack confidence in the future. So do our clients need to accept a decline in business volume? Do they just continue to trim fat when little fat exists to trim? Our answer is that they begin to think of like minded partners and work together. The partners that offer the best benefit to the consumer, the best value will win.

I wake up every day so grateful and lucky that i can work and make a difference. With all the bad things one reads each day, take a look at the best companies in each industry you follow and ask yourself, what are they doing right.? Like the consumer, the gap between those that succeed and those that do not is getting greater and greater. Unlike the consumer, a business (aside from an essential employer such as General Motors), will not receive government help and thus, needs to put together a best in breed strategy for success. Business today is action packed, and moving faster and faster.

customer service, full integration @ Apple

What makes Apple so special? Certainly it's the product. The iPhone like all their products is so highly integrated with great technology, music integration, tons of apps and SIRI. It is clearly an example of disruptive innovation. In fact for a while, it was a almost single handedly responsible for growth at AT&T. Could iPhone ever fail? Well for one the carriers would not mind. Why? The carriers are tired of subsidizing $400 or so for every phone that gets sold. I hear they are pushing Windows 8 mobile devices like Nokia. So will the Apple dominance last forever? Who would have thought that Blackberry, a couple of years ago, something every investment banker and government official had in their pocket would be obliterated. So is it possible Apple has peaked?

Apple throws of so much cash its crazy. Right now they are sitting on $110 billion. You can do a lot with that money, including buying some pretty big companies. Apple does not spend as much as you think on research and development. But boy do they create great products.

So does it end? What Apple has done, the retail stores, the customer experience, customer service is incredible. I actually believe products features on a Samsung running Android is just about equal to what an iPhone is today. They both have similar apps, some better on one format than others. But there is nothing like an Apple experience. With the others going to a BEST Buy or some other third party distributor is like going to a general marketplace. Its just not the same as Apple. And there is nothing like Apple integration, not just the power cords, the applications, but with the entire buying experience. Microsoft wanted to be an arms dealer, and in the end, Apple built their own empire and raced right by them. I personally have more questions about Microsoft and their future than Apple. Its easy to receive support in Apple. This run will not last forever, but its the greatest success story I will ever live to see.