Local Cause: Empty Bowls 2011 on 12/7/11

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

Next Tuesday, we at ARMA are proud to be a sponsor of Empty Bowls 2011, an important event hosted by Interfaith Works, and would like to encourage our colleagues and friends to do the same.

Interfaith Works is an innovative local non-sectarian interfaith coalition that does invaluable work to meet the needs of the poor and homeless here in Montgomery County.  At their First Annual Empty Bowls on December 7 from 6:30 – 8:30 PM at VisArts in Rockville Town Center, we’ll share a simple meal of hearty soup and bread prepared and donated by local chefs served in a handmade bowl donated by local artists and students.

If you’re not able to join us at the event, please consider a one-time donation to support the essential services that Interfaith Works provides to those living in poverty within our community:

• $25 – Buys breakfast for a client at IW’s homeless day program for 1 week
• $50 – Buys lunch for a client at IW’s homeless day program for 1 week
• $100 – Buys dinner for 30 women at IW’s women’s shelter
• $250 – Provides grocery store gift cards to 10 struggling families to purchase food for the holidays

Tags: empty bowls 2011, interfaith works, montgomery county
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#Smallbiz Branding

Tuesday, November 29th, 2011

We imagine that everyone is still tuckered out from the marathon of exciting days in the last week, from Thanksgiving on Thursday, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and then Cyber Monday to finish them off. 

Today, some meditations on branding:

ARMA loves Lisa Barone.  Her writing is full of intelligence and personality, and is occasionally unexpectedly hilarious.  The more we read her, the more we think half of what she says should be printed on a T-shirt and the other half printed in a small business bible.  A lot of what Lisa writes about has to do with brand curation, and a recent post from her at Small Business Trends gives a good primer on thinking about small business branding if you haven’t thought much about it before.  She poses questions about your audience and your competition that better help you explore your business’ identity. 

Josh Cole at TippingpointLabs wrote a good companion piece to Lisa’s guide that thinks critically about your audience, including hidden portions of it.  He also utilizes a similar, worksheet-style set of questions that can help you explore how you perceive your audience.  (Follow the co-founder of TippingpointLabs here.)

If you have any branding gurus of your own that you’d like to spread the word about, please feel free to sound off in the comments.

Tags: brand, branding, josh cole, lisa barone, tippingpointlabs
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#GovCon DC Metro Invitation — 12/8 Reception — Register Now

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Exciting news for those in the DC area on December 8th.  Please view the flyer below for the ARMA-sponsored 2011 UNCF Special Programs Corporation Networking Reception.  Click the image for registration details.

Tags: The UNCF Special Programs Corporation Networking Reception
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Government Contracting Roundup #GovCon

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

 

OPEN Forum staff just posted a string of articles that are great jumping points for getting involved in the world of government contracting, with additional information relevant for women-owned businesses and folks interested in going after stimulus dollars.  These posts dovetail well with the advice Anita Campbell gave on the same site in a profile about overcoming fears and taking the steps to get into the sector.

Over at the DCAA Audit Support Center, they’ve highlighted an article about the practice of requiring contractors to account for free hours allocated to the contract.  Their conference in December seems worth attending if you’re in the Denver area and could use an intensive review of compliance best practices. 

And at GovWin, Sean Tucker surveys the Federal IT landscape for 2012.  They highlight three areas likely to see growth in 2012:  health IT, energy research & development and cybersecurity.  Read the full article for the full predictions.

Tags: government contracting
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Customer Service #Infographic

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

Phone-based customer service is constantly changing, particularly in the shift towards internet-based services, butis still utilized by numerous small businesses.  Check out this infographic borrowed from the aptly named Infographic List with some customer service facts and figures, with particular relevance to folks who run phone lines. 

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Unexpected Customer Service Tricks

Friday, November 11th, 2011

A few unusual or off-the-wall customer service tricks and tips caught our eye at ARMA recently:

Scott Ginsberg wrote a post with four tips concerning customer engagement that could probably all be put in this post.  One suggested he makes in particular is to “lower the threat level.”  Its definitely a bit of pop psychology, but we think there’s something propping it up.  Ginsberg thinks, “People have been sold, scammed, conned, manipulated and used too long—and they’re tired of it,” and he’s probably right.  So look at your processes, look at your workflows.  If there’s a juncture where you can decrease the possibility of confrontation and make it easier for your customer, do it.  Check the link for an example of how.

Mila D’Antonia at the 1to1 Blog emphasized the importance of acknowledging consumer power.  The tip here is somewhat implicit, but spelled out its pretty simple:  Pay attention to sea change.  Netflix is the easiest example of a recent giant that fell to the empowered consumer bloc.  Don’t let yourself make the same mistakes.

From the Consumerist, what we have is more of an anti-tip.  They recently reported on a story where an airline passenger’s laptop was “lost” somewhere between checking in and arrival at her destination.  “[The airline representative] immediately told me [the airline] was not responsible for checked computers and she wanted to know why I had checked my computer, which was a real clincher.”  Without discussing the wisdom in checking something so valuable, its pretty clear that this is customer disservice.  Let’s talk about what the passenger did.  She used Craigslist to locate her laptop and in conjunction with police, they discovered that the folks who had stolen the laptop had another 10-15 more that were later identified  to be stolen from the same airline.  This was obviously not one person’s mistake, which means that the airline needed to step it up. 

How would you have dealt with the lost laptop, either before or after the discovery of the other stolen computers?

Tags: Consumerist, mila d'antonia, scott ginsburg, southwest
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Video: Tina Valdez on Customer Service & Technology

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

We enjoyed this video interview with Tina Valdez about utilizing technology to  increase customer service by the 1to1 Media Team:

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Borrowing Wisdom from Julie Rains #customerservice

Friday, November 4th, 2011

Over at OPEN Forum, ARMA loved a recent article where Julie Rains skillfully dissected a recent high profile customer service gaffe that just got worse and worse that more you read about it.  She picks apart the scenario and highlights why those mistakes can be critical missteps for any company.  Well worth the read. 

To flip her missteps into must-have customer service techniques, always remember to:

1. Respond carefully to customer inquiries. 
2. Address customer service mistakes immediately, never try to justify them.
3. Slow down after a mistake and do your best to finish everything right, so the mistakes don’t pile up.
4. Acknowledge the value of your first impressions, but be nimble and ready to adjust them if they prove incorrect.

 

She finishes with some pointers on avoiding “unrecoverable mistakes.”  Head on over and check them out.

Tags: customer service gaffes, julie rains
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11/2/11 Government Contracting News #GovCon

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011

A few interesting things regarding government contracting caught our eye at ARMA this week:

Small Business Federal Government Contracting wrote a snappy list of golden rules in government contracting.  Some of them are ones we’ve heard in other forms before but can always bear repeating — like #1:  “Do not promise what you cannot deliver.”  My favorites are those that  ask us to rethink our approach like #8:  “Be dedicated to working yourself out of a job with a specific customer and having your client take over by training him. He will remember you and recommend you to 10 others.”  Check the link for the rest.

The House of Representatives Committee on Small Business released documents on a hearing they held on government contracting fraud (particularly in the context of the situation that happened with the Army Corps of Engineers recently) at the end of October that can be found here.  The documents are worth perusing if you’d like to get an idea of some of the conversations happening in this arena.

Also, an announcement made by the The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) indicated that they’d be partnering with Bidsync, a national leader in government bid notifications.  Contracts are only opportunities for small businesses that actually hear about them, so ARMA is always interested in the tools that spread the word and put those opportunities in arms’ reach.

Anyone else have government contracting news they want to share?

Tags: govcon, government contracting
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