Customer Service Ain't What it Used to be - 03/27/07 07:03 AM
Do businesses prioritize customer service anymore? How many times have you gone to a fast-food restaurant and had to wait for the server to finish his/her conversation with a co-worker before they'd ask for your order? Or how about returning an unwanted item to the customer service center of your local retail store? Do they act as if they are doing you a favor by simply waiting on you? I'm fed up with our culture's lack of customer service!
I know, what can I expect from a teenager who's making minimum wage at the burger joint? Well, I expect fast, friendly, … (11 comments)

Are You Missing Important Emails From Clients? - 03/20/07 11:04 PM
I've found that sometimes, after corresponding a few times with a new client, my emails erroneously end up in their  Spam folder. Often they don't even know I've responded to their emails unless I can reach them some other way.  How many important emails are you missing?
If you're having this problem too, I may have a solution for you. I did some research for a client that was not getting my emails and found this information.
If you're using Microsoft Outlook 2003 here are the instructions for adding someone to your "safe" or "white list". If you're using a different version of Outlook … (6 comments)

Information Overload: Is it helping us or hurting us? - 03/19/07 09:45 AM
With the proliferation of available information, it's almost as if we know about something before it even happens. Ok, that's an exaggeration but the speed at which we receive the latest news, it's not that far off the mark.
Seriously though, consider the information and communication technology we have available to us every minute of every day: telephones (landlines, cell phones, VOIP, pagers, voice mail), email, faxes, video conferencing, Internet (instant messaging, chat rooms, discussion groups, RSS feeds, newsletters), radio (local, national, international, satellite), television (local, national, TIVO, On-Demand, DVD), newspapers, magazines, etc. and I'm sure there's more that I forgot to … (10 comments)

The Ultimate Portability Tool: Accessing your computer remotely - 03/15/07 03:02 PM
"Out in the woods or in the city, it's all the same to me, when I'm driving free." When The Who wrote "Goin' Mobile," I doubt they had any idea how easy it could be to work while away from home unless you were a traveling salesman or rock band. Well, guess what? It's no longer a vision of the future. Many of you, no doubt, already use your Blackberry, Treo, etc. to access the Internet while working away from the office. But how would you like to be able to access any file on your computer as if you were sitting … (28 comments)

The Trials and Tribulations of Computer Security - 03/13/07 01:02 AM
Computer security, and antivirus software in particular, is driving me nuts! This summer my laptop had been slowing to a crawl, then it actually froze to a complete halt. Finally, I couldn't even boot it up at all.
I rely solely on my laptop when I'm in Northern Virginia visiting my husband. We'd done this several times over the summer and it'd been a frustrating experience trying to work on a computer that works V-E-R-Y slowly, if at all.
During one of its "working, but slowly" episodes I got the dreaded "Blue Screen of Death" (or BSOD) a couple of times. I proceeded … (3 comments)

Sometimes Marketing Doesn't Have to be Expensive, Just Creative - 03/07/07 12:20 PM
Marketing is essential to a successful business. In fact, without it a business cannot survive. It doesn't have to be elaborate or costly; it just has to reach the appropriate market. Your target market is anyone that could use your services. By marketing specifically to those most likely to use your services, you can direct your message to reach them most effectively.
As I said, marketing doesn't have to be expensive. In fact, you could take out a $15,000 ad in The Wall Street Journal and not be as effective as a well-targeted networking event that costs little or nothing. Some of … (6 comments)

A Career Military Spouses Can Take With Them: Even when stationed remotely - 03/01/07 07:30 AM
For the first 10 years of my life as a military spouse, I was not employed outside the home. I felt it was crucial to my children's well-being to stay at home with them. I did not return to the workforce until the youngest of my three children started school. When I reentered the workforce - armed with a Bachelor's degree from an accredited university and past work experience - I was only offered entry-level administrative positions. That was all well and good - I was willing to pay my dues and work my way up - but no matter how … (15 comments)

 
Evy4

Evy Williams

Mercari Consulting

Fredericksburg, VA

More about me…

Mercari Consulting (formerly Brochures by Design)

Office Phone: (703) 403-5021

Email Me



Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog