Author Archives: Mathew Dickerson
Don’t pigeonhole
I was listening to a talk from a Greens Senator recently. She made some good points. She said that we have been too quick to forget about our rail network and we should further investigate the use of rail instead … Continue reading
Opportunity is sometimes staring you in the face
Opportunity. Sometimes it only knocks once. You have to be ready to open the door when it does. I spoke with a friend of mine recently who works in the banking industry. He visited a branch and they had a … Continue reading
Price to the market
I went to my local butcher last week to buy two of his famous ‘family pies’. These are just like a good old-fashioned Aussie meat pie – but big enough to feed a small family. We have a medium-sized family … Continue reading
Learning from Masterchef
I was a little desperate for entertainment tonight. I wouldn’t normally admit it but it is all for a good cause. I watched MasterChef with the family. Normally reality shows are about as enjoyable as fingernails on a chalkboard – … Continue reading
Go the extra step – use their name
In my last article I wrote about an example of terrible customer service. I hate to focus too much on the negative so I want to give you an example of exemplary customer service. I was in China recently and … Continue reading
The real world is different to a textbook
I almost feel silly writing an article about customer service. It seems obvious to me that every business is aware of how important it is to deliver exceptional customer service. Every business textbook and every piece of business advice mentions … Continue reading
Be careful what message you send
I walked into a café recently. There was a lovely desktop published sign stuck on a potted plant that said, “YES, I am real, so don’t break my leaves, because it hurts. THANK YOU.” The appropriate words were printed in … Continue reading
Under-promise and over-deliver
For regular readers of my column, you may have heard me use the term “under-promise and over-deliver” in an offhand way from time to time. For me, the logic seems incredibly obvious and I just assume that everyone understands and … Continue reading
Technicians have a choice: Deliver what users want or be happy in the unemployment queue.
Most IT technicians don’t worry too much about unemployment figures or the risk of being unemployed. There are logical reasons for that – the latest figures from the US show 4.068 million people are employed in information technology and the … Continue reading
Remember swings and roundabouts for client satisfaction
Long gone are the days when an IT organisation simply quoted an hourly rate, performed the work and then sent a bill reflecting the number of hours multiplied by the hourly rate. My absolute recommendation to any IT firm I … Continue reading
