You are Granted One Wish

If could fix one problem that repeatedly occurs in your operation, what would it be?

Maybe, how to load the paper right in the folding machine? Or, how to get the CSRs to fill out job tickets correctly?

Every operation has areas it can improve upon. Consistent quality and productivity improvement, or Kaizen, is what separates profit leaders from profit challengers. Think Toyota versus Ford or GM.

So if you could fix just one problem, what would it be? Take a moment and build your “wish list.”

What if I told you I could grant one of your wishes? You’d probably say, OK, what’s the catch – what’s it going to cost me?

I’d tell you NOTHING… that’s right… FREE.

Now being a sensible and sane person, you would probably doubt me. So I challenge you. See for yourself:

http://www.braincable.com/freeprocess.php

Be sure and leave a comment and let me know what’s on your wish list.

Pandora: radio from the Music Genome Project

I'm sure that many of you have heard of the Human Genome Project, which is incredibly fascinating to a lot of people. However, what if we could do a 'genome project' for other things? Well, strides have been made to do just that...for music! What a wide, varied and infinitely un-pin-down-able (if you'll allow me to make up a word) subject!

Excerpt from Music Genome Project @ Wikipedia.com:

The Music Genome Project, created in January 2000, is an effort founded by Will Glaser, Jon Kraft, and Tim Westergren to "capture the essence of music at the fundamental level" using over 400 attributes to describe songs and a complex mathematical algorithm to organize them.

Speaking as someone who's used Pandora for the last half-year or so, I can tell you that it is amazing. It's a free service, first of all--which, as fantastic as it is, is a real treat! Secondly, it's customizable. Thirdly, it's user-friendly and has a comprehensive FAQ, in case of confusion.

First, you create what's called a 'station,' which is based on a single artist or song and, based on that artist or song, the station will play songs with similar genome markers. The customization begins almost immediately with a tab helpfully labeled "Guide Us." If you click on it, you're given a choice of five options to use:

I really like this song - play more like it! (Thumbs-up)

I don't like this song - it's not what this station should play. (Thumbs-down)

I'm tired of this song - don't play it for a month. (Zzz)

Why is this song playing? (?)

I want to add more kinds of music to this station. (+)

Most of the options, of course, are fairly self-explanatory. The first two choices can be done without the aid of the 'Guide Us' tab by hovering over the song's tab in your 'radio.' A thumbs-up image and a thumbs-down image give you the option of marking a song as favorable or unfavorable and, in the middle of those is an up-arrow of sorts which, when clicked upon, give you even more options!

I won't go into too much more detail, as playing around with it is part of the fun. But, there are profile pages for artists which usually give you some measure of information about them and three artists with whom they share similar qualities. You can view abbreviated versions of these at the bottom of your 'radio' in the Pandora Extras section by clicking on 'Now Playing.'

Additionally, in Pandora Extras below your 'radio', you can choose to simply listen to pre-generated 'Genre Stations,' which include a bevvy of options. If you're not sure where to start with your own stations, this is a wonderful thing to use. Say you're a fan of Nirvana, but prefer to listen to a genre station. You could select 'Alternative' and, from the options for further customization, you would select 'Grunge / Seattle Sound.'

There is truly no limit to what types of music this wondrous radio will play for you. All that's required is that you tell it what you like and it'll do its best to play it for you. It's tailored specifically to your tastes and, even better, it'll skip songs you don't like--to an extent. If it sounds confusing, it's only because the system is so simplistic and does so much that it takes more words to describe. Seriously, give it a shot! You may find new music you like or you can settle down to listen to some favorites you may not have heard in a long time.

With the travesty of Clear Channel's strangle-hold on the majority of radio stations, these days, we need to fight for good music. Plus, Pandora's great to have on in the background while you're at work or at home. It's great for parties and almost any other situation you can think of, so don't hesitate to visit it and re-discover the world of music--tailored to your tastes.

I'm in Love with a Munki

We admit it, we're geeks for cool tips and tricks. Here are some we've been checking out recently.

Remember the days when you had several expensive pieces of difficult to use equipment just to keep your colors the same for your monitor, printer, and mind? Say goodbye to all that nonsense. PANTONE and X-Rite have finally provided all of us color geeks with a great little pocket tool that does everything from snag the color that inspired us, import it into a swatch, share it, view it, and even print it right. We want one for home, work, the car, and even the shower. You never know when a great color will find you.

ColorMunki
A Tip-of-the-Hat to PANTONE and X-Rite

Ya’ got Trouble, with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for “Prepress”

I just read an editorial entitled “Trouble in Prepress.”

Click to read article.

Bob Neubauer’s comments echoed the sentiments of so many of you I have talked with over the years. The underlying cause of almost every prepress problem was CUSTOMERS.

That’s right; the silent majority has finally gotten its say. In fact, it mirrors our survey findings from attendees at Graph Expo both in 2006 and 2007:

86% of graphics and prepress software users admitted spending up to an hour each day trying to figure out how to do or fix something in a file.

http://www.prepresstraining.com/pr/measureprod.html

So I just want to let you know that your training team here at PTS will be creating a bank of tips and tricks just for your customers. We want to make your life easier and your company more profitable.

Stayed tuned, as we return to your regularly scheduled program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_Oe-jtgdI

(I Has) Hum-Drum Day Battle Plan!

Everyone has a bad day from time to time...or moments when they're bored and just aren't sure what to do about it. For instance, the other day was pretty gloomy. Normally, I enjoy a bit of gloom, but with the cold, (semi-)torrential winds and the icy splooshes of rain that insisted on chilling me to the bone...even I can get a little down. So, I found myself seeking "comfort food" (if you'll pardon the pun) during my lunch break. Not to knock CuteOverload.com, which is definitely one of my favorite haunts...it just wasn't what I needed, at that moment. To make a long story short...if you need some entertainment, I suggest you dive into the wonderful world of ICanHasCheezburger.com--you won't regret it.

If you're unfamiliar with one of the newer social memes/pop culture trends, LOLspeak, the idea is to take pictures of animals (or otherwise) and, based on what they're doing in the image, create an amusing caption to go along with it. On top of that, there is a very thematic brand of 'chat speak' known as 'LOLspeak' that is used when captioning these images. It's very cute, pidgin English...as we might imagine animals' understanding of the language.

Not only does ICanHasCheezburger.com have tons of archived pages full of these LOLimages, it also has an interactive portion where you can create your own LOLimages with their provided system. To top it off, there are active commenters/forumers who chat and have a grand old time around this very subject, discussing certain images and jokes found therein.

It's a new type of community and, if you love animals and should you find yourself in need of a giggle, look no further than ICanHasCheezburger.com! ((Again, don't completely discredit CuteOverload.com. Though they may not have LOLspeak images, they do have so much cute there that you can't help but smile.))

That said, it bears mentioning that, thanks to 4chan and their very popular Caturday, LOLcats and all the various types of 'LOL'images you can imagine have exploded through the internet and into the social subconscious. Without a doubt, you've seen one, at some point, in some variation. Unless you live under a rock--which is a-ok by me, but I think you're missing out on some decidedly del.icio.us fun!

Easy as 1-2-3

The instructions said so. But we all know – they lie.

I was trying to hook up a wireless router to get my son’s Xbox online last night after dinner. We went through the step-by-step CD and of course on the last step the connection failed. Try again, same thing. Reconfigure the set-up, try again, lo and behold we have internet connection on the laptop. Granted it was a wired connection, but Google was still alive in the world of cyberspace. (It’s a scary feeling not being connected, even for a few minutes.)

Okay, now to make it work with the Xbox. Plug the wireless adapter in, scroll through the set-up screens. No connection, cannot find the router. Try repeatedly, still nothing. The Xbox instructions were totally useless, so I get on the phone to the router tech support – which actually went fairly well. (I know… the stars must have been shining on us.) Got him connected – Yeah!!!! He starts going through the various updates required and loses connection. Boo!!!!

As it is now approaching 11 PM, we shut the whole thing down and give up frustrated. In fact, he boxed it all back up with intentions on returning the whole lot today.

How often does technology do that to you? We try to muddle our way through it – fail – get frustrated – and shelve it. An owner once told me they had bought PitStop, couldn’t figure it out, and now it sits on a shelf gathering dust. A sad (and expensive) but true story.

That’s why we create the training we do. So you don’t have to muddle your way through it. So if your not one of our clients already, make sure you check out our free tips and tricks at http://www.prepresstraining.com/tips.html and make sure you opt into our newsletter to get even more great info.

To learn more about PitStop: http://www.enfocus.com/product.php?id=855

To learn more about PitStop training: http://www.prepresstraining.com/courses/pitstop7.html

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

The crew at Prepress Training Solution would like to wish you and yours a fantastic St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by the Irish and increasingly by non-Irish (usually in Australia, North America, Ireland) as well. Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the color green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green or orange, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink (such as Guinness) and attending parades.

Some Popular American Traditions

Corned beef and cabbage is the most common meal eaten in the United States for St. Patrick's Day.

Although the baseball season is still in the spring training phase when St. Patrick's Day rolls around, some teams celebrate by wearing St. Patrick's Day themed uniforms. The Cincinnati Reds were the first team to ever wear St. Patrick's Day hats in 1978. The Boston Red Sox were the second team to start wearing St. Patrick's Day hats in 1990. Many teams have since wearing St. Patrick's day themed jerseys, including the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1980s and Boston Red Sox in 2004. Since then it has become a tradition of many sports teams to also wear special uniforms to celebrate the holiday.

And of course our buddies at Google observe St. Patties Day.


So wear some green, avoid getting pinched, and head down to the local pub for a drink with your friends or family.

Customer Service: the Ultimate Pipe Dream

We’ve all been through it and suffered the rage-inducing frustrations that result from it: bad customer service. In a day and age that’s been so keen to ensure that the customer is happy, it seems as though there’s been a shift of paradigm, lately. These days, companies’ mottoes have mutated to some debased code of conduct that’s more along the lines of the following: do as little as you can to sate the crybaby customers.

In today’s business world, we consumers have a tough job of it. First, there’re the pains of trying to get what we want from companies and, discovering that be nearly impossible, finding a company that offers something that will suffice. Then, of course, there’s the considerable task of making sure that the companies on which we rely don’t slap us around.

Heaven forfend we have troubles that a company needs to rectify, because the everyday customer simply isn’t prepared for that kind of battle. One must gird their proverbial loin with BS-resistant armor; wield a heavy Shield of Factual Evidence in one hand and the No-Nonsense Machete of Customer Rights and Justice in the other. Show no fear on your face, nor a tremble in your voice, because the CSRs of today are like sharks in the water—if they smell blood, they’ll seize upon it and bowl you over with their “company’s policies.”

Firstly, as has been touched upon in a previous blog entry, there are the mystifying and treacherous jungles of companies’ phone-trees. Not only can’t you get to the correct person to speak to with any real ease, you’re often bounced around from department to department by inept or ill-trained employees, wasting valuable chunks of your time. Of course, once you’ve hacked your way through the purposefully difficult phone-tree o’ doom and reached the correct department, you’re still only a quarter of the way to victory.

As an experienced upholder of Customer Rights and Justice, a disturbing fact I’ve come to realize is that companies have redefined ‘customer service representative’ jobs to be something more like the first troops to the line of skirmish. Their job is to field inane customer questions, give them information on minor things and, depending on the company, take payments or other, lesser tasks with which the other tiers can’t be bothered. They can’t actually help you, in most cases, except to give you the time honored 'runaround.' To sweeten the pot, they're usually rude and condescending. Therefore, you must fend them off with your Shield of Factual Evidence, wave your No-Nonsense Machete of Customer Rights and Justice and demand to speak to their superior.

After waiting interminably on hold with the spirit-crushing, mind-numbing muzak, their superior comes on the line and, once again, you must go through the Dance of Initial Contact, during which you must state your case, show them your evidence and hunker down for a long, drawn out round of fighting for your rights, as a customer. I could go on for days about this subject, as it's one with which I'm exceedingly familiar. Being that I have been and am in customer service, I pride myself in the fact that I provide the best, most helpful assistance I can to anyone who calls—and the fact that I work for a company who doesn't hogtie me as a CSR. It's also the reason that the so-called "customer service representatives" and the strictures that companies of today enforce on them infuriate me to no end.

Unfortunately, there just aren't that many companies left that provide actual, true customer service and have a real desire to please their clientèle. It makes for bad business, but they only care about the quote-unquote "bottom line." As long as they don't take too big a hit in the money they rake in, they won't bat an eye. We, as consumers—the people to whom these 'bad business' companies are supposed to be appealing—should be standing up and demanding to be treated fairly more regularly. If we did, perhaps the ripple-effect would get the message through to the people who have the power to work with things on a level that actually effects change.

In the mean time, the best I can do, as an old-school customer service representative, is provide others with knowledge on how to deal with bad CSRs and ensure that I never perpetrate the transgressions that bad CSRs do on a daily basis. To my great relief, where I work, the CSRs are friendly, listen to your problems and are eager to assist in resolving those problems in every conceivable way possible. If only the other companies of the world would catch up!

Listed in no particular order, the links below provide access to tips for CSRs and examples of bad customer service. Unfortunately, I've yet to find anything that outlines aid for customers dealing with bad customer service. Everything I've been able to dig up has been written to appeal to people who are in management positions over CSRs or to CSRs, themselves. However, take the examples given and know that they're talking points you, as a consumer, may address with a CSR and/or their superior, should they happen to you.



Helpful Links:

• Customer Service Tips and Techniques
• The Ten Great Commandments of Customer Service
• 15 Customer Service No-Nos
• Customer Disservice
• Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service
• Bad Customer Service
  

Conversation with an Automated Attendant

Did you ever feel like you were talking to a tree – a phone tree?? Here’s the way it went for me this morning.

Attendant: Thank you for calling Bob’s Big Tents. This call may be recorded for quality assurance. You can say place order, check status, returns, or request catalogue. If none of these apply, say more options.
Me: More options
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say place order, check status, returns, or request catalogue. If none of these apply, say more options.
Me: M-o-r-e O-p-t-i-o-n-s (Maybe saying it slower would help.)
Attendant: Okay, here are some more options. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: Agent
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: AGENT (Maybe saying it louder would help.)
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: A-G-E-N-T (Maybe screaming it slowly would work.)
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. You can say product information, find a location, internet help, mailing list, or agent.
Me: HELP
Attendant: I’m sorry I didn’t get that. I will transfer your call for assistance.
Click….followed by dial tone.
Me: #$%?*@!!!

Now - I understand the need for businesses to streamline their customer service to better direct incoming calls, but at the cost of customer dissatisfaction?

In fact, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_attendant states:

Many auto-attendants are programmed very poorly by their owners, leading to what has frequently been called "voicemail hell" (though the name is a misnomer). Large companies often try to force callers through a seemingly endless series of questions and menus before anyone will actually answer the phone to give a simple answer. Some are even recursive leaving users stuck in an infinite loop. This is now a major source of frustration for many consumers, who have also felt a decline in customer service in general.

Go figure. One thing you can count on, if you call us here at Prepress Training Solution, you get to speak to a REAL PERSON without doing or saying anything. Oh yeah, and there’s no reason to scream.

Fireside Chats and Comments from the Peanut Gallery

I’ve been following a couple of interesting forum threads recently on real conversations with customers. Then I took a call from a nice gentleman who described the EXACT same scenario as one of the posts.

The dreaded assistant turned designer… tried to show her how to work with InDesign… about to pull your hair out over this woman… don’t want this to cost you a good customer.

I know you all have a “story” so leave me a comment and tell me yours.

Maybe these posts will inspire you and remind you of how great your “good” customers are.

http://www.b4print.com/forums/index.php?topic=1199.0
http://www.b4print.com/forums/index.php?topic=1184.0

MARCH MADNESS!

Our home office is based in Bloomington, Indiana. Home of Indiana University and onetime home to "The General," Bobby Knight.

Needless to say, the town's abuzz and we're all excited about the NCAA basketball tournament. Things are heating up around here.

Here's a few links to help keep you basketball fans up to date:

Empty Bracket:
http://images.sportsline.com/images/ncaasports/brackets/d1_mbk_bracket_2008.pdf

Current Standings:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings

Let's keep it clean and have some fun. Good luck to all your favorite teams.

PPTS doesn't endorse gambling, but we're not going to stop you anways...are we?

The Guesswork of Hiring

I wanted to share an email I got from a production manager…

“…I just spent all morning repairing some files from someone who left our employment 7 months ago. The person only lasted 3 months. Not only was she incapable, but she had a lousy work ethic. Yes, we are interested in some sort of pre-hire testing…”

I hear this sad but true story often. Candidates claim they are expert and experienced in the software, but needless to say, not all of them can “walk the walk.”

Here’s a solution one company found:
http://www.prepresstraining.com/pr/09_09_07_semper.html


WARNING: When hiring, make sure you are EEOC compliant. Here’s a great Fact Sheet: http://www.tgassociates.com/downloads/factsheets.htm

You Decide: Will there be prepress jobs?

There’s a lot of talk these days on the predicted shortage of skilled production workers. So I found it interested when a young man going to college for print production shared some real fears about working in our industry.

He asked, “Is there always going to be a market for Digital Prepress and Photoshop users?” After consulting my Magic 8 Ball it answered “As I see it, yes.”

Feeling confident, I shared my opinion. I think in the last few years the number of positions available has shrunk due to restructuring, more automated workflows, etc. That being said, I think there will always be positions open. I think the more highly skilled you are, particularly if you have cross over skills, the more you will be in demand.

So what do you think? Should he continue on his education path and career goal of working in prepress? What skills will your company be looking for in 2-5 years?

But before you answer, you might want to check out the Job Outlook section from the US Dept. of Labor: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos230.htm