Farewell Lindsay
24 March 2006
We've had the pleasure of working with Lindsay Hillman at Warwick Castle for a good while now, and it's been a lot of fun. Sad then, for us, that she is off to pasture's new at the end of today.But here's the weird thing. In all the time we've worked with Lindsay, despite all the laughs we've had... we've never actually met her. How is it that some people's personality can shine through emails and phone calls, while others seem faceless, lifeless even. Which are you?
Farewell neighbourino, and enjoy the sunshine :-)
Posted by Nick Warren at 4:45 PM
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Sign of the times
This morning I was thanked for being 'honest'.I'd just filled up with fuel and the cashier asked me for £40-something. But I knew she had the wrong pump, my bill should be £50-something, and I told her so.
As it turned out I wasn't so much being honest as illustrating why I shouldn't be allowed out on my own... I'd been reading the litres delivered read-out rather than the cost. Still it made the cashier smile, and she thanked me for being honest.
In one sense honesty is a lot like friendliness. Even if it wasn't the right thing to do it would still be the obvious and sensible thing to do. Why risk a reputation for a few quid, or a few million for that matter? We are our reputation, and so are you.
Posted by Nick Warren at 4:13 PM
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Chessington.com 2006 is live!
17 March 2006
The 2006 Chessington site is now live at www.chessington.com. I have to say we are really delighted with this year's site... look forward to hearing what you think.
Posted by Nick Warren at 11:29 AM
2 comments
Why 'redundant communication' isn't redundant.
I spend a fair amount of my time at Semantic involved in what communication modellers call 'redundant communication'. That is to say communication that doesn't actually include any actual data. Here are some examples:Hello
Good morning
Thank-you
Although the technical term may be 'redundant' any sane person would recognise that these 'niceties' are critically important. Consider the difference redundant communication makes to a message:
Add these images images to our site now.
or.....
Hi there Nick,
Please add these images to our site now.
Thanks
Which do you prefer? Personally I dislike rudeness, and fight it with relentless cordiality. At Semantic we have come across those who are just naturally rude, those that use it as a tool to get their way, and those who are rude to people they think don't matter. For my money all of these approaches are short term at best, and flat WRONG most of the time.
Currently we are dealing with a person who seems to think that being rude to people who work for them is okay, but they are wrong. Politeness costs nothing, but rudeness can cost a great deal.
Posted by Nick Warren at 12:23 AM
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The difference between 'You' and 'We'.
13 March 2006
Recently we worked with Laura Brown and the excellent team at the Blue Planet Aquarium. Their new site went live earlier in the year and as is my way I asked for some comments on how we did. I won't publish the whole thing to save our blushes, but here is part of their response:-------------------------------
"One of the major marketing projects for 2006 was to implement a brand new website together with an online booking facility.
After an initial and very friendly conversation with Nick Warren we set up a meeting to discuss our web needs. Very quickly we knew that we would be perfectly safe handing this project over to Semantic. Throughout every stage Nick and his team were there to guide, advise and react very quickly to last minute changes or additions!
Semantic made the project run effortlessly and I felt totally at ease leaving such a project in their very professional hands. The team are always on hand to help and are such a friendly bunch that I would recommend them to anyone. I am pleased to have them as an extension to our marketing department."
Laura Brown, Marketing & PR Manager
Blue Planet Aquarium
-------------------------------
Obviously this is all music to my ears, but it is the last sentence that really makes me smile. Semantic's peculiar business model relies on becoming part of the team. We work hard at that. We want that trust and that responsibility... otherwise we are just one of those other guys, chewing through clients so fast they need a sales team to keep business coming in.
There is a moment in any great relationship when the Client starts saying 'we' instead of 'you'. That's the 'partnership moment'... and it happened early on with the good folks at Blue Planet.
Posted by Nick Warren at 6:00 PM
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Why are they surprised and old?
11 March 2006
In the last post I described how we often get calls from members of the older generation thinking that we sell anti-virus solutions... thinking that we are Symantec?But why are they surprised and why are they old?
The thing that surprises them is that the phone is answered by a human being, and a friendly sounding human at that. Many are delighted that they can explain their problem to something other than a machine... but that soon turns to disappointment when they realise we are, in fact, too good to be true. I always feel a pang when I direct them to the Symantec site... feeling that I am casting them back out into a world of Euro-Support sites and automated voices telling them how important their call is.
They tend to be old because beneath a certain age the phone is no longer the natural way to deal with a support problem. Younger folk send e-mails... which interestingly are often much more aggressive in tone. Whether this is because of the medium or a generation thing I am not qualified to say... but we answer them all... however belligerent.
My favourites are the really abusive ones ones that poor scorn on us for not even mentioning our products on our web site. I enjoy replying to those the most.
We may be good guys, but we're not saints.
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:59 PM
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Anti-Virus
10 March 2006
Every so often I answer the phone at Semantic only to be met by silence. Then, a few hesitant seconds later a surprised and often elderly voice will say:"... um... is that Semantic?"
... and that's when I know how the conversation is going to go. I know that they are neither a current or potential client... and that in fact that talking to them will have no material benefit to either me or the business. I could either put the phone down or talk over them at that moment but hey, we're good guys, so I let them get the next sentence out before spoiling their day.
"... I have this anti-virus software from Norton..."
And that's when I politely jump in and explain that we are not the Symantec they are looking for. Then I usually spell S-Y-M-A-N-T-E-C out loud and give them the address of the web site they thought they were going to when they typed in our address by mistake. Then I wish them good luck and fairly often side-step their apology with on of my own. "Sorry we couldn't help you out".
And I am sorry because 'Here to Help' has become Semantic's unofficial motto over the past few years, and it doesn't just extend to people who pay us money. We aren't that kind of business.
Tom Peters has a line to the effect that a customer is ANYONE who can affect your business... but finding out each time just seems like too much work for me. It's easier just to be good to everyone.
Posted by Nick Warren at 2:07 PM
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Thanks to all at SouthParks.org
06 March 2006
A quick note to all at SouthParks.org who've been kind enough to comment on the new Thorpe Park site ... great feedback and snag finding! Many thanks to all of you. We hope you all enjoy a great season in 2006.
Posted by Nick Warren at 10:12 PM
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2006 Thorpe Park site live...
The 2006 Thorpe Park site is now live... let us know what you think.
Posted by Nick Warren at 3:26 PM
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Getting Real...
04 March 2006
Apologies for the sparse blogging, we're in the middle of a pretty hectic time here.But if you have a few minutes take a look at the latest product from 37Signals, it's an ebook that focuses on building web apps... but a lot of the principles (small, fast, flexible) are right at the core of Semantic's success.
The book costs $19, but the site has sample chapters to download for free. Take a look if you are interested in building anything... it's all good.
Getting Real: The smarter, faster, easier way to
build a successful web application:
Posted by Nick Warren at 7:40 PM
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