When you add a contact to your email address book or send an email from your own account did you know you can personalise this in Microsoft Outlook?  So instead of using the same standard email that you are sending to or from i.e. instead of info@name.co.uk you could alter it so that it shows up as Comapny Name (for instance Your Admin Assistant) in the recipient’s in box.   Also you could alter the display name of the recipient so that it is more personalised when the recipient opens the email and sees the “To” field at the top.

To change it:

• For your own email account to change how your name is displayed in the recipient’s in box, go into – Tools/EMail Accounts/Change existing account/Change/ – then change the Your Name field.  Make sure the email address field however is fully correct.
• To change how recipient’s see their own name go into – Contacts/Choose the contact you wish to change/change the Display Name As field.  Again make sure the email address field is fully correct.

If you need help with this function please do not hesitate to contact me.

Too may tasks on your admin to do list?  Feel you are stretched here, there and everywhere with no time for real work?  Here is a way of tackling them:

• First take a deep breath!
• Order them in priority – what needs to be done now, tomorrow or next week?
• Allocate the time they will take next to them
• Delegate what you can – either to a colleague, secretary or relative
• Draw up a schedule, could be handwritten, typed or a wallchart.  Microsoft Outlook also has a good electronic calendar, task list and reminder system
• Give yourself a little treat when you have completed a stage of them
• For the future allocate a little bit of each day to general admin tasks
• Look at ways of saving your time by delegating more if you can (ahem that is where we can help if you like!)
• Limit activities such as web browsing and email to a minimum, they can take up too much valuable time
• If all else fails go outside, take a walk, have a long break and come back refreshed.  Nothing is ever too important that it cannot wait for a little while!

Dell will shortly be bringing out some new colours for their laptop range based on OPI Nail Colours with cool names such as Strawberry Margarita and Kyoto Pearl.  This is in addition to their current range of 200 other colours and interesting artist designs you can currently choose from.  Perhaps a Christmas present for someone or even for yourself to add a little style in your office.

If you wanted to be uber chic you could marry it up with one of the new Samsung Genio mobile phones which also come in a myriad of colours.

The links for both of them are:

Dell – http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/design_studio/en/us/design_studio

Samsung – http://www.samsungmobile.co.uk/mobile-phones/samsung-genio-touch?kind=latest

Holiday occasions provide an opportunity to add a little bit of sparkle to your documents.  Particularly for training sessions and presentations.  They can add interest and life to what otherwise can be something that is a little boring.

Halloween is one such occasion.  If you have a powerpoint presentation why not choose a Halloween theme?  The shops are brimming with decorations and gifts for Halloween.  You could use the gifts as handouts or have place cards that look a bit more interesting!

Need to display some posters round your workplace – why not choose a Halloween background to catch people’s eye.  Perhaps you have some clients or friends to mail, how about adding a theme to your labels? 

There are some templates to try on Microsoft Office – http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween

With a strike by Royal Mail possible what can you do to minimise the effect it will have on you and your business?

The Royal Mail Service is actually very competitive and effective but it can have a real impact when service is suspended.  Here are some alternative strategies:

• Get organised and think ahead, send your mail early if you can (for instance cards)
• Send things electronically, although e-mail can be unsecure so think about web servers.  If you don’t have a secure log in web space you could try using Box Net or You Send It for storing, sharing or sending large files – www.box.net and www.yousendit.com
• Use a courier service - although shop around for quotes as they will differ, the big ones are DHL and Parcelforce but there may be ones local to you that could provide a more competitive localised quote – www.dhl.co.uk and www.parcelforce.com
• If it is leaflets or brochures you need delivering consider a distribution company such as Link Direct or DBS Limited, again you may find a more competitive and targeted quote from a business locally though – www.linkdirect.co.uk and www.dbslimited.co.uk
• Get in touch with your customers and suppliers in person – walk, enjoy the fresh air and personal contact!  In the last strike we delivered some mail for one of our customers ourselves and the free exercise and fresh air was a treat!
• Use the Royal Mail Special Delivery Service – this is likely to continue even with a strike, it is a premium cost but guarantees next day delivery
• You could try your local scout group for card deliveries, it has official clearance to run a Scout Post Service and costs up to 20p a card
• Royal Mail has its competitors since the market was opened and you could try one of these operators – TNT and DHL - however even in a strike they are likely to suffer as well because they rely on the postman to deliver the mail for the “last mile” i.e. direct to the door – www.tntpost.co.uk and www.dhl.co.uk
• Sit it out – the strike is not going to last forever so you could just bide your time!

As ever if we can be of help with your mailings, printed or electronic please contact us.

Further to my post last month this week it is National Customer Service Week (visit http://www.nationalcustomerserviceweek.com/Default.aspx for more information).

As a special promotion we are offering a 25% discount to customers for any bookings taken this week.   So if you need some secretarial or admin tasks doing please get in touch – we are happy to help.

What is your business going to be doing for the week?  Here are some ideas:

• Throw open your doors to your customers and invite them behind the scenes (our local council in Bradford is doing this)
• Conduct a survey with your customers asking them for their feedback on your service – you may be surprised by the results!
• Offer a discount or gift with purchases
• Motivate your staff with a promotion to encourage good service
• If you are a boss get back to the shop floor and interact with your customers directly
• Invite your staff to pitch ideas for improving customer service and implement the best ones (you could do a Dragons Den style to create a little fun!)
• Think of the customers in your business - perhaps other departments who are internal customers and deliver extra special service for the week
• Some of the best ideas come from children – invite their ideas and ask them to get involved
• Send out a special bulletin or newsletter about the week and highlight good service delivered in the past year
• Feedback is two way – if you are brave!  Tell your customers “What makes a good customer”
• For every 100th or 1000th customer (or pick a suitable number) award an on the spot prize
• Have a supply of gold stars in a central work area and ask staff to award the stars to other staff members when they spot good service
• Wear badges or T Shirts about the week to encourage awareness
• Display promotional literature about the week in your reception areas

Of course if we can be of help then contact us or if you have some ideas please post them here for other people to view!

Going digital with your dictation is a smart move.  Transferring to digital with your dictation from the old style of using cassette tapes makes life much easier for your secretary and for yourself.  Whilst there is an initial outlay the long term benefits make this a wise investment.  Some of the key advantages are:

• Quality is superior and it saves times
• Dictate away from your desk
• Eliminates the need for individual tapes
• Can be voice activated thereby avoiding those long silences
• Faster and easier to transfer work to your secretary and add additional voice instructions
• The transcriptionist is able to manage different recordings much more easily
• Sound quality can be enhanced when transcribing
• You can record for much longer time spans
• You can work hands free
• Edit your voice file to add in further comments for those moments when you forgot to say something
• Much easier and quicker to send files to your secretary via the web

But which equipment to choose for your dictation?   Here is a little list:

• Personal handhold devices which you use with a USB to interact with your PC
• Dictate directly into your computer
• Pocket handheld PC or Smartphone
• Dictate into a telephone
• Dictate via the internet from anywhere in the world
• Desk microphone, good for conference meetings

Perhaps you are a writer that wants to record your thoughts whilst on location, a scientist recording notes at a conference or a surveyor wanting a record of your site visit, going digitial with your dictation enables you to have that option.  Making the transfer will enhance your workflow and of course you are able to transfer files easily to a firm like ourselves to be transcribed! 

If you need help on this subject or would like to talk to us about outsourcing your transcription work please contact us.

Whether you are a business or a private individual it has never been more important to ensure your finances are in order.  Save the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves is one of the truest mottos there is.

We help clients issue invoices, chase payments and reconcile them.  We came across a recent web tool which perhaps is beneficial for individuals if you need that “kickstart” to improving your finances.  It is called PocketSmith and the link is at the end of this post.

It works like a web calendar and perhaps helps make the task of addressing your figures and finances a little more interesting.   You put in your scheduled payments, alter for special events, upload your accounts and it provides a forecast of how financially healthy you are looking.  It shows you the impact interest rates might have and it comes with interactive graphs to bring your figures to life. 

One of the things I like is how it demonstrates a year’s worth of coffee (or any other little luxury!) impacts on your figures.   Perhaps good for the diet as well!

The link to view the product is http://www.pocketsmith.com/

Following on from my post last week about National Customer Service Week (5th – 11th October) I have had a contrasting week of customer service approaches this week. 

The good

• Kaleidoscope Home Shopping – every time I deal with them I am impressed by their welcoming service, easy ways to contact them (online or telephone) with very easy to follow instructions, call back system if there is a problem and efficient approach in resolving a problem if a delivery has been delayed or a return not collected.  It is one of the reasons I have been a customer for many years.

The bad

• Halifax Home Insurance – this week I had to call them about my renewal, Monday I held on the line for 30 minutes, to be then transferred to a customer service operator who advised their systems were down and customers were being asked to call back the next day.  It would have been more helpful to have had an automated message saying this before I had held on for 30 minutes and perhaps been offered a callback instead of asking me to ring up again!  I received the same message when I rang the following 2 days (again after I had been on hold for some time).  Not great customer service is it?  I also tried to send a query online but there is no email contact form on their website. Instead I have written a letter advising I will not be renewing. 

The ugly

• I have never really come across ugly customer service however I remember Sunwin House, Co-op Bradford which had their customer service on the 5th floor of the store in a corner which was quite hard to find.   Contrast this with the new style customer service in supermarkets which are on an “island” theme designed I think to appear more customer friendly.  However because the desk is central it can be quite difficult to know where to queue, also it is not very discreet and generally it just gives an impression of chaos sometimes. 

So make the difference in your business from bad or mediocre customer service to great customer service and build your customer loyalty.  A cheesy line I heard this week but which is very apt is “smile while you dial”.

National Customer Service Week is on 5th – 11th October.  It is a chance to celebrate good service within your business and useful for engaging with customers new and old about how you rate as a business and how you could improve.   It is also an opportunity to involve employees in a practical way.

There are some good ideas on the Institute of Customer Service Website – http://www.nationalcustomerserviceweek.com/Default.aspx  You can also register your business, receive a certificate to display and start the ball rolling with ideas and actions to make the most of the week.  Business at the moment is very competitive but doing something positive like this can give you that edge and certain je ne sais quois?  (And apart from zut alors that is about all the French I know!)