Comments for Tales From The Street

Comment on Customer Service, Part 2 (or how to screw up customer satisfaction) by Dragonfly88

Dragonfly88 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:42:07 +0000

Bryan, as I read through the conversation. I got TL as well. .
I really can’t stand such attitude. CS must listen actively, answer in simple and understandable, do not argue with customers.

If he is a well-trained CS, he must not repeat saying your “mistake”… this must be totally avoid. Never point out your customers’ mistake or try to humiliate them.

Trust me, he won’t be long there. Were you trying to buy the tickets for ” Live Free or Die Hard “… ?

Comment on Is this company worth investing in? by Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:25:08 +0000

Hi Jimmy, from what I hear banks follow even stricter rules when they lend money to a business. This is why many entreprenuers turn to private capital.

Comment on Is this company worth investing in? by Jimmy Ng

Jimmy Ng — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:54:04 +0000

Hi bryan,
I suppose if anyone wants your investment, he/she needs to really have a fine proposal based on your points eh?

Comment on Reasons to give away your fortune by Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 11:49:14 +0000

Yeah I know what u mean. I follow the Buddhist principle which says that what’s important is intention. If your intention is noble but the recipient never receives it, its ok. You still get the blessing. Apparently that’s how karma works.

Comment on Reasons to give away your fortune by Jimmy Ng

Jimmy Ng — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 11:30:22 +0000

Haha, that means whenever I give away something to charity, I should think of myself? Because I want myself to be the ultimate recipient.
That’s so selfish of me.
Well, honestly, I do think for those who receive the aids, but sometimes I wonder is it really going to end on them or part of the money has gone mysteriously elsewhere? That thought alone puts me off.

Comment on Reasons to give away your fortune by Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:10:32 +0000

So you are thinking like an investor, what I put in today will give me something tomorrow

What I try to do is when I give, I’ll say to myself I give because its best for whomever I’m giving it to. When you focus your thoughts on the recipient at the moment of giving, you won’t think about the benefit to you. I learned from branding class that the wonderful thing about the human mind is that it can only accomodate one thought at a time.

Comment on Reasons to give away your fortune by Jimmy Ng

Jimmy Ng — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 03:25:42 +0000

Hi Bryan,
This post sends me thinking about whether or not I had contributed towards the people in need, and I am glad to say that I have. I don’t really think that giving away to charity needs to be defined with reasons, as long as the society benefits from it, it is already a good enough reason. However, it’s sad to say that whenever I give, I always comfort myself by thinking that I will receive something better in the future. Is that bad?

Comment on Customer service, Part 1 (or how a company gets AIDS) by Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:28:59 +0000

Hi dragonfly88, thanks for dropping by my blog. Yes unfortunately when they own the company they have complete control over it. This is why I recommend checking your employer’s background carefully before you join them. While they can reject you, you can (and should) reject them if they are substandard.

Comment on How does your CEO rate by Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 00:24:11 +0000

Hi Jimmy, yup you can do many things to earn money. You’ve undoubtedly found many investment possibilities and to me, while its nice to know how a cake is made, its not really necessary if all you want to do is eat it. So to avoid information overload what I do is compare investments against their risks and returns first before digging in further.

Hi Venkatesh, welcome to my blog. I agree with you on how ownership influences the CEO’s knowledge of the business although I have also seen the reverse happen. My father for example owns a family business and he knows more about the products than the CEO he hired (which is why I wrote this rant to begin with ) so having caught him with his pants down a few times, I guess I am a pain to this CEO

Comment on How does your CEO rate by Venkatesh

Venkatesh — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 18:32:29 +0000

Hi Bryan,

Good rant (only since you admitted it as more of a rant than a post, I see this as an ‘open thought’, I wouldn’t call it a rant!).

A good CEO will be knowledgeable about his/her company, the products/services and should be able to share their vision for the future without diverting it to their lieutanants.

In some Asian firms, the CEO is actually the owner, meaning one who has put the money for starting the business and is not necessarily the one who runs the show or calls the shots. That is why you are seeing them ducking the questions. You can see this phenomenon to a great extent in UAE and other parts of middle east, where the rich and powerful start the ventures, but it actually run by their assistants (in most cases from India or Pakistan).

From an investment perspective, If the CEO is good (sometimes with a good track record, but sometimes it is an instinct that the CEO is good), I would recommend investing.

Cheers
Venkat.