My CEO Life

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing, i mean absolutely NOTHING, goes right. Well yesterday was one of those days.

The day started with one of our rocket scientists confusing an “=” sign with a “>” sign and bring down a stack of websites. Now that would be bad enough however, they were our customers’ websites. Guess what – the customers went through the roof.

So, just like fighter control in WWII, we scrambled the guru’s and attacked the problem. Half a day later and a heap of customer comforting, we finally got the problem resolved. To ensure that we kept the customers happy, we gave away some free product and i ensured that a senior person called each of the customers to apologise and to ensure that they knew that the issue had been resolved.

So … what lessons can be learned

Ensure that people think before they do – especially when they are playing with a live environment. This is really a part of the culture and something that we are working on. Passionate, caring people will take responsibility and ensure that what they think before they do. Building that passions is sometimes a challenge.

Great comebacks can be achieved. We worked on the theory of being very open with our customers, kept them informed and gave them a little thanks you for putting them out. Most understand but still, our objective was to recover graciously and have them think more of us at the end of the experience than at the beginning. TIME WILL TELL!!!

1. Emirates Part 2 – Great Follow Up Customer Service

   A week or so ago i wrote about the not so good service i received on a recent Emirates Airlines flight.  Well i thought i would go further than just bleating about it on this site.  I decided to write...

2. How the internet is changing industries – A great story

   A friend of mine sent this to me yesterday. Is it a great story on how the internet is changing the way we do things. It is a true story of how a musician used the internet to her advantage...

3. Great Customer Service – Going Above and Beyond

   I was recently on a flight with my favourite airline (Emirates). I fly them often and have reached one of their highest frequent flyer levels. However they continue to annoy me as they have me down for a special meal...

4. Time Management

   Well time management has to be one of my greatest challenges. I am notoriously bad at saying “yes” to most things. However, how do i broadly split my time? The answer, surprisingly enough, is simple – 1/3rd is Board, media...

5. So what is My CEO Life all about?

   Welcome to the My CEO Life. Have you always wondered what it is like at the top but never really known for sure? Have you always walked around the office a little afraid of the boss? Have you always wondered...