GoDaddy Bungles Bungle-Recovery

Hi Folks,

We do alot of vendor relationship/project management and negotiation on behalf of our clients, and we also advise on PR matters from time to time as it relates to technology.

One of the most tried and true principals in PR, reputation management, and negotiation is that in almost every case where a mistake is made (I am not referring to malicious acts, gross negligence etc.), it is best to:

1. Acknowledge and Apologize
2. Take corrective action and disclose why/how the actions will prevent a recurrence
3. To the extent possible, offer some compensation/consideration in light of the mistake and (here comes the important part (do it even if your agreements don't require it).   An apology and a gesture are not signs of weakness in the client/service provider relationship.

GoDaddy's reputation has been volatile over time.  Some folks like their hosting, others hate it.  Some folks like their Domain Regisration and DNS services, others not so much.   We don't have many clients with accounts with them, and those that did are not mission-critical.

I just returned to my desk to see an Email from GoDaddy that contained

1. An Apology for it's recent outage - A+
2. An acceptance of responsibility and admission that troubles on their own network corrupted their system - A (points off for describing them as 'network events'
3. Assurance that steps have been taken to prevent the problem in the future - B (no specifics offered
4. An offer of 30% off future purchases in recognition of the problem - F

Here's the text:

As a result of this disruption, you will receive 30% off any new product or renewal.* This offer will be available to you for the next 7 days. Simply place source code Apology4a in your cart or mention the code when you call 480-505-8877.

Why F?   Well, as any GoDaddy customer knows, this company has turned the art of 'bundling' and add-on sales in a high art.   I have grudgingly had to admire how well the not-so-subtle upsell is handled.  And, we often get marketing emails offering us discounts on future purchases.

But. to simply offer yet-another-incentive-program - (with a 7 day limit!!!) while apologizing for a very significant failure, is in our opinion, far worse than not offering any consideration at all.

I have no insight into the corporate culture at GoDaddy - like most people, I just see their ads on TV.  But to essentially go from "please forgive us" to trying to pass off normal marketing incentives as part of the apology is, in our opinion, a badly bungled bungle-recovery.

I wouldn't advise them to have offered a 30% fee reduction in perpetuity for current service recommendations, or other drastic things.  But the apology and offer should fit the mistake.   A percentage off the current billing cycle when the even occurred would certainly have taken more work to put together and manage, but it would have shown the desire to take responsibility on what occurred.  That alone usually suffices to re-build consumer confidence.

As trusted advisers we are often asked to pass judgement.  However, we also believe in redemption.   I would urge GoDaddy to reconsider the consideration in its apology, and would encourage other customers to urge them as well.  

Effectively Yours,

CTG

We are hiring!

Hi Folks,

I am pleased to announce my company, Croton Technology Group, LLC is hiring.

We are a growing business technology consultancy that functions as a trusted adviser to small and midsize companies.  We specialize in software construction, integration, and customization.

We are looking for a junior-midlevel software engineer with a minimum of 3 years experience in developing Web and Desktop Applications in MS Visual Studio.   Languages can be VB and/or C#.  Experience with working with Sql Databases (Microsoft Sql Server etc.),  Must also have experience interacting with other applications through an API.  Knowledge of accounting principles and/or QuickBooks is not required but is a strong plus.   Experience with java/JSP/Spring/Hibernate etc. also a strong plus.  Curiosity about new technologies and a desire to master them is a strong plus.

The ideal client is one who learns quickly and enjoys a challenge that they know will make a positive difference to our clients.   The candidate should also be able to manage their time such that they may have 2-3 projects 'on their' plate at any given time.

This position is a salaried half-time or full-time position that is based in NJ, although we sometimes work at client locations, and also are flexible about giving folks the ability to work from home to maximize productivity.

This position is ideal for someone who is looking to take their skills to the next level, learn new technologies, and gain experience with a firm where their efforts will be rewarded.  

No agencies or phone calls please!

Please send a resume, including salary history, and cover letter to me at: jonathan@crotontech.com

Position Available - Front End Developer - Location Manhattan, NY - Full Time

Hi Folks,

I have a dear friend looking for talent in the NYC area. If you are interested on behalf of yourself, please message me. If on behalf of someone you know, please send me their info and I will be in touch.

Full-time front-end/web developer.
Some subset of the following skills: Javascript, JSP, JQuery, Java,
Servlets, CSS, Relational Databases, MongoDB, Swing.

Position Available - Tech Lead - Location Manhattan, NY - Full Time

Hi Folks,

I have a dear friend looking for talent. Please review the below description. If you are interested for yourself, reach out to me directly. If on behalf of someone you know, please email me their information and we'll go from there.

Thanks!

Hands-on technologist. Good knowledge of Java & web technologies.

Experience giving technical

direction.

Good knowledge of data structures.

Good problem solving skills.

Good interpersonal skills.

Ability to interact with end users and drive requirements.

Project management experience.

Would prefer someone with experience managing people (i.e. getting them to deliver, the HR side of management is less important).

Financial industry experience is a big plus.

...and we're back!

Hi Folks,

It's been quite a while. But, now finally have some headspace to return to writing.

I am all about Effective Technology. And for today, the most Effective thing I can do is let folks know of two positions available through a dear friend of mine.

Stand by for that post!

How Far to Follow? I [?] You!

As a relative newbie to Twitter, and while suffering from a fairly severe case of analysis-paralysis on my blog, I figured I would take a stab at something that I have been thinking about quite a bit: How can we describe the 'Social Contract' in different kinds of New Social Media, especially Twitter?

I tend to think of technologies like Email/IM/Texting as being more established in our daily lives, and I feel that it follows that users have adopted techniques to deal with overcommunication (spam) etc. from correspondents.   Most people I know and/or work with have a grasp on how to filter out "spam" from their inboxes, "block" IMs from folks they don't want to hear from etc.

However, in my opinion,  LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter present a further wrinkle by forcing a re-evaluation of the definition of 'relationship' when using these services.  For one thing, each application has it's own termilogy that emerges from it's use-model.  Facebook has 'Friends', Twitter has 'Followers',  LinkedIn has contact-relationships.  Additionally, each individual has their own preference of a contact-level i.e. how much information I would ideally like to receive from each person, and along with that goes each person's personal understanding of what the relationship is.  

In my experience, the social contract of LinkedIn is best understood.  The site is geared towards professional networking - placing one's professional experience and credentials in sharp focus.   To 'connect' to someone on LinkedIn is, at it's heart, an expression of professional affiliation.  Beyond that, we can Recommend anothers work, etc.   All of this creates a user-experience that constantly intones: "This is a Professional Environment"

Facebook is far more broad as a platform.   Relationships are called "Friends", so right there we know that our personal lives come into play.   We have an array of tools to share a wealth of personal information, photos, music choices, personal preferences, etc.  The designers of Facebook seem to know that we aren't going to want to read everything from everyone.  They give us the ability to say "less from X", or "more from Y".  They give us a fairly good amount of settings to manage how we are notified of new posts from people, and how these notifications are delivered.

In my experience, the establishment of a Facebook 'Friend' is much like the actual social-contract of Friend in "real life" - Very Broad.   We tend to establish friends at all points in our lives of varying intensity.   I think Facebook strives to allow us to engage our friends in many different ways - giving us to the freedom to pick comfortable ways of communicating depending on the type of relationships we have.  So the social-contract is more complex than LinkedIn, but still very well understood:  When I post pictures online, do I expect all of my friends to click through them, no - of course not.  Nor do they have to.   Depending on how they (privately) see their relationship with me, they may see 'Newsfeed' alert showing them that I have posted new pictures, or perhaps not.   However, should they wish to (again, privately) re-aquaint themselves with me or my family, they can simply go to my profile and see what I have shared.  Since this model is aligned with established social norms, it is easier to understand how to be a good Facebook 'Friend'.  

But, Twitter, at least for me, presents the question of how to be a good 'Follower'.  It is both an accurate, and heavily freighted and tendentious way, to describe a relationship.   I have been trying to understand the reasoning behind the use of the word.   I can see other words being acceptable as well, such as "Listener", "Subscriber", "Reader".   Sometimes, when I am feeling a bit sarcastic, I feel more like "SpamEater", "Wincer", or "TMI-Recipient".

Religions, Schools of Thought, Political Movements, Art Forms, and Celebrities all have 'Followers'.   In Life and on Facebook,I may have 'Friends', but I don't necessarily  feel like their 'Follower'.  However,  on Twitter, when I 'Follow' someone, I do _actually_ want to 'Follow' what they say.  Or, to be blunt, I _hope_ that I want to read and keep track of what they say.  Further, I hope that what I have to say is found valuable by my 'Followers'.

From a technical standpoint, the software is written so that I always have access to what those people have to say.  So I _am_ 'Following' them in a real sense.  However, I sometimes feel that the term, and the way we use the service, stir up some interesting questions.

Like it or not, Twitter is here to stay and there the term is 'Follower'.  So how can I be the best 'Follower' I can be?  And, also, what do my 'Followers' expect in return?   

Here are some of the questions I have been asking myself and my thoughts in parenthesis.  

1.  Is it socially-acceptable to ignore personal tweets from business 'Followees', or vice versa?

(Strongly: Yes. )

2.  Do I expect all my Followers to be captivated by all of my Tweets?

(Strongly: No.  Twitter provides me with one channel which is multicast to all my followers regardless of the characteristics of the relationship.  And this leads me to some open ended questions:)

3.  Most Importantly:   How can I filter what I read and what I write to my (and my Followers) best advantage?

  

Should I set up a separate Twitter account for different kinds of relationships? 

Business? Personal?

What if I speak more than one language, how do I handle that?

What if I have many interests and different Friends/Colleagues from each?

Should I #tag tweets to better 'target' them?  Does that actually work unless Followers are searching?   

How can I manage the Tweet volume from my Followees?  

If it is socially acceptable to ignore/filter tweets, how can Twitter users accomplish this? (before an intelligent agent based architecture is available to end users to pre-read their incoming Tweets,:)  

What do you think the Twitter environment will look like in 2 years?   Will there be tools like the ability to search Tweets and exclude content?   i.e. from:EffectiveTech -#personal

Will we have different types of Followers in the future: i.e. "Follow when #Biz", or "Follow in Summarized Format by [Day, Week, Month, Category]?

What do you think? I promise to "Follow" all your responses!!!!

Welcome

Welcome to 2009.

As we ring in the new year, Small Business in the US finds itself confronting enormous challenges. Most people that I have spoken to have simply run out of superlatives to describe the challenges that we face going forward.  There is no need to enumerate them here.  Chances are you have another tab open in your browser with News in it.  Need I say more?

As with most challenges in life, the best way to manage through them is often to go back to the basics of the situation and address situations that are within our control in order of priority.  The desired goal: Generate more revenue and create more profit.  

This is, of course, far more difficult than it seems - because it is simply another version of the oft-repeated phrase "buy low, sell high" - right, no problem.   It is just not that simple.  Business never is.  

Over more than 20 years in the business world, I have watched others navigate these difficult waters and done so myself.  It has not always ended well.  As human beings, we have a remarkable capability to convince ourselves of "how things really are".  Some would posit that the act of doing so is one of the ways that we turn our thoughts/plans into reality.  In that case, it is our ultimate strength.  In other cases, when we mis-interpret conditions or rely too much on our passion for a particular situation to guide us, it can become risky.  Sometimes this results in even greater success, other times in great failure.

No one can advise a particular Small Business on how to succeed in these times through a blog, or book.   

What, in my opinion, can be done is to educate Small Businesses on particular issues that confront them.  In my case, it is Technology.  The Effective use of Technology in Small Business.

Use of technology in small business is a very broad topic, running the gamut from companies with one person who "goes on the internet to check the email", to those who run online businesses or create technology for other businesses to use.   Most are in the middle - using technology to improve communication and productivity.   

Regardless of where your company is on this spectrum, you must do your best to ensure that your use of technology is appropriate and effective for you.  Failure to manage this part of your business would be akin to buying raw/source materials for your finished product without monitoring the price in the market, other sources, etc.  Following this example to its logical conclusions, you would therefore, a) be out of touch with your costs, b) be unable to effectively price your end-product in the market, c) not be in control of the quality of your end-product.

I intend to begin posting on a group of topics, giving each a relatively high-level overview form of treatment.  By doing that, I feel that I can communicate a framework of concepts that I feel are beneficial.  Once these are completed (and perhaps a bit along the way :), I will be able to go back and provide more detail.

As I move forward I look forward to hearing from you.  Of particular interest to me at this time are particular issues that you have wrestled with in the past, or issues that you would like to see mentioned.

Welcome!