Reweaving the Web To Improve Profits
Creating a Big Impact On a Modest Budget
Corrections or additions?
These articles by Kathleen McGinn Spring and Bart Jackson were prepared for the June 12, 2002 edition of
U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Business Abroad
Despite escalating tensions, we should not fear globalization;
we should welcome it. Neil S. Orkin, principal with Global Training
Systems, a global management consulting firm specializing in human
resources development, says there are a number of steps that individuals
can take to thrive in the new global economy.
Orkin speaks on feeling more confident doing business globally at
a Meeting Professionals International seminar on Wednesday, June 12,
at 5:30 p.m. at the Bridgewater Marriott. Call 732-536-5135.
Orkin holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, a
master’s from Columbia, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers in adult education.
He now works with both U.S. and international professionals, preparing
them to do business globally.
As a full-time faculty member at Rutgers for seven years, Orkin was
coordinator of the Rutgers Corporate Program, where he designed, developed,
and implemented global training programs for Fortune 100 corporations.
Orkin, who has spent considerable time living abroad, has been a communication
skills consultant for Time T.I. Communications, a Japanese company,
where he worked with executives at many Japanese companies, including
Honda, Toyota, JVC, C. Itoh Trading, Sumitomo Bank, and Kawasaki Steel.
Orkin speaks Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese, and has a working
knowledge of Korean and Italian.
Top Of PageReweaving the Web To Improve Profits
Gizmo is more than a device. It is
your personal and divine link with the rest of the entire cosmos.”
So exuded this fictional super PC’s inventor in Anthony Clarvoe’s
new play, Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Truly, there lies within us a romantic
desire to weld all our tangles of communication — from lips to
phone to magnetic ‘Net — everything into one single, hand-held
unit. And while the total-purpose gizmo currently alludes our grasp,
we teeter on the brink of a convergence that can make lives simpler
and businesses much more profitable.
Business people wanting to weave the strands of communication into
a more effective and technically continuous fabric should attend “Solutions
that Improve Your Bottom Line,” on Wednesday, June 12, at 2:30
p.m., and again on Thursday, June 13, at 1 p.m., at the Garden State
Exhibition Center in Somerset. Speakers include John Estev and
several other design and applications engineers from Expanets, a national
company with offices in Bound Brook, Hackensack, and Mount Laurel.
This roundtable will discuss many of the Internet protocol (IP) links
and how they can be applied to solve individual business needs.
The seminar is one of 20 such workshops included in the New Jersey
Technology Showcase, which will take over the Garden State Exhibition
Center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 12 and 13. Entrance is complimentary:
To register visit www.goitec.com. The New Jersey Technology Council
is a host, which is organized by trade show company ITEC, and sponsored
by Microsoft, Intel, Gateway, and other major computer players.
“Most of us just don’t have any idea of current convergence-IP
capabilities,” says Estev, an applications sales consultant with
Expanets. “We still think of voiceover IP telephony as strictly
a way to avoid paying for long distance calls.” Yet Estev for
decades has helped develop and apply the cutting edge of communications
technology. A native of Vernon, this up-through-the-ranks engineer
refers to himself as a 38-year veteran of a four-year-old company
with a 135-year history. This seeming riddle is solved by realizing
that both Estev and his current firm are spinoffs from the research
and develop arm of old AT&T.
Estev insists that today’s plug-and-play IP architecture affords businesses
a lot more flexibility and cost savings than they are using. It’s
strictly a matter of learning and saving, he says.
Data collaboration. The essence of convergence is theunification of all communications — telephone, TDM, PCs —all of it onto a single platform. The client chooses and communicatesvia one medium. Within a firm of as few as five users, such single-modelinking makes for a great savings in hardware alone.Collaborating data beyond one’s own corporate confines already hasshown itself a cost-reducing tool. In the constant battle for zero-baseinventory, manufacturers now share their immediate needs on-line withsuppliers who ship the exact amount required for the day’s run. Theshipment goes from dock to assembly line. Expensive warehousing andover-transportation are avoided.Customer satisfaction. “The advanced telephony IP,”says Estev, “changes the old call center to a customer contactcenter.” More than nomenclature hype, the contact center affordsboth the telephone’s immediate discussion between sales person andcustomer, plus the entire realm of product information available onthe web. Thus, when a mail order customer calls L.L. Bean seekinga sleeping bag for her Peruvian expedition, she can find a lot morethan the range of sizes and colors listed in the catalog. Her callcenter contact can give her fabric durability statistics, and caninstantly access a chart comparing the degree-comfort ranges versusweight of several bags. The customer can discuss her needs with acall center contact, who has a vast store of in-depth product detailsat her fingertips.In the realm of high tech, for both hardware and software,such teleinterchange is an ideal troubleshooting tool. The enragedand ensnared customer facing the woes of a particularly sticky lumpof software can send an exact vision of his problems to the supplier’scall center. The repair person sees the screen exactly as his customersees it, and makes the fix from home. The customer receives immediateaid, and our repair genius can sit cozily at home in his bathrobe,never having to leave his hearth to venture out for a drive to theclient’s office.Encouraging growth. Keeping the cash flowing in on timewith a minimum of chase and hassle remains a large part of what separatessuccessful from struggling firms. Several townships, in an effortto make payment easier, have set up payment systems via credit cardsfor property taxes. “We have seen increases in local tax paymentsof up to 18 per cent annually,” says Estev. Linking customersand suppliers into such revolving payment plans can move your billinto a category of general operating expense, rather than a slug inthe gut to be avoided.E-commerce savings. Of course the convergence of all communicationsinto a single media saves drastically on hardware. But the unity ofprogramming also can save on time and operating cash. American Expressreceives up to 20,000 client calls a day. By having the caller IDcapability linked into the operator’s screen, the operator can greetcallers with a cheery “Hello, Mr. Smith,” while looking atfull account records. This shaves four seconds from each one of those20,000 calls.Significant savings need not involve so grand a scale. The 400,000volumes circulated annually by South Brunswick Public Library entaila transaction of 30 seconds each. Installing a link that reduced thattime by three seconds saved thousands of dollars.In-house convergence. Taking a new employee through thestandard paper chase and getting him all “entered in” is atotal waste of time, says Estev. Typically, a newcomer is signed inwith an E-mail server, an Internet server, a human resource server,a voice mail server, and more. With flexible, single-entry linking,the individual’s name and a few vital facts are typed in once. Inaddition, his name and duties can go into the directory and be shippedout to various essential customers and suppliers. He can also be putinto the loop for certain categories of memos and in-house publications.Most of our current communications services, like poor littleTopsie, just grew. The phone, the fax, the web, with all of its tangents,each came about independently, as a new wonder, with never a thoughtof fitting in with the past or future. While it been fun and challengingplaying with all these new communications toys separately, maybe it’stime we put them all together and make the machines do what they wereinvented to do — work for us.— Bart JacksonTop Of PageCreating a Big Impact On a Modest BudgetBusy doing the good works they do, many non-profitsfall short of their potential for want of a little ink — or afew seconds of air time. The same is true of a good many small companies.But lack of time is not the only reason that so many small and growingenterprises do not get the publicity that leads to growth. There isa fear that getting the word out just costs too much. But, says SusanYoung, owner of East Brunswick-based Susan Young Media Relations,good publicity often calls more for creative thinking than for cash.She reveals secrets of low-cost — and no-cost — PR when shespeaks on “Media, Motivating, and Marketing Without Money”on Friday, June 14, at 8:30 a.m. at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Clark.Also sharing low-cost success strategies at this event are CarolKivler of Titusville-based Kivler Communications and KirstinCarey of Noriton, Pennsylvania-based Small Talk Marketing and Communications.Cost: $149. Call 609-737-8157.”So many times,” says Young, “people in non-profits tellme `we’re the best kept secret.’” Her response: “Let’s letthe cat out of the bag.” Stealth mode is not where the successfulenterprise wants to be. A mindset that holds down many non-profits,she says, is “we think of ourselves as small, as struggling toget money.” Think big, is her advice. Get out there and competefor attention inches with the best of them. Cleverly targeted newsabout an organization can lead not only to stories in the local press,but also to alliances with larger entities.”We’re in a great place,” says Young. “We’re surroundedby big corporations and foundations. But if no one knows who you are,the dollars go elsewhere.”Think of happy, early memories, says Young. Chances are listeningto a parent or grandparent read a story will make the list. “Everyoneloves a great story,” she says. She is convinced that every organizationhas many to tell. A graduate of Quinnipiac University, Young has beena stringer for ABC news and the Associated Press, a member of ChristieWhitman’s office of radio and television, and a radio anchor and newsdirector. On the receiving end of the news, she has observed successful— and not so successful — techniques for attracting positivemedia attention. Here are some low-cost ideas that work:Give advice. It’s nearly summer. Travel agents might providetips on planning a foolproof vacation with toddlers. Dermatologistmight offer advice on enjoying the outdoors without upping the riskfor skin cancer. Garden center owners could weigh in with ideas forcreating inviting outdoor living spaces. Accountants could providea service by analyzing the tax pros and cons of purchasing an investmentproperty by the sea.Generally speaking, says Young, offering to provide advice is a muchsurer route to press coverage than is sending a generic folder ofcompany info.Be clear and brief. “Busy news people don’t have timefor a three-page handout,” says Young. As a newsperson, her attitudewas: “What’s it about? Tell me upfront, in one or two lines.”She didn’t have the time to dig more deeply, or to re-read obtusetext. Decision makers in news rooms may receive several hundred letters,faxes, E-mails, and phone calls in a day. Vague, over-long, or jargon-filledmissives often land in the trash.Find the human angle. “The news is about people,”Young points out. For every story, the newsperson automatically wonders”how does this affect people?” Framing a media pitch withits effect on people right at the top makes it easier for the newspersonto see where it might fit in. For instance, the announcement of abusiness expansion may draw more attention if it starts with the numberof new jobs that will be created. And a breakthrough in dental technologywill get more press if it leads with statistics on how it will cutpatients’ pain, or time in the chair, or number of cavities.Tailor the story to each media. In pitches to the media,one size does not fit all. It’s a lot easier to send the same pamphletto everyone, but most often a waste of time and money. For radio,Young was most receptive to a six-sentence story accompanied by asound bite. A magazine with a small staff often is swayed by a promiseof photographs. A television station wants a story with fresh visualelements.Study each outlet within a media group. Some magazinesand newspapers cover events and write about them afterwards. Otherslargely, or only, write previews of events before they occur. Tryingto pitch the story the other way around, a common occurrence, is likelyonly to annoy an editor.Follow up. This is a tough one, Young admits. “Thereis a very fine line between being persistent, and being a pest,”she says. She suggests starting each call to a media outlet by asking”Is this a good time for you?”Establish relationships with the press. As in every otheraspect of business, placing stories sometimes comes down, at leastin part, to who you know. Instead of calling a reporter repeatedlyto pitch the same story, try to make his job easier by finding outthe kinds of stories he needs, and supplying them.Pitching stories is a numbers game. Some percentage of yourproposed stories will not find a home. “There are no guarantees,”is the way Young puts it. Your company may have come up with a pillthat cures baldness in a single dose with no side effects, but ifit hits the market on a day when the Bush twins visit the Jersey Shorefor a week-end of bar hopping, the story may not get much play.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
