Monthly Archives: September 2011

CEO James Warren: What I’ve Learned

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As if you need me to remind you, summer is over, back-to-school shopping is finished, and if you are like me, you have already been stuck behind a school bus.

No need to despair. This issue of RDM Communicator includes useful information that will save you time, money, and help you forget that your next vacation is months away.

While this newsletter may help you grow your business, we also want to thank you for helping us grow our business. Since the overwhelming majority of RDM’s new clients are the result of referrals from our existing clients, we are very appreciative each time our phone rings with a referral. Because we want to encourage you to continue to refer clients, we are giving away a $100 Visa Gift Card to each client who refers a new customer. To make sure you get credit for your referral, call me directly at 1-206.453.0215 with the name of the contact and the company you are referring.

Even if you don’t have a referral for us, we would like to hear from you. Do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions about your existing service, a billing question, or if you are outgrowing your current set-up and need to increase your bandwidth or add more lines. If you prefer to email me, I can be reached at james.warren@rdmcomm.com.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Jim

Why You Should Never Call A Carrier

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The time will come when a component of your voice, data or Internet system does not work properly. And when that time arrives you undoubtedly will have the urge to call the carrier to get the problem fixed as soon as possible. But if you want the problem resolved immediately, it’s likely the worst thing you could do is call the carrier directly.

Instead, if you have an issue that requires a call to the carrier’s customer service department, not only will RDM place the call for you, but we will exploit our relationships with the carriers to make sure your trouble ticket is created, and more importantly, acted upon immediately.

How does RDM exploit its relationships at the carriers for your benefit?  It has been our experience that the telecom industry is no different from any other industry.  It is all based on relationships. The carriers get hundreds, if not thousands, of trouble tickets every day.

RDM makes sure that our clients’ trouble tickets rise to the top of the list and get worked on first. The typical process we follow to accomplish this is as follows: First, we call the carrier and establish a trouble ticket. Incidentally, this initial step could take hours. Once we have the trouble ticket number we call our contact at the carrier who has the ability to expedite the work on your ticket. Having this contact in place, which RDM has at each carrier, will save hours when it comes to resolving your issue.

Compare RDM’s “squeaky wheel gets the grease approach” to calling the carrier directly. Typically, if you call you will be told “we are working on the trouble.  When we have the trouble corrected will contact you.  We are waiting for the techs to pick the ticket up.” In other words, when you tell us you have a problem RDM calls a person at the carrier.  When you call the carrier, you are calling customer service.

A common tactic of the carriers is to ask you for the name of your representative. If, for example, you have a Qwest account and an account manager has not been assigned to you or your account manager has moved within the organization or has left the company, you are asked to provide all of your contact information and you are told someone will return your call within 48 hours, often you do not hear back from Qwest. There is no need for you to go through this effort when you can simply call RDM and we will resolve the problem for you!

This article is not meant to bash or disparage the carriers, but instead, to share RDM’s years of experience within the telecom industry so you can benefit from the knowledge and expertise we offer. After all, the reason RDM has built relationships with individuals at the carriers is so we can minimize the time it takes to resolve your problems.

The next time you feel compelled to call your carrier, pick up the phone, but instead of dialing the carrier’s number, dial RDM’s. We can be reached by phone at 1-206-453-0215 or you can email us anytime at sales@rdmcomm.com.

How To Improve Website Performance

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Some companies improve Web site traffic and search engine marketing by relying on internal brainstorming sessions, intuition and sometimes even the latest fad. A few don’t bother making changes at all.

Truth is, the only reliable method of building a strong online presence is using web analytics to evaluate traffic. Not everyone is aware of the technical advances in web analytics offered by industry leaders such as ClickTracks, Google™ Analytics and Omniture. Your search engine marketing partner can tap into these resources and take the mystery out of web marketing. Using these web analytic tools, here are 10 ways it can help you transform a good website into a great one.

1. What’s working? Knowing what’s right is just as important as knowing what’s wrong. Web analytics tracks how long a visitor stays on a web page. When visitors linger, it’s a good indication they like what they see.

2. What’s not working? By contrast, when users leave in a hurry, it means something is wrong. When users beat a hasty retreat from a landing page or order form, immediate action is needed.

3. Identify contact/order page problems. Interpreting user behavior on these pages often reveals an overlong or overly complex format that drives traffic away.

4. Identify programming glitches. Quick departure from a Web page may also stem from a technical problem that can be fixed easily — if it is recognized.

5. Build better navigation. Web analytics tracks not only user behavior on distinct pages, but behavior around the site. When companies understand how frequently, for how long and in what order pages are viewed, they can reshape site navigation to lead users directly where they want to go.

6. Streamline existing navigation. Even when overall navigation is strong, Web analytics identifies the occasional “weak link” that causes otherwise inexplicable page exiting. A simple tweak might lead to happier users and new business.

7. Learn what your customers want. By tracking internal site search terms, companies learn what users really want out of the site. This, in turn, points the way to stronger, more relevant, more action-triggering content.

8. Enhance pay-per-click, or PPC, campaigns. By analyzing keyword behavior, click-through rates and conversion rates, firms continuously improve existing programs. There is no other way.

9. Craft effective new PPC campaigns. Assessing different keywords, messages and landing pages with traditional A-B split testing takes the guesswork out of launching a new program.

10. Monitor new and existing customers. If there are two things every company wants to track, it’s new business and customer retention. Today’s sophisticated Web analytics tools distinguish between what new and current customers do— and don’t do — when visiting and ordering.

Leadership: Positive Expectation

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Pete Rose, the famous baseball player, was being interviewed in spring training the year he was about to break Ty Cobb’s all time hits record. One reporter blurted out, “Pete, you only need 78 hits to break the record. How many at-bats do you think you’ll need to get the 78 hits?” Without hesitation, Pete just stared at the reporter and very matter-of-factly said, “78.” The reporter yelled back, “Ah, come on Pete, you don’t expect to get 78 hits in 78 at-bats do you?”

Mr. Rose calmly shared his philosophy with the throngs of reporters who were anxiously awaiting his reply to this seemingly boastful claim. “Every time I step up to the plate, I expect to get a hit! If I don’t expect to get a hit, I have no right to step in the batter’s box in the first place!” “If I go up hoping to get a hit,” he continued, “then I probably don’t have a prayer to get a hit. It is a positive expectation that has gotten me all of the hits in the first place.”