JOHN T. PETERS

JOHN T. PETERS

WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO GO BACK TO AN OFFICE?

February 7, 2024 No Comments

Do you really need your team to be back in the office full time? The picture in this post? That’s me, writing this post. This past weekend, I was speaking to a friend about all the news surrounding going back to work full time, especially now with the Covid numbers on the rise again. My friend insisted his company wouldn’t be able to grow unless all his employees – everyone – came back to the office. He has issued a mandate that ALL his staff HAD to be IN the office, full time. I immediately said “Come on. Hybrid work is here to stay, my friend. Adapt or die.” He was shocked. And honestly, I was shocked he was shocked. Let’s look at hybrid work concept and practices and the related opinions. I pointed him towards an article which stated: “According to a survey conducted by LinkedIn, 74% of those surveyed indicated that the time spent at home – either during shut-downs or working remotely – during the pandemic, had caused them to rethink their current work situation.” ^ It’s simple – employees have proven they can work from home, and they want to keep doing it, at least in a hybrid model. The article basically says that if employers don’t allow some sort of hybrid model, employees will leave and find another job that does. As I looked at this, I believe the issue comes down to different points of view on five topics. My friend Shelly Kramer, one of the founding partners of Futurum Research, is a tech analyst and an expert on technology and how technology, (and a global pandemic) are driving the topic of the future of work. I spoke with her on this topic to see what her thoughts were on what the workplace will look like moving forward. She shared that she believes the companies with a mindset like my friend’s — one that requires all employees in the office at all times — will likely find it difficult to compete in what are challenging times in the workplace. Research form the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that when discussing recruiting with HR pros, 48% say their most pressing problem is finding a deep enough pool of talent, so finding skilled workers is clearly a problem. Shelly also shared that we are in the midst of what is being called “The Great Resignation” with employees at all levels leaving the workplace in droves, often due to either not feeling appreciated or their concerns heard by their employers, not feeling like their health and safety is a priority or realizing that there has got to be a better option than sticking it out in a job where they don’t feel valued. Kramer shared that the American retail sector alone has seen more recent resignations than any other industry, with almost 650,000 retail workers quitting in the month of April 2021 alone. Bottom line, according to Kramer, how companies treat employees as we continue to slog through a pandemic that to date has no end in sight will likely define them, and their brands, for a long time to come. Some employees are perfectly fine returning 100 percent to an in-person office setting, but many employees either prefer a wholly remote environment, or a hybrid work environment. Employers who discount those preferences will likely learn some very valuable lessons along the way at the hands of their employees. Or former employees. At the end of the day, many people don’t want to be in the office full-time anymore. Who would? With the Covid numbers on the rise, many expect schools will return to remote learning or some sort of hybrid. This will immediately put a strain on employees without childcare options. And as I’ve already mentioned, beyond the logistical issues of taking care of family, I believe most people are working MORE hours now that they’re working from home. So, where do you stand on the return-to-work topic? Also, if we’re not connected on LinkedIn, let’s fix that right now. Source ^ (https://apple.news/AjVcQzRGuSSiHdw0mxTH8yg)

Read More »

SHORT ON TIME AND RESOURCES? PARTNER UP!

February 7, 2024 No Comments

What’s your biggest professional challenge right now? What if I told you that somewhere, someplace, there’s someone at another company who, just like you, is in a very similar situation? What if I told you that person would love to join forces on a project to address a challenge, together? Believe it or not, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with any professional challenge that a good strategic partnership couldn’t solve. That’s right. Someplace there’s someone just like you, who is short on time, short on resources, and short on manpower, just like you, who needs to solve a similar challenge. The truth is, if you’d partner up, you’d both get to your end goal and share in the spoils. Together, you’d get there faster, cheaper, and with less risk. Sound complicated? It isn’t – if you know HOW to partner. First, you’ll need to identify your challenge, very specifically. Specificity is critical. Why? Because the most important aspect of a strategic partnership is finding the right partner. You’ll need to find someone at another company who is like-minded and has similar goals. You’ll want to find someone at a complementary company, who would benefit from partnering with you, just as much as you would gain from partnering with them. They don’t need to be in the same industry, though that would be fine. Frankly, working with friendly competitors isn’t a bad idea at all. In short, the potential list of strategic partners is endless. The hardest step is the first step; picking the right partner. You’ll need a list of potential targets because, as you’ll soon find out, not everyone wants to partner. Start by making a list. Who needs more customers like the ones you already have? Who has customers that your product or service would appeal to? Who would benefit from promoting to your customer list? Hang on. Before you panic, I’m NOT talking about giving away databases and I’m not talking about short-term, one-off deals. I’m talking about long-term, strategic partnerships. Credit card companies, media companies, hospitality companies, universities, retailers – the possibilities are endless. What’s next? You’ll need a good strategy. Here’s where my team and I can help, and do so quickly. Within a short time, we could put together a list of dozens of companies that might be open to partnering. Of course, it would have to be for the right project. Pitched correctly, many companies would consider working together to achieve a common goal. My team and I can help set up the strategy, create the potential list of partners, and even help close the deals. Interested? Let’s chat. And oh, if we’re not connected on LinkedIn, let’s fix that right now.

Read More »

AN OBNOXIOUS NEW MARKETING TREND – THAT NEEDS TO STOP

February 7, 2024 No Comments

“Do you want to save 10% on your purchase? Sign up for our emails below.” (But wait, there’s more.) If I am truly about to make a purchase or if I am seriously thinking about it, I’d enter my email address. I can always opt out later, right? Yes, I know, I rarely opt out but okay, I saved some dough. Simple transaction; email for a discount. That’s fair. As SMS texting becomes more popular for marketers, the lead-gen tactics used to GET mobile numbers have veered off the road of ethics, straight down Chicanery Lane. As you’ve no doubt experienced, the process is often different. “Do you want to save 10% on your purchase?” You see the familiar empty box in which to enter your email and, just underneath it, you see the “NEXT” button. Clicking “NEXT,” you expect, should take you to your shopping experience. But it doesn’t. You get to another screen that reads “Now enter your mobile number for SMS text signup to receive your discount.” Wait. I don’t want to give you my mobile phone number. Few things irritate me more than random BS text messages. So, I “X” out and shop. But guess what? I have, even according to the privacy policy, signed up for your emails. Hang on, city slicker. Had I known I was going to be required to give up my email address AND cellphone number to save X% on a potential purchase, I’d always end up at the same place, No. So, what do most people do? My wife easily enters her mobile number. After all, she’s about to potentially save some money on a potential purchase. She has no respect for her SMS inbox. (She never reads my posts, so I can be a tough guy with my tone.) If you look at her incoming text list, it looks exactly like….you guessed it… the inbox of my secondary email address I use for shopping. It’s a graveyard of now irrelevant offers. Sure, they made sense a couple of years ago, but not now. Sorry BBQGuys, I bought the grill and all the optional stuff. I’m done with you. By the way, for those of you waiting for me to pause to say “But John, you can always opt-out” sorry, but A) I rarely do, and B) when I DO opt out, I can hardly point to a successful opt-out. It seems as if most of those marketing emails keep coming! Also, this assumes an easy opt-out process. Slick marketers like to make it hard to opt out now with triple clicks and various unchecks needed to opt out. I don’t understand how some marketers are so clueless when it comes to brand protection. If I say I want to opt out of emails, it should be an easy, one-click process. If it’s more complicated, you are clearly showing me you don’t respect me or my time. Sure, in the short run, you’ll be able to stand up in a meeting and report you’re an email marketing genius based on low opt-outs. But in the long run, you’ll have to explain a drop in “customer” return rates. But I digress. So, what’s wrong with all of this? First, and don’t get me started, my wife takes time to respond to important texts. Of course, she does. She has to scroll through a dozen marketing texts to see “Please pick up the kids, I’m running late.” (Yes, I’ll call and text and call until I reach her, so rest assured the kids are never without a ride.) So now, important texts must compete with promotional texts about shoes. Shoes. How the heck can I compete with shoes? By the way, if you know me, you know I’m a bit of a prankster. So, to stand out, I added an eggplant emoji to my name on her phone, so when I text, she’s more likely to see it. Juvenile, I know. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of being bombarded with promotional messages. My SMS inbox is my safe place. Texts are for my wife, kids, parents, sister, cousins, friends, essential work contacts, and Nigerian royalty who need short-term loans to get access to the billions they’re going to share with me. That’s it. But here’s the issue I have. If you have to “trick” me into giving me my cellphone number, why on earth should I trust you with it? Just be straight with me. “Do you want to save 10% on your purchase? Enter your email and mobile phone number below.” Or, how about “…enter either your email or mobile phone number below.” Or, better yet, “…enter your email for 5% off your next purchase or add your mobile phone number for an additional 5%.” Don’t take advantage of my normal instincts to enter an email address (for which you automatically consider it an opt-in) and then ask for my mobile phone number in order to receive the discount. The worst part? You don’t send my discount when I don’t enter my cellphone number. Man, that’s lower than low. This is a slippery slope, my fellow marketers. Be careful with your brand. You don’t own it – your customers do. Treasure your customers and they’ll be loyal for the right reasons. Pull sneaky tricks like the one mentioned above, you’ll frantically be working on customer retention issues later. Let me know what you think. #marketing #texting #smsmarketing #sms #brandbuilding #protectyourbrand #openrate #digitalamarketing

Read More »

PLEASE PRESS “1” COULD BE KILLING YOUR BUSINESS.

February 7, 2024 No Comments

I just moved from the Midwest, back to the Northeast. I have made a hundred calls for various services: movers, utilities, carpet cleaning companies, and so many more. One thing for certain, I’ve encountered some of the worst automatic call distribution (ACD) systems around. Listen, I get it. I’ve been a big fan of ACD systems for many years. Done properly, they get callers to the right people so they can be helped as quickly and effectively as possible and they help diffuse inbound call loads during peak hours. What starts out as a way to deliver impressive customer service often ends up being a customer’s worst nightmare. And it’s your fault. I’ve designed and scripted more call trees than I can count. My goal has always been about the customer journey, and this wonderful technology should make that journey more pleasant. I realize many of you are dealing with staffing issues, and this post is not about wait times. Everyone understands – or at least they should. This post IS about ridiculously and unnecessarily complicated answering systems that require a Ph.D. to navigate. This situation has gotten out of hand. Honestly, what are some of you thinking? First off, I have noticed an increase in the number of companies who have hidden, and even entirely removed, their customer service phone numbers from their websites. Hello? Your goal is to make it easy to do business with your company, not make it impossible to get in touch with you. At least give me options. Do you offer an online chat option? How about a chat-by-text mobile option? How about the option to call me back instead of me waiting on hold listening to your royalty-free “music”? And come on, there’s no worse salt on the wound than a recording telling me I’m your top priority when clearly, I’m not. By the way, by hiding your customer service number on your site, I can only assume you want me to fill out your “Contact Us” form and wait for an email response. Really? I need help now. While we’re on the topic, if your form and processes are either complicated or time-consuming, you have other issues. You’re operationally inefficient or your website stinks. Or both. Believe me, I understand; you want to get the right call to the right department. Brilliant. However, please keep your topic selection process simple. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve listened to all the choices, and my topic wasn’t even listed as an option! How about making the last choice “For everything else, please press 8”? A client offered me this response… “If we do that, everyone will press that option.” My response? “Then the other selection options were not properly determined when you set them up.” To bring this rant to a close, let me say this; when you’re designing your call tree for your ACD system, run it by a few customers and your front-line agents before implementing it. They’ll tell you if it’s any good. If you want some help, call me…. you’ll get right through. Finally, if we’re not connected on LinkedIn or you’re not following me here, let’s fix that right now. #business #technology #acd #telephonesystems #telephony

Read More »

The most beautiful Private Villas and Resorts in Greece. (Greece “Opens” on May 14!)

April 8, 2021 No Comments

The CDC announcement that vaccinated people can travel is causing a stir, and this is great news. I’m hearing from all my friends in travel (agents, tour operators, hotels, cruises) there’s big activity push happening, and requests are coming in fairly quickly.  It feels like many people are starting to plan vacations to all sorts of destinations, near and far. My family and I have been very careful over the past year. For the most part, we’ve been home, with next to no socializing. This CDC announcement is exciting and we’re being cautiously optimistic that it’ll stick. As you know, Greece is my favorite place on the planet, and I’ve been lucky to have seen a lot of this world. Greece recently announced it will open May 14 to vaccinated travelers (or those who at least show a negative covid test no more than 3 days old prior to arrival). From what I’m reading and hearing, other popular destinations like Spain, Italy, and France will likely remain shut to American travelers through most of the summer. Of course, this might change, but I doubt it. Either way, Greece is poised to do well. Because of this news, my Greek hotelier, tour operator and cruise line friends are telling me it’s “all systems go” but their optimism, you can tell, is guarded. Given all this new information, I’ve been asked by quite a few people, about my thoughts on travel to Greece. I tell everyone the same thing; I hope to get there myself this summer but traveling anywhere is a personal decision. That said, I have some definite points of view on where to go in Greece, where to stay, and what to do. Sure, I customize my advice depending on who is traveling, when they’re traveling, plus their ages, and likes and dislikes. In general though, here are some thoughts. Every Greek island, of which there are roughly 6,000 (with only 227 inhabited ones), has its own personality; fun, busy, traditional, quiet. It might have black or red sand beaches, rocky beaches, or spectacular views. Likely, it is a combination of these. Either way, to visit Greece “properly” keep a few things in mind. Expertise: In general, tell anyone you’re going to Greece and they’ll have an opinion on which islands you should visit. This is either because they’ve been there, because they know someone who is Greek, or because they’ve watched Mama Mia a dozen times. They might have been there 20 years ago, but they’re at the ready with words of “wisdom.” So smile, say thank you, and ignore everything they just told you.  This holds true as well if the person with whom you just spoke IS Greek. Maybe even more so. You see, as Greeks, we are partial to the villages and islands from which our families came. Again, say “Efharisto” (thank you) and toss the suggestion you should visit their village on the Island of _____ (enter any Greek island here.) The truth is most of Greece is phenomenally beautiful. It just is. The views are spectacular, the food is fantastic, the people are friendly, and it is a very reasonably priced. But there are clearly ways to visit Greece in the right way. First, select the right island(s). Look, I know when you look at a map, they’re just centimeters apart, but that doesn’t mean two-night stays in a myriad of islands is the way to go. Quite the opposite. Forget the idea of island hopping. Not all islands have airports. Some require ferries or hydrofoils to visit, and this could take hours from one port to another. The absolute minimum time you should spend on any one island is 4 nights. Yes, four, dare I say a week. Greece is about relaxing and taking it all in, including afternoon siestas. It’s about walking through town, sipping a frappe (chilled frothy coffee), spending time at the beach and well, just being chill. It’s about watching the sunset and then eating an “early” dinner (at 10pm). So, relax. The number one mistake people make is ignoring this advice, then over-scheduling and regretting it the day they get there. The other mistake they make is listening to uninformed people about which islands to visit. Sure, Mykonos is known as a party island, but that doesn’t mean that’s how you have to experience it. I go there almost every year and while I *may* have enjoyed a few late-night libations and parties in the past, I now go with my wife and kids and we have a different experience; we hit the beaches during the day, have early dinners in town and head back to the hotel for the evening.  And sure, people say Santorini gets crowded, but this normally comes from people on over-packed cruise ships who ARE the crowds two days a week. For me, Santorini’s view is priceless. People gather on the cliffs and literally clap when the sun sets. But, there are places to stay where you avoid the crowds on the island, which makes it a wonderful experience. And I love smaller islands as well. Kalymnos is a favorite. It is VERY traditional and reminds me of the Greece I knew when I was a child. It has a myriad of beaches and wonderful, traditional tavernas and cafes where islanders spend their time. There’s also Antiparos, known for being the home of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. Quiet, quaint, picturesque – it’s beautiful. If you’d like, I’m happy to recommend some islands based on your travel style. As for where you should stay, I’ve certainly seen an increase in the amount of requests for private villas. Clearly, this is the way to go. It isn’t cheap though, but here’s the thing; if you go with another family and you get a private villa with 6 or more bedrooms, it’s more reasonable than doing it alone. I’m happy to connect you with my friends at one of the best villa rental

Read More »

JOHN T. PETERS

Facebook Instagram Linkedin Twitter Medium Youtube

About

Resources

Connect

©2024 John T. Peters. All rights reserved Disclosure

Scroll to Top