I just cancelled my home VOIP phone service, which Lingo raised to $33/month from $21/month in 2003. The service agent was polite in handling my cancellation request, and then she offered me the option to downgrade to $7/month for a “basic plan", which allows free incoming calls forwarded to my new phone number and $0.03/minute for outbound calls. Since many people still have my old number, I took their offer because it's worth $7 not to lose incoming calls while I transfer people to my new number.
Losing customers the wrong way
No one wants to lose customers, but companies handle this inevitable situation differently. AOL made it easy for me to sign up for a "free trial", but I found it almost impossible to figure out how to cancel after the trial ended so I wouldn't get charged every month. I finally cancelled and never would consider going back. When my wife cancelled our weekly house-cleaning service, the owner lost her temper and verbally berated my wife before slamming the phone down. The business owner never got to hear my wife ask about the bi-monthly or periodic service we wanted to switch to.
Let go, but keep the door open
Lost customers are still customers, and the conversation around cancelling a service is also an opportunity to offer another service of value. For example, a meeting planner may want to cancel their online registration service, but still retain access to their data for past events. So we offer a low-cost basic service that allows access to existing data and retains their web site and event configurations in case they return to use our service in the future. Many clients don't know that they need all of their historical data, but they are terrified of losing it - and they'll pay us to keep it stored, just in case they need it later.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Monday, January 05, 2009
The APEX Toolbox: Bringing Standards to Event Management presentation at MTE in New York City
Last November, I had the opportunity to present at the Meetings Technology Expo in New York City. E.J. Siwek asked me to fill in for the APEX session, so I modified his standard presentation with some of my experiences working on the APEX standards committee and trying to apply it to our software.
The APEX Toolbox: Bringing Standards to Event Management
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
PCI Data Security Standard Version 1.2 Takes Effect
The PCI Data Security Standards will update to Version 1.2 as of December 31, 2008, when Version 1.1 will "sunset". On October 1, the PCI Security Standards Council released version 1.2, which did not change requirements, but provided additional clarity and flexibility and addressed evolving threats. Windows IT Pro provides a nice summary table detailing the changes between version 1.1 and 1.2.
The end of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) wireless security
The major practical change that I found in PCI v1.2 is that new implementations of WEP security in Wi-fi Internet access are not allowed after March 31, 2009. Current implementations must discontinue use of WEP after June 30, 2010. WEP is a popular security option for Wi-fi installations, however, it became obsolete in 2004 with the completion of the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standards, and WEP is dangerously vulnerable. Nevertheless, WEP remains the default option for wireless security with many Wi-fi routers.
If you haven't migrated your Wi-fi networks away from WEP yet (or if you are still using unsecured Wi-fi), make it one of your New Year's resolutions to update your wireless security.
Happy New Year
2008 marked my ten-year anniversary working on Certain Registration (originally Register123). I wish you all a Happy New Year and best of luck in 2009.
The end of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) wireless security
The major practical change that I found in PCI v1.2 is that new implementations of WEP security in Wi-fi Internet access are not allowed after March 31, 2009. Current implementations must discontinue use of WEP after June 30, 2010. WEP is a popular security option for Wi-fi installations, however, it became obsolete in 2004 with the completion of the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standards, and WEP is dangerously vulnerable. Nevertheless, WEP remains the default option for wireless security with many Wi-fi routers.
If you haven't migrated your Wi-fi networks away from WEP yet (or if you are still using unsecured Wi-fi), make it one of your New Year's resolutions to update your wireless security.
Happy New Year
2008 marked my ten-year anniversary working on Certain Registration (originally Register123). I wish you all a Happy New Year and best of luck in 2009.
Monday, December 08, 2008
EIBTM 2008 in Barcelona
I worked our booth at the EIBTM 2009 show in Barcelona last week. This is a well-managed show (they use Certain Events for attendee management and 1-on-1 appointment scheduling) and I noticed several differences between it and the comparable shows in America (such as MPI and HSMAI).
Comparing European to American Shows
The show layout was more like a World's Fair than a trade show. Every country and major European city had huge multi-level booths with all sorts of give-aways and theme-based networking areas. I visited the real Oktoberfest in September and the Munich booth was a scaled-down dead ringer for the beer houses. The free booze (for attendees) starts at 10am and goes through to 6pm (1800) every day.
EIBTM has less of an educational component than you see in the U.S., however, prospects spend a greater time speaking with staff at the booths and understanding the products. I rarely give even a brief demo at shows in the States; typically a 30-second elevator pitch is all you get before scanning the attendee's badge. At EIBTM we had a dozen prospects each day who would sit in our booth for 15-30 minutes and watch a full sales demo. Attendees made appointments with exhibitors and then they showed up on time!
The show was more work for the booth staff, but the leads generated were higher quality and further along in the sales cycle.
Lift Conference = Events 2.0?
My favorite session was the annual technology debate with Corbin Ball and Laurent Haug. The debate was less interesting to me than Laurent's description of the Lift Conference.
A group of bloggers, academics, and entrepreneurs got together and designed this conference from the attendees up - with no marketing budget, no brand awareness, no budget for technology infrastructure, and complete openness (anyone could see anything). A few years later, they have a very successful conference that combines the best of traditional face-to-face meetings and new technology.
Although the conference completely relies on technology before and after the event (there is only online registration and no paper documentation or advertising), they try to minimize the use of technology on-site. They found that a room full of people fiddling with their laptops and web phones actually decreased social interaction (yes, to technology people this is a surprising conclusion), and they are better off without those for 3 days.
They also found that complete openness does not scale. In early years, the seminar planning page would have 10-15 proposals and attendees would comment and vote on the speakers and topics they wished to hear. As the number of proposals expanded to dozens and hundreds, this method began to suffer - very few people will invest hours review all proposals and so the ones listed at top tended to get the most votes.
Comparing European to American Shows
The show layout was more like a World's Fair than a trade show. Every country and major European city had huge multi-level booths with all sorts of give-aways and theme-based networking areas. I visited the real Oktoberfest in September and the Munich booth was a scaled-down dead ringer for the beer houses. The free booze (for attendees) starts at 10am and goes through to 6pm (1800) every day.
EIBTM has less of an educational component than you see in the U.S., however, prospects spend a greater time speaking with staff at the booths and understanding the products. I rarely give even a brief demo at shows in the States; typically a 30-second elevator pitch is all you get before scanning the attendee's badge. At EIBTM we had a dozen prospects each day who would sit in our booth for 15-30 minutes and watch a full sales demo. Attendees made appointments with exhibitors and then they showed up on time!
The show was more work for the booth staff, but the leads generated were higher quality and further along in the sales cycle.
Lift Conference = Events 2.0?
My favorite session was the annual technology debate with Corbin Ball and Laurent Haug. The debate was less interesting to me than Laurent's description of the Lift Conference.
A group of bloggers, academics, and entrepreneurs got together and designed this conference from the attendees up - with no marketing budget, no brand awareness, no budget for technology infrastructure, and complete openness (anyone could see anything). A few years later, they have a very successful conference that combines the best of traditional face-to-face meetings and new technology.
Although the conference completely relies on technology before and after the event (there is only online registration and no paper documentation or advertising), they try to minimize the use of technology on-site. They found that a room full of people fiddling with their laptops and web phones actually decreased social interaction (yes, to technology people this is a surprising conclusion), and they are better off without those for 3 days.
They also found that complete openness does not scale. In early years, the seminar planning page would have 10-15 proposals and attendees would comment and vote on the speakers and topics they wished to hear. As the number of proposals expanded to dozens and hundreds, this method began to suffer - very few people will invest hours review all proposals and so the ones listed at top tended to get the most votes.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Meetings Technology Expo in New York City
I'm speaking twice at the Meetings Technology Expo in New York City on Wednesday, November 12th. Please come by if you're able to and introduce yourself to me.
Security for Web 2.0: Staying on top of new Issues in Meetings Technology
9:15am-10:15am
Just when you thought you had a lock on data security with your meetings management software, along comes social networking, webcasts, and all the web 2.0 applications – wikis, blogs, forums. As with any technology, security issues are always a chief concern among technology users and providers. In this session you will learn what you need to know to keep your data privacy intact and what new security issues surrounding new technologies are on the horizon.
Session Take-aways:
The APEX Toolbox: Bringing Standards to Event Management
4:45pm-5:45pm
Discover how to improve your communications with vendors while enhancing your overall professionalism by using the recently released APEX Meeting & Event Planning Toolbox, a project of the Convention Industry Council. Learn what is on the horizon that will allow the industry to electronically transfer event management files.
Session Take-aways:
Have checklists when preparing an RFP, rooming list or event specifications Learn how to develop your own RFP and event specifications Learn what application developers are currently developing toward the APEX standards Discover the soon to be released APEX Power Shop for event professionals
Security for Web 2.0: Staying on top of new Issues in Meetings Technology
9:15am-10:15am
Just when you thought you had a lock on data security with your meetings management software, along comes social networking, webcasts, and all the web 2.0 applications – wikis, blogs, forums. As with any technology, security issues are always a chief concern among technology users and providers. In this session you will learn what you need to know to keep your data privacy intact and what new security issues surrounding new technologies are on the horizon.
Session Take-aways:
- What you need to know about protecting your customer information
- How to evaluate the security of your vendors
- Top 10 Things you should do Right Now
The APEX Toolbox: Bringing Standards to Event Management
4:45pm-5:45pm
Discover how to improve your communications with vendors while enhancing your overall professionalism by using the recently released APEX Meeting & Event Planning Toolbox, a project of the Convention Industry Council. Learn what is on the horizon that will allow the industry to electronically transfer event management files.
Session Take-aways:
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