Monthly Archives: February 2010

In London This Week

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Chad Barr

Got on the Continental Saturday morning early flight from Cleveland to Newark and then continuing to London.  The comfortable Business First accommodation allowed me to relax, listen to my favorite iPhone music (about 8000 selections to choose from), catch up on my reading and continue my preparation for the New Product Experience I am conducting with Alan Weiss next week in Rhode Island. This week in London is going to be an outstanding week as five of my very close colleagues and clients: Dr. Guido Quelle from Germany, Libby Wagner from Seattle, Washington, Phil Symchych from Canada and Stuart Cross from the UK are meeting here with Dr. Alan Weiss to finish our certifications as Master Mentors, a new service we are going to offer to our clients.

During my first day (Monday) in London, my friend Libby Wagner and I, got a chance to visit Windsor Castle, the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms and Buckingham Palace. Amazing and fascinating places and history.

Here are some of Churchill’s wit that resonated with me:

“When I get to heaven I mean to spend a considerable portion of my first million years in painting”

“I have a tendency against which I should perhaps, be on my guard, to swim against the stream:

In 1933, as Hitler’s Nazi part came to power in Germany, Churchill asked: “Where shall we be in 1940?”

And here is another of his quote that I believe represents what true leaders are made of:
“I felt as if I were walking with destiny and that all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour and for this trial … I was sure I should not fail”

Windsor castle commentary by Libby Wagner. For a moment I thought the guards were going to escort her away:


St. George Chapel and view of Windsor Castle


Windsor Castle


Windsor Castle


Windsor Castle


Amazing art inside Windsor Castle


State dining room at Windsor Castle:


Guard by St. George Chapel


What a Royal Mail box looks like


Houses of Parliament from St. James’s Park


The gates of Buckingham Palace


Buckingham Palace

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Posted in Learning, Life Balance, Miscellaneous | Leave a comment

How Quickly Do You Respond To Your Web Inquiries?

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Chad Barr

My wife is exploring various fitness facilities in the area . She contacted one of the popular locations via their web site and requested a visit to review their place. Almost two weeks later, she finally received an email from one of their representatives. My wife wrote back saying that it’s been awhile since her inquiry and she has already joined another fitness facility.

Here was their reply:
“I am sorry to here that, we have been very busy for the past couple of months. The bad weather is giving us a chance to follow up and talk to the potential members that we have in our system. I would love to set up an appointment with you and give you a tour of our beautiful facility.”

When shared with me, not only was I surprised to see the grammatical mistake but I was also amazed of the poor excuses they used for their lack of follow-up action.

Here was my wife’s reply:
“Thank you for the offer but I am no longer interested.  I’m sure you have a wonderful facility but I am also interested in prompt customer service.  It’s not very comforting to know that you didn’t respond to my inquiry until the weather got bad enough for you to have the time to follow up on potential member inquiries.”

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Posted in General Business | 2 Comments

Leveraging Social Media in Your Busines – Should You?

Posted on February 7, 2010 by Chad Barr

I have recently received the catalog from Johnston & Murphy which does have some nice selections I must admit. What also caught my attention was actually the back cover which I scanned below. Notice how they promote their page on facebook with the enticement of finding exclusive offers and news.

Are you leveraging the various aspects of social media such as facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others to communicate with your clients?  You should.

Are you providing exclusive offers and news with these social media tools? You should.

Are you paying attention and taking notes of what others and your competitors are doing with social media and beyond? You should.

Are you offering your own genuine value by exploiting social media concepts? You should.

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Posted in Internet Marketing, Social Media | Leave a comment