Look into my eyes

Ave, amici.

And should you be reading this in some far flung airport lounge or executive suite in some swanky hotel still stranded far from home and loved ones while a thick blanket of volcanic ash smothers this green and pleasant land, hopefully you will find comfort and solace in these few humble words.

Hopefully you will be on your way back soon now we have at last seized back control from the eco-mentalists and Health and Safety Gauleiters who seem to be enjoying these few days of power and influence over us.

Once upon a time a bunch of Head Honchos from a major rail company went to visit their luvvie London ad agency. They were shown into a waiting room strewn with litter, discarded junk food junk, strong strength lager cans and cigarette ends. They waited. And then they waited some more. And then a wee bit more. Nobody came to see them. Nobody told them what was going on. They felt abandoned and left to stew in society’s detritus.

And then just as the Head Honchos were packing up to leave angrily, the Head Luvvie, trailing his train of luvvie acolytes and other Beautiful People, appeared and announced

‘Gentlemen, now you know what it is like for your customers’.

Shocked and surprised by this experience the Railway Head Honchos scurried back to their offices and set up project teams to address the issues raised by the experience they had just enjoyed. Or would endured be a better word? History does not record how successful these working groups were but the Head Honchos had just looked into the eyes of their business. And they did not like what they had seen.

How often do your Head Honchos look into the eyes of your business? How often do you look into the eyes of your business. This is a game we can all play-Marketing Grand Fromages, project managers, even risky people.

Let us talk airline food.

Do you remember the days when airlines used to fly? And do you recall the time when airlines used to feed you? Now some airlines do continue to feed you especially when you are either paying obscene amounts of money or when travelling long distance. Otherwise you now pay very little for your ticket and pay through the nose for everything from a cup of coffee to the ‘luxury’ of getting on plane first. Indeed one airline is now set to charge for taking a pee. Now consider the irony-you pay to fill your bladder and then you have to pay again to empty it.

Moving swiftly on…………

Returning to airline food. If you do recall those halcyon days of flying and of being re-fuelled in-flight you will recall that the in flight dining experience, especially in those sections of the plane where long limbed lanky passengers like Cicero used to sit, was unlikely to win a Michelin star.

Now Cicero has long contended that the best way to improve the quality of airline food was to serve it up to the Head Honchos in their board room or swanky office. Nothing works better, nothing improves the customer experience quicker, than when those with influence in your business, and that includes you, look at your business through customer eyes. When did you and your Head Honchos last do this?

And one last tip.

Why do you not give your customer facing staff access the same computer platform that you give your customers? Or at the very least wherever possible ask your customer facing people to use the public website for all their transactions and dealings. Think of the benefits. It will save your business money as the components are re-usable; your people will be looking at the same screens as your customers; and if it does not work for your staff you will be sure to know about it, your business would be compelled would be compelled to respond more quickly and the bugs will quickly vanish.

And the same goes for providing information. If the only source of information your people had about you was the public site, you can bet the site would be maintained to a very high standard and would be extremely effective for your customers.

Again you are all looking at the business through the eyes of your customers and your front line staff.

And so this week’s top tip for your business…..if you want to improve the airline food that your business serves up to its customers, if you want to change the experience you offer to your customers for the better, you, no matter where you work, should look into the eyes of your business. You must be prepared to look at this as a customer. And you must find ways to get your Head Honchos to do the same. You and they might be shocked at what they see but the results will be dramatic. Promise.

Is it only me………but I fear the enemy is now within?

It with some bemusement that Cicero has been watching the skies above us over the past week or so. According to the scientists the skies above us are thick with volcanic ash making it too dangerous for us to fly. And yet the skies above us are bright blue. How come? Now Cicero has seen ash and with all the wisdom that can be mustered it is not blue.

Now while the crisis was its height Cicero witnessed one scientist flying a plane straight into the so called ash cloud and announcing with all the gravitas that a scientist could muster ‘there was no way it was possible to fly a plane in complete safety with all the ash that was up there’.

Now here’s the thing-this scientist chappie was not wearing a white coat but a hard hat and a high visibility vest as he made his scientific pronouncements. He was in a plane, for God’s sake. What good did he think a high visibility vest and a hard hat was going to do him. It was a parachute he was going to need not a hard hat in the event of an emergency.

But the hard hat and vest were clues. This man was not a scientist but a member of the Health and Safety Gestapo working hard to ensure the elimination of even the teeny weeniest element of risk from our lives even at the expense of massive economic and personal disruption.

And Cicero is struck too by the glee shown by the eco- and enviro-mentalists that planes have been wiped from our skies, albeit temporarily.

Now this might only be me but Cicero has reached the clear conclusion that the enemy is now within and that the eco-mentalists and the Health and Safety Gestapo last week had joined forces to inflict serious and substantive misery on us. Now you might see the dangers of allowing their views to permeate our thinking. Be warned.

Trust your own eyes. And not the views of the men in white coats, hard hats or high visibility vests. The sky is clear. It is blue. The sun is out. Ergo it is safe to fly.

Have a great week.

Sis felix. Et sis fortunatus