Ralf Weiser's Blog – Shake Up Your Snow Globe! ©

Stop doing, shake your globe, ponder, dream, start reaching your full potential – live on purpose and do it with a smile!

Archive for the category “humor”

11 Apr 2017
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United Airlines and how to kill your brand with bad customer service in three easy steps


United Airlines and how to kill your brand with bad customer service in three easy steps 

We supposedly live in the land of customer service. Worry-free shopping of products and services is the mantra. What really happens is most often totally horrific customer service when things do not quite go the “standard” and “normal” way. Last night United Airlines forcibly removed a passenger from a plane on flight UA 3411 trying to make room for United personnel on an overbooked plane. It was a horrific scene recorded by many on their cell phones. Just two weeks ago the same airline barred two teenagers from boarding a plane due to them wearing leggings. Then who has for instance not seen the little video clip of “United Breaks Guitars”? More than 14 million views for this little ditty all because United Airlines was particularly ignorant listening to Dave Carrol’s request for getting his guitar repaired or replaced.

United is doing everything to kill their brand’s reputation. Treat your customer as a second or third class one. Perhaps he will get the message that he is just wasting his time and will thus just go away. Killer move! They appear to have totally lost the focus as to who pays their bills. It’s the customer stupid. Is that the best an airline of this kind of magnitude can do? Top management seems to totally forget that customers choose with their clicks – and they do not need to ask for permission. They will just not show up anymore. Let’s hope they will learn their lesson well.

Ralf

Posted in branding, business development, customer service, humor, leadership, regrets, sales and marketing, strategic planning, travel and tagged , , , , , ,
09 Apr 2017

A thorn in my brain: The curse of the alphabet


A thorn in my brain: The curse of the alphabet 

This curse happens especially at school. Your last name starts with a “W” or worse with a “Z” and you will almost never go first. Don’t believe me? Just attend a graduation celebration and you will recognize this pattern right away.

It is really a curse, because no one really wins here. Folks with names that start with letters of the last part of the alphabet usually need to listen to their best ideas as they are being delivered by the folks with the first part of the alphabet. By the time the teacher got to you, all good ideas were surely taken. All you could say would have been something like “exactly what my colleagues said”.

Conversely, People with names that start with A through K typically always have to prepare being called upon at first. That sometimes can occur out of the blue. While going first is great on one hand – you get it out of the way – the other side is that preparing for the surprises teachers have in store for you can really keep you on edge. Also, you end up listening to all sorts of great and refined ideas from folks that come after you. They had a lot of time to think about better answers.

How about the middle of the pack of last name letters? Lucky they are: Neither pestered first, and never going last. Of course, this routine could always be interrupted by a rogue teacher who would of course inadvertently upset this by starting from the backend of the alphabet. The only saving grace is that you know what to expect and that makes the curse at least predictable.

Ralf

Posted in balanced life, humor and tagged , | Leave a comment
06 Apr 2017

10 telltale signs that you are stressed out and a few way to bust stress


10 telltale signs that you are stressed out and a few way to bust stress 

Stress leads to all sorts of health problems and if at all possible we should avoid getting into stressful situations. Sometimes it is a little difficult to distinguish if and how much stress you are experiencing. I have a short list for you to enjoy, which will illustrates situations that were caused by too much stress. At the end of that list you can find a few ways reducing that stress.

You may be under too much stress, if:

  • you sit down at your desk and your colleagues give you a funny look. You were supposed to be off and you went to work anyway.
  • you drive “home” just to realize that you went to the house you used to own.
  • you put your trash out on a Sunday thinking it is Friday – the actual trash day.
  • you are halfway out the driveway on the way to work when you notice that the neighborhood is way too quiet. You find out it is Saturday.
  • you get off the airplane and your luggage does not arrive on the belt. You pay a ground support person $10 to check the aircraft and he appears with the suitcase. You rush out the airport as you need to catch a flight at the next terminal when you realize that you got off the airplane one stop too earlier and you should have gotten back on the same plane.
  • you rush through an airport and make a quick restroom pitstop. You sit down and look to the left and right and notice high heel shoes. You are a man.
  • you attempt punching in a telephone number into your computer’s keyboard and are unsuccessful in making a call.
  • you try making a phone call trying to key in the telephone number into calculator on your desk.
  • you go to the back to school night of your kids and you try remembering the school entrance door key code because you think you are at work and are now stumped that the code does not work.
  • you go back to the airport parking lot and have no idea what level you parked your car.

Funny, huh? Sadly enough these are my own real life examples of occurrences when my stress level was too high. Lesson learned was to keep slowing down and having enough down time once and a while. What really helps is exercising, sleeping long and well enough, hanging out with friends and family, and in general not taking yourself too seriously.

Ralf

Posted in balanced life, enthusiasm, humor, leadership, regrets, self improvement, servant leadership and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
04 Apr 2017

8 things helping enrich your life and that of the people in your life


8 things helping enrich your life and that of the people in your life 

We are blessed beyond measure with all the different people who come into our life. Keeping your talents to yourself is not only selfish, but you are wasting your life’s potential away. Even if you consider yourself to be an introvert, you still cannot ignore the fact that we humans are a very social bunch who managed to survive a lot better as a community. Singling yourself out is all but unnatural and most certainly will limit what life has got to offer for everyone of us. Here are 8 examples of how you can turn this situation around.

  • Be prudent with the time you spend at work. Have you ever seen a gravestone engraved with a sentence like this: “I wished I could have spent another hour at the office”? Try achieving a healthy work / family / social activity balance. Who needs you the most?
  • Go to your kid’s activities. Do not lead a life of regret. Kids grow up so fast that you will lose track of time in a heartbeat and before you know it they will be out of the house. Spend as much time with them and do not miss any of their school and leisure time activities. This time will never come back.
  • Travel as much as your budget and time will allow. The world is out there for us to experience. People and places are different from where you currently live and you only need to go a few miles for starters checking out a different county or state. Comparing and contrasting your life and environment add to the spice of life. You will see that we people are really not much different as far as our basic needs and aspirations are concerned. All the while nature, architecture, culture, food, work, etc can be dramatically different. Getting to know that there are more than one way to look at things helps build a mutual understanding and thus our tolerance for others goes up as well.
  • Volunteer your time and talents. Give without expecting anything back in return and you will be given and provided for beyond measure. Your gratitude and servitude will make others better off and you will feel great about yourself. Topping this list off is that you never know whom you will bump into who just may change your life forever.
  • Pay it forward and carry out random acts of kindness. Is it not sad if at the end of each day you have to admit to yourself that you have not been able to one kind thing for another person? Change this as fast as you can. You will feel great and you are giving someone reason for renewed hope. Don’t you like it when others recognize your existence?
  • Share your best skill or expertise with others. There is no excuse for you not to share your talents with others. Social media allow for you to do this with little to no cost. Local business associations, interest groups, Scouts, etc always look for people who can present on a relevant topic. Here is a chance for you to make provide information and training to others, you also raise your net worth with your employer. You brush up on presentation skills and at the same time people will always seek more of your advice.
  • Limit your time spent watching TV, computer, cell phone, etc. Much like the above comment about work here are just some of the many activities that your mind and life go into full blast inactive mode. They are a total waste of time. Read a book, take a walk, but for heaven’s sake do not let your life go into idle mode.
  • Be physically active. An idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Physically, there is a similar issue. We sit and rest way too much. Get up and get going, join a gym, participate in physical activity opportunities at work. Getting the bad juices out your system by exercising is a terrific stress and depression buster.

We are blessed beyond measure living in a country full of helpful people and organizations. You have no one but yourself in your way to grow socially and professionally. Here is my call to action for you to live to your full potential – all you have to do is to give your talents to others.

Ralf

Posted in balanced life, business development, collaborative management, faith, humor, information sharing, inspiration, leadership, motivation, people planet prosperity, regrets, sales and marketing, self improvement, servant leadership, strategic planning, synchronicity, travel, triple bottom line and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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