Richard Tubb's Blog, page 55

How to do awesome live-streams & virtual events – #TubbTalk 72

Richard chats to Phylip Morgan, tech entrepreneur and influencer and one of PCR Magazine’s Top 50 UK Executives, and Ben Harding, Director of Fresh Productions, the go-to events company for the tech industry, who provide everything you need in one place. 

Richard, Phylip and Ben discuss what hybrid events are and how the IT industry can embrace them, the tech you need to run an online event and why customer service and engagement is even more important. 

They also talk about what MSPs can do to support their customers during this tricky period and how to get more comfortable on camera. This episode was live-streamed, so there’s also a Q&A session where Phylip and Ben answered viewer questions during the interview. 

An Interview with Ben Harding and Phylip Morgan
Who are Phylip Morgan & Ben Harding?

Ben Harding is the Director of Fresh Events, the go-to events company for the tech industry, who provide everything you need in one place. Phylip Morgan will be familiar to long-time listeners of TubbTalk. 

Phylip is a tech entrepreneur with a 30-year track record of business success, and recognised by CRN as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the UK Technology Sector, and by PCR Magazine as one of the Top 50 Executives in the UK. 

Why IT Event Organisers Will Have to Embrace Hybrid Events

Phylip says that event organisers have to accept that social distancing is going to be a challenge for some time yet, because we don’t know when a (COVID19) vaccine is going to be available. 

Part of live events is that the attendees have to travel, and it’s impossible to social distance on a plane. It’s possible that there will continue to be travel restrictions, and that’s going to make live events harder. 

MSPs want to take their businesses forward and they want to take advantage of the latest technology available to their business, so it’s going to be necessary to have hybrid events in order for them to do so. 

Maybe if there’s an event in London, 100 people from the local area can attend, but for me, in deepest, darkest Wales, I’ll have to attend virtually, and I think that’s where hybrid events will become popular. 

Ben adds that hybrid events give you flexibility to choose which one you attend, and whether you do it in-person or virtually, so you don’t end up with conference fatigue. While you can’t network with people face to face, you can use virtual lobbies to chat.

Keep up to date with the latest MSP events over on The 2020 List of Awesome Events for MSPs.

What a Good Virtual Event Looks Like

All events need good and careful planning, with goals to achieve, a set budget and a team to support it. All of those things are important for virtual events, but you also need to increase your engagement with the attendees. 

To do that, make it as user-friendly as possible, and make it easy to go from presentation room and lobby, and it needs to be accessible on mobile as well as desktop. The main thing, though, is that things need to be measurable. Where did people go and what did they listen to? This allows you to create a buyer persona and market directly to them. 

And it’s important to have a good chat function so people can talk to each other. We want to enhance the customer experience, because we’ve got so much tech at our disposal.

One of the ways that Fresh Events does this is to offer a virtual ‘swag bag’. At live events, you collect leaflets and brochures from stands, so they allow people to send the information directly to their inbox, and link it to each of the custom booths. And don’t forget, you’ll need a global integration so attendees can communicate in different languages. 

What a Good Live Video Setup Looks Like

There’s a huge range of things to choose from, and you can spend as much or as little as you like on your equipment. But really, all you need is good, wired internet so it doesn’t lag and drop out, a high-quality webcam and decent audio. The most important thing is the lighting. As you go, you can customise things more and upgrade your tools. 

You can live-stream your event to give real-time engagement, answer questions directly and make people feel valued. However, using pre-recorded video lets you edit and tidy up mistakes, add titles and make it look great. It’s also a great way to get you more confident with speaking on camera. 

How People can Become More Comfortable on Camera

You’ve just got to do it and get used to it. Easier said than done, but you’ve got to start practicing and start small. The more you do, the better you get at it. You might feel embarrassed at first, but your audience will understand. 

The second part of this is that while some people are great at MCing events in person, they may not do such a good job virtually. As we move to more hybrid events, organisers will look for good hosts who can facilitate conversation, and I think that’s a new role that will emerge. 

For any MSPs or vendors listening to this, think about recruiting someone who’ll be good at doing this role virtually as well as in-person. It’s really important to give your customers a good experience, so use a professional presenter who’s used to doing this sort of thing, because it’s a totally different experience to putting someone on a stage and handing them a mic.

Live streamed Q&A

In a first for TubbTalk, we opened up the interview session to the live audience to ask their questions. We thought it would be good to share these too, so everyone can get the value from the answers Phylip and Ben gave. To watch the video in full, head over to How to do awesome Live Streams & Virtual Events on YouTube.

How can you network effectively at virtual events?

BH: There are three ways on our Fresh Productions platform. Firstly, there’s a general chat session which is accessible by all attendees. This shows you who’s at the event and allows you to send them messages. 

Then, just as with live events, there are booth reps at each booth, and they have a chat facility too. Finally, there’s a networking lounge, which is outside of the exhibition. Here, you can work out which experts will be around at different times of the day, and book a slot to chat directly with them.

 

What would you like networking to look like at virtual events?

PM: Some things will look the same when it comes to hybrid events. Although we’ll be using the ‘Big Picture’ stuff such as our screen and monitors, but we’ll still have our mobile phones to hand too. 

If I’m listening to a presenter on stage, I’d tweet out a comment or photo, and that can be done from home or the office too. Then you can say, “I’m watching this online now, and if you are too, get in touch. People will engage with you, and you can be a leader and network in exactly the same way as you would do in person.

 

What are lower thirds?

BH: Lower thirds is what you can see just above our name tags. It’s a video production thing, although I don’t know why it’s called that!

 

What software and equipment did you use to record this Interview?

BH: We’ve got a basic webcam and audio equipment, but we had Dennis in the studio using a high spec PC which is encoding everything and preventing lag where possible. Then, it’s all going out on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and so on.

 

What do you think of virtual backgrounds for zoom calls?

BH: When the opportunity is there and it’s the right time to use them, then it’s brilliant to use them. If you’re working from your dining room and the kitchen is behind you full of dirty dishes, it’s better to hide the mess to minimise distraction. 

When you’re trying to increase the engagement online, you don’t want people being distracted by things behind them, you want them to listen to you. They’re great when they’re needed, but if you can create a real background with plants, uplighters or even candles, then the authentic version is better.

 

What is your setup, Richard?

RT: I’ve got a Blue Yeti microphone on an anti-shock stand arm, with a pop filter over the front to cut out noise. Then I’ve got a normal PC and a high spec one, an HD webcam from Logitech, and a monitor.

PM: I’ve got a stand-up, sit-down desk and keyboard. I’m using a Jabra Evolve 75 headset, which is Bluetooth and can be connected to a mobile phone and my PC at the same time. I’ve got an I7 Dell PC and a Logitech C920.

 

How can you monetise hybrid events?

PM: When it comes to a live event, people are heavily invested. They’ve put the time in their diary, they’ve had to travel, maybe get up early for a train. They’re invested financially, emotionally and physically. It’s a big investment for someone, even if they just do a ‘lunch and learn.’

Online, you don’t have that luxury. If they lose interest, they can switch off. So there are three elements to make a virtual or hybrid event work. First of all, share your agenda – who’s speaking and why should they attend? What are the benefits for them? And then deliver an awesome customer experience. 

Once the event is over, your follow-up has to get feedback, to find out what you can help them with or give them further information about something they expressed an interest in. That’s where you’ll see the payback in terms of ROI, such as better engagement. 

You’ll also have better engagement during the event, because you’re encouraging people to do that. And you’ll create FOMO during and after, because seeing people talk about someone great that they saw speak will make others feel that they missed out. 

They may not transact with you now, but the long tail of that transaction is going to be extended. And if you do it well, an online event will be more profitable than an in-person event.

 

Have you seen any businesses where live streaming is particularly good for them and where they’re making wins?

BH: Anyone who hosts a conference in real life with over 50 attendees will find they have a global reach when they move online, and that’s going to grow their event. In turn, that’s going to grow their business. 

It’s also about thinking differently about the possibilities. Alongside your keynote speakers, exhibitions and trade shows, you could host a job fair, and even allow people to apply for roles directly within the event platform. And the networking part of it helps too.

 

Do you see VR and AR coming into hybrid events in the future?

PM: We’re already there! We mentioned using green screen on Zoom calls earlier – that’s augmented reality. If you decide to have a background of the San Francisco Bridge instead of your office, then you’re using AR. 

BH: Yes, but we need to be faster at creating AR and VR within online event platforms. For example, when we create a custom booth, the quicker you can do that the better. At the moment, it takes a while, but if we made a 360º virtual headset style perspective, that takes a lot longer.

They’re using the technology in the music industry to film live events in 360º, but they have special cameras and the operators stand on the stage beside the musicians. And they have a huge team to put all of the images together afterwards. 

It comes down to time – the quicker we can design what we need and stitch it all together, such as with the custom booths, then it will be possible to deliver it. But I don’t think that’s too far away.

 

How can you model the sponsorship side of hybrid events? How can you market them and what will advertising look like in future?

PM: Things change all the time, in all kinds of industries. Some opportunities will no longer be possible at virtual events, such as the lanyards, but there are ways to create other monetised sources. 

Organisers may have social advocates to talk about the event online, or a vendor may send a gift to someone and get them to do a reveal of what it is. I think we’re going to see a burst of creativity over the next couple of years as event organisers come up with new ways to monetise conferences. 

One thing I’m certain of is that what the tech channel needs right now is vendors who are looking to take their businesses forward, and MSPs being more focused on their customers that they need to serve, and understanding what they want. 

Customers are in two categories now – those who are really under pressure because of the impact of COVID19, who can’t grow their business and have been hit hard. That’s places like restaurants, pubs and bars. Then, we’ve got people whose businesses are online, or are B2B, and those companies are growing, which brings its own stresses and strains. 

It’s a case of spotting the opportunities, and we need vendors to come up with creative solutions to fix the problem for business owners, and to present that as a ‘toolkit in a box’ for MSPs to implement for their customers.

 

How do we make sure live events are ‘live’ and a delay doesn’t cause a problem?

BH: The delay on live streams isn’t actually that long. This interview that we’re doing has a delay of about three to five seconds, which isn’t bad. If you want to pose a question that gets noticed during the Q&A session, that shouldn’t be a problem. 

On the hybrid side, when there’s a physical venue you can livestream with the real stage and the people on it, with the screens behind, and put it on the platform, and you can ask questions as well. So even if an audience member is sitting at home, they can still get involved with the Q&A part of the panel sessions.

 

On a live video, do you prefer to stand up or sit down? 

PM: I stand up. I’m a very animated person, and I flail my arms around and use body language to communicate. I do that on all live streams, so it’s easier to stand up. But as you can see, Ben is sitting down.

 

How do you know who people are when they’re using avatars? Not everyone has an avatar that looks like them.

PM: I can see the death of the avatar, because in a hybrid world, we’re going to want to be able to identify people. If my avatar wears a Viking hat, I’m not going to attend an in-person event in London wearing a Viking hat! 

We’re all going to have to move to having professional photos done in order to move our businesses forward, and we’ll be using those headshots in place of the avatar images. 

And another aspect of it is that people despise bots. I want to know I’m talking to Richard Tubb online, not his bot. I think there’ll be some pressure when the hybrid model comes to the fore, but people will become a lot more comfortable with putting their own headshot up rather than an avatar.

 

RT: What is the one question you think I should have asked you today that I didn’t?

PM: We could have talked about how we can help MSPs to grow their businesses. And I think the way we could do that is to help them understand that they can help their small business owner customers by introducing them to all the wonderful new technology available. 

Everyone is using things like Teams and Zoom now, so why can’t an MSP owner, no matter where they’re based, organise a virtual event right now? Find an expert from your supply chain, or all of them, whether that’s your accountant or solicitor, and say, ‘I want to help my customers by putting on an online event.’ Then work with them to deliver it.

A lot of MSPs aren’t asking themselves what they can do now to help their customers, because they’re waiting for things to go back to normal. Don’t wait – think and come up with ideas for how you can help your customers in a new and dynamic way. 

BH: I think a lot of people will have listened to our chat, or seen conferences being run virtually, and be wondering, ‘How much does this platform cost?’ But in relation to a physical event, the online platform is a lot cheaper, and it’s easier for your attendees. You don’t have venue or production costs, but you get a global reach. And that’s not as expensive as you think.

Connect with Ben and Phylip

You can find out more about Ben on LinkedIn, or go to: www.freshproductions.co.uk. Likewise, you can find Phylip Morgan on most platforms, so search for him on your preferred tool and he’s happy to answer questions.

Mentioned in this episode

Jabra Evolve 75 Wireless Bluetooth stereo on ear headset- optimised for unified communications for PC, smartphone and tablet,Black 
Logitech C920 HD Pro Webcam for Amazon, Full HD 1080p/30fps Video Calling, Clear Stereo Audio, HD Light Correction, Works with Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, Hangouts, PC/Mac/Laptop/Macbook/Tablet - Black 
Logitech Blue Microphones Yeti USB Microphone for Recording and Streaming on PC and Mac, Game Streaming, Skype Calls, Youtube Streaming, Plug and Play, Silver 

Connect with Me

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Follow TubbTalk on iHeartRadio
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The post How to do awesome live-streams & virtual events – #TubbTalk 72 appeared first on Richard Tubb.

Arcus Weather – The Most Accurate Android Weather App

Do you ever leave the house for a walk, only to get drenched by the rain? Or go out wearing a heavy coat, and swelter in the sunshine?

Every Friday I share one of my favourite finds of the week — a website, tool or an app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is Arcus Weather – The Most Accurate Android Weather App.

What is it?

Arcus Weather is an Android Weather App that uses Hyper-Local weather data to give you accurate weather forecasts.

How much does it cost?

Arcus Weather is free to use, with a Premium version costing £2.59

Arcus Weather – An Accurate Android Weather App

Living in the United Kingdom with its very changeable weather means that when I leave the house, I like to know whether it’s going to rain or shine.

Arcus Weather is an app for Android Smartphones that can use hyper-local data to give you very accurate weather forecasts for where you live.

I recently wrote about Dark Sky – Hyper Local Weather Information. Since I wrote that article, Dark Sky has been acquired by Apple who are sadly retiring the Android app.

Arcus Weather is a very strong replacement to Dark Sky for Android users!

Arcus uses the new Forecast.io (the makers of Dark Sky for iOS) API to get the most accurate, and most current weather information.

I’ve used Arcus Weather for a while now, and the weather forecasts it gives are very accurate.

You can set the application to notify you if rain is due, and alert you to severe weather forecasts.

Arcus can be configured to sit in your Android notification bar and let you know the latest weather forecast at a glance.

It’s accurate, down to your street level, and it saves you getting soaked in the rain. What more could you want?

How can I get it?

You can download Arcus Weather from the Google Play store.

You can also visit the Arcus Weather website, or follow @arcusweather on Twitter.

Thanks to Arcus Weather creator Kushan Jayatilleke for creating such a great app!

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The post Arcus Weather – The Most Accurate Android Weather App appeared first on Richard Tubb.

Mokibo – Touchpad Fusion Keyboard

If you’ve ever tried to use an on-screen keyboard on an iPad, and cursed the lack of keys, or used a physical keyboard, but wished you had a touchpad, then the Mokibo Touchpad Fusion Keyboard will be of interest to you!

Every Friday I share one of my favourite finds of the week — a website, tool or an app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is Mokibo – Touchpad Fusion Keyboard.

What is it?

The Mokibo Touchpad Fusion Keyboard is a physical keyboard that allows you to move and click on the keyboard, like a touchpad on a laptop.

How much does it cost?

The Mokibo Touchpad Fusion Keyboard costs from $119.

A Touchpad Fusion Keyboard

I love technology that helps you do things more efficiently. Swiftkey – Smart Keyboard with Autocorrect is a great example of software that can help you get more done, faster.

When I visited CES 2020 in Las Vegas, I saw a lot of great technology. One of the most useful devices I saw was the Mokibo Touchpad Fusion Keyboard.

It looks like a normal keyboard, but you can also use it as a touchpad!

The designers have turned the entire surface of the keyboard into a large touchpad.

There are other nice features such as

if you slide up and down with two fingers, it will work as the mouse scroll function.
a variety of hotkeys including Home screen, Search, Screenshot and Virtual keyboard on/off.
Other hotkeys such as Volume, Screen lock, Battery check, and Touch lock, etc.

The keyboard works via Bluetooth and can be connected to any Bluetooth-enabled device such as Windows, Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad.

You can connect up to 3 Bluetooth devices at a time and easily switch between different devices.

The device itself is really thin and made of aluminium. It weighs around 245g, so is very light to carry.

As my friend Jim Stackhouse of NeoLore Networks (who was also at CES, and who found the Mokibo awesome!) said — the Mokibo has great applications with people who want to use a Virtual Desktop via an iPad. The full functionality of a desktop PC, via an iPad? Nice!

How can I get it?

You can order the Mokibo (plus its range of accessories) from the Mokibo website.

You can also visit the Mokibo Facebook page.

Thanks to Mokibo inventor Eunhyung Cho for spending time to demonstrate the Mobiko to me at CES 2020!

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The post Mokibo – Touchpad Fusion Keyboard appeared first on Richard Tubb.

The Remote Connect Virtual Conference for MSP Managers

If you take a quick glance at The 2020 List of Awesome Events for MSPs then you’ll see that, as a result of COVID-19, nearly all the usual IT industry events have been cancelled.

However, all is not lost!

The good folks at SmileBack have decided to put an event together for MSP Managers that will take place entirely over Zoom!

Remote Connect

The team at SmileBack are calling their event Remote Connect and it will take place on Wednesday 13th May 2020 between 4 pm and 9 pm BST (that’s 11 am until 3 pm EST).

Remote Connect is an interactive, content-rich Zoom experience created by MSP managers for MSP managers.

The event will feature 9 different breakout sessions to choose from, plus I’ll be delivering the events keynote presentation. There will also be some entertainment and prizes.

An Event by MSP Managers for MSP Managers

The Remote Connect event will have 3 x 3 parallel sessions, each delivered by industry professionals, and covering topics such as:

Managed Services in the time of Corona: a keynote by me on how the current crisis is affecting our industry.
Follow these 7 steps to double your sales closes: MSP, Cloud and Security Sales Expert  Erick Simpson will be revealing the 7 keys to closing more business.
Bells and whistles—What KPIs should you have on your dashboard? Phillip Myers of  Captain’s Chair will share the journey of a business review.
No alarms and no surprises—Acing the quarterly business review: Daniel Welling of  Welling MSP will present the effectiveness of QBRs for MSPs.
7 Secrets to more vendor Market Development Fund (MDF): B2B marketing veteran Ted Hulsy, CEO at  IronPath , will be sharing his secrets for getting more than your fair share of vendor MDF!
Power and potential of automation: an interactive panel featuring industry experts from Datto ,  MSPbots , and  JNR Networks.
MSP, this is our call to IT Leadership: Vera Tucci of  T-Consulting , a thriving Italian MSP focused on security and business continuity services for SMBs, will present a “workbook” that the participants can work on to create a guideline and manual for Leadership in the MSP world
Fireside chat with Richard Tubb facilitated by Jonathan Crowe of  NinjaRMM

This is an event by MSP Managers for MSPs Managers!

Register now and Raise funds for COVID-19 Charities

Registration for Remote Connect is open now!

Remote Connect will take place on Wednesday 13th May 2020 between 1600-2100 BST (1100-1500 EST).

There’s no registration fee, but a donation of at least $25 is suggested with *all* registration fees going to a charity supporting COVID-19 relief efforts.

Click here for more details and to register now!

I’m looking forward to getting together with my MSP peers in this virtual event. Kudos to SmileBack for putting this event together and raising funds for COVID-19 relief efforts.

What topics would you like me to address in my keynote presentation? Please leave a comment or get in touch.

You Might Also Be Interested In

How the MSP Staff Recruitment Industry is Changing for the Better – TubbTalk #41
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Zoom – Cloud Video Conferencing

The post The Remote Connect Virtual Conference for MSP Managers appeared first on Richard Tubb.

The Remote Connect Virtual Experience for MSP Managers

If you take a quick glance at The 2020 List of Awesome Events for MSPs then you’ll see that, as a result of COVID-19, nearly all the usual IT industry events have been cancelled.

However, all is not lost!

The good folks at SmileBack have decided to put an event together for MSP Managers that will take place entirely over Zoom!

The Remote Connect Virtual Experience

The team at SmileBack are calling their event The Remote Connect Virtual Experience and it will take place on Wednesday 13th May 2020 between 4 pm and 9 pm BST (that’s 11 am until 3 pm EST).

Remote Connect is an interactive, content-rich Zoom experience created by MSP managers for MSP managers.

The event will feature 9 different breakout sessions to choose from, plus I’ll be delivering the events keynote presentation. There will also be some entertainment and prizes.

An Event by MSP Managers for MSP Managers

The Remote Connect event will have 3 x 3 parallel sessions, each delivered by industry professionals, and covering topics such as:

Managed Services in the time of Corona: a keynote by me on how the current crisis is affecting our industry.
Follow these 7 steps to double your sales closes: MSP, Cloud and Security Sales Expert  Erick Simpson will be revealing the 7 keys to closing more business.
Bells and whistles—What KPIs should you have on your dashboard? Phillip Myers of  Captain’s Chair will share the journey of a business review.
No alarms and no surprises—Acing the quarterly business review: Daniel Welling of  Welling MSP will present the effectiveness of QBRs for MSPs.
7 Secrets to more vendor Market Development Fund (MDF): B2B marketing veteran Ted Hulsy, CEO at  IronPath , will be sharing his secrets for getting more than your fair share of vendor MDF!
Power and potential of automation: an interactive panel featuring industry experts from Datto ,  MSPbots , and  JNR Networks.

This is an event by MSP Managers for MSPs Managers!

Register now and Raise funds for COVID-19 Charities

Registration for The Remote Connect Virtual Experience is open now!

The Remote Connect Virtual Experience will take place on Wednesday 13th May 2020 between 1600-2100 BST (1100-1500 EST).

There’s no registration fee, but a donation of at least $25 is suggested to help raise funds for a charity supporting COVID-19 relief efforts.

Click here for more details and to register now!

I’m looking forward to getting together with my MSP peers in this virtual event. Kudos to SmileBack for putting this event together and raising funds for COVID-19 relief efforts.

What topics would you like me to address in my keynote presentation? Please leave a comment or get in touch.

You Might Also Be Interested In

How the MSP Staff Recruitment Industry is Changing for the Better – TubbTalk #41
Where MSPs go wrong with Customer Feedback – TubbTalk #18
Zoom – Cloud Video Conferencing

The post The Remote Connect Virtual Experience for MSP Managers appeared first on Richard Tubb.

How to be a Helpdesk Super Hero – TubbTalk #71

Shouldn’t customer service be intuitive? Perhaps, but it often isn’t. Luckily, today Richard is joined by help desk superhero, author, and all-round good guy Mark Copeman to talk about how to learn great customer service skills, one habit at a time.

An interview with Mark Copeman

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou.

If ever there was a quote that sums up the very essence  of customer service, this is surely it, so it’s no surprise to find this in the foreword of Mark’s wonderful book: Helpdesk Habits: Become a helpdesk super hero and make yourself indispensable.

Despite a varied career (Mark says he’s had more jobs than Darth Vader’s had lieutenants!), he’s always found a common thread: whatever industry you’re working in, it’s all about using customer service to make people feel good.

Whether he was wearing the hat of an account manager, an account director, or a business owner, Mark says, a huge part of his work experience was learning to understand how clients feel about you and about what you’re doing.

From agency owner to author

After owning a marketing agency or two, in 2010 Mark was persuaded by a client to build Customer Thermometer, which he describes as ‘pretty much the first one-click feedback survey tool on the market.’ While Customer Thermometer was originally aimed at the marketing agency space, it wasn’t long before MSPs started signing up so Mark decided to pivot the business and integrate with various PSAs and form relationships with them.

After years of talking to — and working with — literally hundreds of MSPs around the world about CSAT and customer experience, Mark decided to leave Customer Thermometer in 2018. Like so many of us, he’d always felt the urge to write a book, so after a lazy summer enjoying the World Cup, he knew that the time had come to finally put pen to paper and start work on Helpdesk Habits.

And thank goodness he did because it’s a subject that desperately needed to be addressed!

The neglected art of customer service

The book absolutely swept the MSP industry and, as clichéd as it may be, Mark is constantly humbled by MSP owners who claim that it’s completely changing how they do business.

So why has Helpdesk Habits had such an impact on so many MSP owners, as well as entrepreneurs in other industries?

Well, the fact that it has universal appeal helps: whether you’re dealing with IT, finance, marketing, account management, or even HR, you need to get on board with customer service. And while most people have extensive training in their specialist area of business, customer service is an area that tends to be forgotten about.

‘So often people are trained in their discipline. If you’re a technician you’ll go on a certification or you’ll learn how a database works, you’ll learn how to debug something. If you’re an accountant, you’ll do your accountancy exams. But it’s just assumed that people will know how to deal with customers. They’ll know how to do and say and write the right things.’

However, the deeper Mark dug into the subject, the clearer it became: customer service isn’t as intuitive as we might think.  Some people, of course, are naturals, and seem to have an instinct for how to talk to people, and how to react appropriately. But it’s not a given, and if you’re not that way inclined, you may need to be shown the way. As Mark says, it’s about more than knowing how to interact with people generally, ‘it’s about the little bits of detail, which you may not realise can make a really big difference.’

Why common sense isn’t always enough: IQ vs. EQ

I have to admit that I’d certainly always assumed that when it comes to customer service, it all boils down to common sense. Mark, however, isn’t convinced.

‘For me, it’s an IQ versus EQ thing.

By the time you’re in your early 20s, your IQ is kind of set. But the good news is that EQ, the emotional quotient or emotional intelligence, can actually go up as well as down, and you can affect that during the period of your life.

And often people say that customer service is intuitive, but how often do you come off the phone to a generic call centre for a utility company, or a large TV satellites type company, and think, “Oh, that was just the worst”. If it’s intuitive, why isn’t everyone doing it? But they’re not’

On why habits are the key to perfecting customer service

So if giving great customer service is learned, rather than instinctive, how should we go about developing the skill?

Mark’s a big fan of psychology, particularly as it relates to habits, and it’s an area he’s studied in depth. And he’s convinced that just as it’s the key to making progress in so many areas of life, it’s pivotal to those who want to perfect their customer service.

After all, we’re all great at self-improvement; we’ll read something new, or watch a video, to pick up new tactics and then employ what we’ve learned for a week or two before it falls away again. 

As Mark says, ‘if that tactic is kind of diametrically the opposite of what you’re used to doing, what typically happens is that you will sort of fall back. It’s like reformatting your hard drive: you will go back to what you had previously learnt.

Your brain defaults to your natural state over time, unless you take that tactic that you’ve learnt, you truly embed it, and you turn it into a habit’

The good news? While habits may be hard to create, once they’re embedded, they’re equally hard to break. If you’re interested in building your own habits, you might want to read: 3 ways to build better habits immediately

Customer Service and the human touch

Along with habit formation, one of the subjects that crops up time and time again in Mark’s work, is the importance of human customer service. We all know, of course, just how much we love automation in the MSP industry, using bots, email responders, and other tech to grease the wheels of customer service.

And while Mark is not opposed to AI, bots or any other technology that might have become part of our customer service strategy, he believes that we should, wherever possible, give customers the option to communicate with real life human beings — and ensure that they get a ‘real life human being type response in a sensible timeframe as well.’

As he says, ‘people just crave authenticity these days. You get that big sigh when you realise that you’re talking to a chat bot and you know your question is a bit tricky and there’s no way in the world that some kind of decision tree is going to give you an answer. It can be really frustrating and you need that path through to a real person.

I think it’s so important for setting the right tone from the start and for showing empathy for your customers— it’s such a differentiator.’

On empathy — and getting your phrasing just right

In fact, whether you’re trying to recruit the right person for your helpdesk, you’re hit with a Friday afternoon disaster that you need to smooth over, or  you have an apology to make, empathy is the watchword. And adding a hefty dose of honesty to the mix goes a long way too.

For example, Mark reckons there’s nothing wrong with holding your hands up and admitting that you don’t know the answer to a customer question. One of his favourite replies during his Customer Thermometer days was,

‘That’s a great question. You know, I’ve never been asked that before.’

As Mark says, ‘it does a couple of things. Firstly, it makes the client feel like they’ve asked something really intelligent — which they have — and it gives you room to breathe a bit and say, “no, I don’t know the answer but I do know someone that does so I’ll get back to you within 24 hours”

Which is exactly what they need; they don’t need you to fluff, to make something up.’

It’s all about getting really great at communication, which is one of the threads that run through Helpdesk Habits as well as Mark’s online program. And sometimes it can be as simple as channelling your empathy for a client and their problem, and making tiny tweaks to your phrasing.

Mark uses the example of the helpdesk classic, ‘log out first’ instruction.

As he points out, if you’re technically minded, there’s nothing wrong with this instruction at all, but if you put your customer service head on, it could use a little improvement. He recommends changing it to:

‘If you’re already logged in, don’t forget you need to log out first.’

It may feel technically unnecessary but just by using a few extra words, it becomes softer, less harsh, and maybe closer to what people need when they’re frustrated with an IT problem.

‘The key is to be ‘mindful of your audience. I’m a helpdesk right now in another venture that I have and I’m dealing with subscriptions, adding credit card details and things like that. And I’m trying to practice what I preach. So I re-read the phrases I’m using and try to think about what my 60-70 year old customers will understand. Or in an MSPs case, it’s thinking about whether a non-technical person will understand your command prompts. Will adding in a few extra steps, separating some of the sentences, or putting something in bold make it even clearer?

Thinking about your audience is absolutely critical.’

Online training

One of the things I love most about Mark’s book is that it’s packed with examples of tiny tweaks you can make to your customer service phrasing — for me, getting your hands on a copy should be an absolute no-brainer for any MSPs (or anyone else) who wants to up their customer service game.

Of course Mark appreciates that we all have different learning styles, so for those who aren’t such fans of training via books, there’s also an online training option.

‘When I wrote the book, I did it knowing that the core of the text would form the basis for a script for the online program. I was just so passionate about turning this thing into something that was kind of alive and kicking and that had a sort of human face to it.’

The result of this passion is a training course with around 60 modules covering the 50 habits mentioned in the book, as well as a load of other resources and the option to gain a certification so people can really measure their progress.

If you’re a fan of the book and want to take a deeper dive into Mark’s helpdesk habits (and take advantage of the certification!) or you prefer to learn online, Mark has kindly provided a special link for TubbTalk listeners — you’ll find it in the show notes.

What’s next for Mark?

Never one to rest on his laurels, the release of Mark’s second book is imminent. In MSP Secrets Revealed, he’s bringing together words of wisdom from around 88 MSPs, sharing 101 secrets spread across recruitment, marketing, operations, and team management, along with some personal stories and fascinating anecdotes.

He’s been lucky enough to receive contributions from some incredible MSPs and hopes that it inspires us as much as writing and editing it inspired him. I absolutely loved Helpdesk Habits, so I, for one, can’t wait for the release date!

Connect with Mark:

markcopeman.com
Twitter: @mark_copeman
LinkedIn: Mark Copeman

Mentioned in this Episode:

Helpdesk Habits online training
Helpdesk Habits: Become a helpdesk superhero and make yourself indispensable. 
MSP Secrets Revealed
The Tech Tribe
Customer Thermometer


Connect with Me

Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
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Subscribe and rate TubbTalk on Spotify
Follow TubbTalk on iHeartRadio
Follow @tubblog on Twitter

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Productivity, healthy habits, and getting things done
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Is Your Service Desk losing money because of Bulldog Engineers?

The post How to be a Helpdesk Super Hero – TubbTalk #71 appeared first on Richard Tubb.

Nimble Prospector – Manage Your Business Relationships

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to see insights into the people and companies you deal with every day, directly from within your web-browser? That’s what Nimble Prospector does!

Every Friday I share one of my favourite finds of the week — a website, tool or an app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is Nimble Prospector – Manage Your Business Relationships.

What is it?

Nimble Prospector 2.0 is a web-browser extension that enables you to create new contacts or update existing contacts from anywhere you work.

How much does it cost?

Nimble Prospector 2.0 is part of Nimble CRM.

Nimble CRM costs from $19 per user per month.

The Nimble Prospector Web-Browser Extension

Every business needs a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and my system of choice is Nimble CRM.

I like Nimble CRM because it’s a Social CRM for Small Businesses. It’s built for Small and Medium (SMB)-sized businesses who do a lot of prospecting online, using email and social media.

The new Nimble Prospect 2.0 web-browser extension has been a revelation in managing those online relationships.

It makes it easy to either add a new contact or update an existing contact, all without leaving the website you’re currently browsing.

For instance, you visit the website of a prospective client. Nimble Prospector immediately builds a live company insight that can tell you more about the business.

Another example would be visiting a Twitter or LinkedIn profile. The web-browser extension immediately gathers information about that contact and allows you to quickly see activity such as:-

The last time you contacted the individual via email or Twitter
A smart summary of who the person is and where they are influential
Any ongoing deals you’re currently working on with the contact
Upcoming meetings you have with the individual

… and more besides.

You can also edit any of the contact details of the person from within the web-browser. There’s no need to fire open a new CRM window.

From within the web-browser extension, you can also:-

Log Notes to the contact
Add tasks
Attach Files
Set Stay in Touch reminders
Tag contacts for quick list building

The Nimble Prospector tool also allows you to discover verified business details, including email address, telephone numbers and addresses. Useful if you’re in the discovery stage of prospecting.

All of the above features work for individuals, or you can share contact information across a team — allowing you to see any interactions your colleague had with contacts.

I’ve been a big fan of Nimble CRM for some time, but the new extension makes it easier than ever to dig the goldmine that is the data in your CRM.

How can I get it?

To use Nimble Prospector, you can start a 14-day free trial of Nimble CRM.

Once you have a Nimble CRM account, you can download the Nimble Prospector 2.0 extension from the Chome Web Store.

You can also visit the Nimble Facebook page, follow @Nimble on Twitter or visit the Nimble LinkedIn page.

Thanks to Jon Ferrara and Michaela Underdahl at Nimble for introducing me to Nimble Prospector 2.0 and for being such great partners to work with!

You Might Also Be Interested In

How to do Awesome MSP Sales – TubbTalk #59
Using an MSP Sales System
Questions to expect from your clients about using social media safely

The post Nimble Prospector – Manage Your Business Relationships appeared first on Richard Tubb.

How to Create a Profitable MSP – TubbTalk #70

In this episode of TubbTalk, Richard talks to Mike Michalowicz, entrepreneur, international speaker and author of multiple best selling books including: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Pumpkin Plan, Surge, Profit First, Clockwork and the next book on the way Fix This Next. 

Starting his career as an IT business owner, Mike has been on a rollercoaster complete with highs and lows and is now on a mission to share his knowledge, failures, research and learnings to other entrepreneurs to eradicate entrepreneur poverty.

An interview with Mike Michalowicz
Who is Mike Michalowicz?

Mike Michalowicz started his first business in computer systems after being unable to get a ‘good’ job after college. With no idea what he was doing, but motivated by fear, he was getting up at 5am and working till 5am the next day, driven by the need to make money. 

Over the next 10 years he started and sold two companies, the first being this IT business, the second being a computer forensics business which was then sold to a fortune 500 company after just 2 and a half years. 

But, the real interesting part of Mike’s story isn’t his success. It was his subsequent failures. He openly admits he became cocky. He had started two companies and sold two companies, in his own words: “I thought I was God’s gift to entrepreneurship”. Shortly after his successes he started a third company as an angel investor and it was a calamity. He lost everything. His house and possessions. The only thing he didn’t loose was his family. And that was the restart of his life where he came to realise that there’s two ways to be successful as an entrepreneur. 

Mike says: “The first is dumb luck. And it happens more than you would think. The second way is by really mastering the fundamental elements of financial management, sales, lead generation, all those components.” 

Mike has made it his mission to investigate what really makes a successful entrepreneur and is now a full time author researching entrepreneurship and trying to simplify it for himself and for his fellow entrepreneurs of the world.

A mission to eradicate entrepreneur poverty

Mike is on a mission to eradicate entrepreneur poverty. There is a perception of entrepreneurship that exists. People believe entrepreneurs are multi millionaires, they barely work and just sit at resorts in Santa Barbara all the time drinking mai tais.

But the reality of entrepreneurship is a struggle, a financial struggle, this grinding it out all the time. This can lead to us resenting our business. That gap is what Mike calls entrepreneur poverty and helping to close that gap is his calling. 

Getting through the tough business periods

Mike talks about journaling and how his perspective shifted from focusing on appreciating the good moments in an otherwise difficult time to writing down any feelings and emotions he had, including anger. Mike credits writing about his struggles as the biggest factor in helping him through them. He said that when he wrote down his frustrations, it would give him this moment to focus again and it gave him clarity to move forward and not be stuck in that anger and depression. 

To find out more about journalling, listen to my interview with Geoff Nicholson where we talked about How Journaling and Trying New Things can Improve Your Business and Your Life

Mike’s says mental health is his number one priority and physical health is his second because once those two are addressed, he believes he can deliver his best to his clients in his work, and to his family. 

What are the most common mistakes small business owners make?

Mike shares a concept from a colleague and author Barry Moltz. Mike explains that small businesses in particular go into a mode of either selling or doing. A concept called the double helix trap. Many business owners get stuck in this trap forever.  

‘To solve this business owners need to fragment themselves. They need to look at the work they are doing that’s driving the business forward in regards to delivering on promises, and then fragment that into different segments.’ Mike says.

Mike explains with his own examples, ways in which business owners can get themselves out of this trap through fragmenting work or niching, resulting in being able to charge premium costs too. “By focussing on one niche, you are building a reputation and skillset that serves that niche”

What is the concept of ‘Profit First’

Mike talks about the primary reason for going into business as doing something that brings us joy. The second reason is to make money. Everyone that starts a business wants to make money. But for a lot of entrepreneurs, these reasons are not being fulfilled.

And that was the epiphany behind Profit First. Traditionally profit comes last. You have sales, you subtract your expenses with leftovers, leftover is profit. If we put profits last then the bottom line is that they are insignificant – that’s absurd. 

Mike explains: “the basic premise of Profit First is, instead of sales minus expenses equals profit – it’s sales minus profit equals expense. So, every time a business makes a sale they take a predetermined percentage of that money as profit.” 

He then says that this is what must be used to operate off of. If the business can’t survive on this then they are incurring too many expenses or the margins aren’t strong enough. Effectively Profit First is the ‘pay yourself first’ system in personal finances applied to business. 

Let’s talk about ‘Clockwork’

Mike is on a mission to eradicate entrepreneur poverty as mentioned. The first vantage point of this is financial poverty. But there’s other forms of poverty. There’s emotional poverty. And the most defeating version is time poverty, where business owners become trapped in their business. So, this time poverty is what Clockworks sets out to resolve. 

Mike explains that Clockwork looks at the stages of separation and then challenges you as a business owner to take a four week vacation. If an owner can leave their business for four consecutive weeks, physically and digitally disconnected, and the business continues to operate and even grow in their absence, they likely have achieved a business that can grow into perpetuity.

“Business owners need to move from Superhero syndrome where business owners swoop in and fix everything – to a super visionary, someone that has a clear vision for the future of a business and can also serve the dreams of their employees in marching toward that vision”. 

So Clockwork is this journey toward the four week vacation. 

Fix This Next, Mike’s next book.

Mike says “Most business owners don’t know what their biggest problem is. They get stuck between sales, service, delivery, staff.” That’s where the inspiration for this book ‘Fix this Next’ comes from.

‘Fix this Next’ is about the urgency of fixing the next thing and it will bring clarity to entrepreneurs to know what to do next through the business hierarchy of needs. 

It’s not solution focussed. It is the compass to help business owners figure out what needs to be done so they can address that blockage, the impactful issue and move forward. Then they can use other books or a consultant to fix the problem. 

Mike explains that most owners address urgent and apparent issues instead of focussing on the impactful. They will spend all day in their inbox as it creates a sense of accomplishment. Impactful challenges often play out over time and there is no immediate gain. So it’s easy to revert to these quick fixes and dopamine releases of quick fixes. 

Fix this Next, aims to create a process to remove business owners from concentrating on these apparent and urgent issues and identifying the one thing that will really move them forward in a big way.

Connect with Mike:

Website
LinkedIn
Twitter: @MikeMichalowicz
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube

Mentioned in this Episode:
Mike’s Best Selling Books

Book: Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
Book: Surge
Book: The Pumpkin Plan
Book: Profit First
Book: Clockwork
Book: Fix This Next

Mike’s TEDx Talks

The World’s Best
‘Profit First’ is better for entrepreneurs than ‘G.A.A.P’
Productive companies don’t use productivity hacks

Other Resources

App: Headspace
Book: Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell
Book: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell
Book: What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures, Malcolm Gladwell
Book: Purple Cow, Seth Godin
Book: Made to Stick: Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck, Chip Heath, Dan Heath
Book: The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber
Book: Influence, Robert Cialdini’s
Book: Brainfluence, Roger Dooley


Connect with Me

Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunes
Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk on Stitcher Radio
Subscribe and rate TubbTalk on Spotify
Follow TubbTalk on iHeartRadio
Follow @tubblog on Twitter

You Might Also Be Interested In

Productivity, Healthy Habits and Getting Things Done – TubbTalk #50
How Journaling and Trying New Things can Improve Your Business and Your Life – TubbTalk #37
How to build an effective MSP Toolkit – TubbTalk #68

The post How to Create a Profitable MSP – TubbTalk #70 appeared first on Richard Tubb.

Billmonitor – Check You Have The Best Mobile Contract

How much do you pay for your mobile phone contract? After using Billmonitor, you’ll realise the answer is probably “too much”.

Every Friday I share one of my favourite finds of the week — a website, tool or an app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is Billmonitor – Check You Have The Best Mobile Contract.

What is it?

Billmonitor is a service that continuously reviews your mobile phone contract to make sure you’re not overpaying for minutes, data or other features.

How much does it cost?

Billmonitor is free to use.

Billmonitor helps you Check You Have The Best Mobile Contract

Regardless of your preference in the mobile device — Android, iOS, or even BlackBerry (for more, read “How Smartphone Users See Each Other“) every one of us has a mobile phone contract.

We often overestimate how many minutes we need, how many text messages we send, or how much data we really need.

As a result, many of us are paying too much for our mobile phone contracts.

Billmonitor is a service that checks your usage over the past few months and tells you if you’re on the right contract.

You don’t need to know how much you’re paying, or the terms of your contract.

You give the service permission to access your mobile phone network’s online billing website, and then it goes away and does its calculations.

Within a short period of time (typically a couple of hours) the service will let you know how many minutes, text messages and data allowance you’re actually using, on average.

The service will then tell you whether you’re on the right contract, or whether you could move to a cheaper contract that would serve you better.

I’ve found Billmonitor to be super accurate at making sure I’m on the best mobile phone deal. Sometimes, the service has advised me to move to a cheaper tariff with the same provider — which has been even easier than moving mobile phone providers.

How can I get it?

Visit the Billmonitor website and click “Analyse my online bill” to get started.

You can also follow @Billmonitor on Twitter, visit the Billmonitor Facebook page, or follow Billmonitor for Business on LinkedIn.

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The post Billmonitor – Check You Have The Best Mobile Contract appeared first on Richard Tubb.

The MSP Owners Guide to Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times

We live in uncertain times. With COVID-19 having a dramatic effect on everyone globally, IT Solution Providers and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) worldwide are needing to focus on surviving.

But surviving isn’t enough. The most proactive MSPs know that demand for IT services is higher than ever, and are refusing to simply get by — they’re thriving!

How are they doing this?

That’s the topic of my friend Nigel Moore’s new free eBook, Survive & Thrive: The MSP Owners Guide to Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times.

The MSP Owners Guide to Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times

Over the past few weeks, Nigel Moore of The Tech Tribe has been at the forefront of the efforts to support MSPs through this difficult time.

Nigel has been a part of numerous webinars (for a full list, see The COVID-19 MSP Resource Page for more details) alongside me and other industry experts like Gary Pica, Todd Kane and Stuart Warwick. We have all given our time and experience with the intention of helping MSPs navigate these choppy waters.

Based on those conversations, plus his experiences speaking with hundreds of MSPs in The Tech Tribe and beyond, Nigel has collated all the wisdom he’s learned into an eBook that he’s giving away for free.

Trust me when I say that this is an eBook that Nigel could have charged for!

It’s high-quality and full of practical advice such as:-

What to Do to Give Your MSP the Best Chance of Survival
What you need to do to Thrive when Confidence Returns
How to Communicate to your Team & your Clients

How to download Survive & Thrive – The MSP Owners Guide

Click here and download Survive & Thrive – The MSP Owners Guide to Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times.

What challenges are you facing down right now? Are there any issues you’re facing that you’d like advice on? Leave a comment below or get in touch.

You Might Also Be Interested In

Live MSP Q’n’A Webinar with Nigel Moore, Richard Tubb & Todd Kane
Building The Tech Tribe for MSPs – TubbTalk #51
The Tech Tribe – An Awesome Community for MSPs

The post The MSP Owners Guide to Surviving & Thriving in Uncertain Times appeared first on Richard Tubb.