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| NHL Playoffs: See them again — for the very first time |
I've never been much of a hockey fan, and until this year found the sport, at least on TV, dull as dishwater. But I've been watching the playoffs for the past few weeks with increasing interest and enjoyment, primarily because...
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time, playoffs, nhl, weeks |
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Using Twitter for Customer Service? Five Reasons Not to Tweet
Some notable examples of how Twitter is being succesfully used for customer service have emerged; Frank Eliason is Comcast's leader in caring for customers via Twitter; a pioneer in this practice. Whole Foods is another business with a significant presence on Twitter. This week, Best Buy launched , with significant media exposure, its new Twelpforce -- a top-notch team of tech pros offering advice and being responsive to the Best Buy community on Twitter.
These examples are creating a ripple effect in businesses large and small, with businesses jumping directly on to the Twitter-for-customer service bandwagon. We believe that there are several key considerations before a business begins to tweet. Five Reasons Not to Tweet for Customer Service Y our business lacks the ability (time, resources and staff) to be responsive on Twitter. If you're only able to staff your customer service presence on Twitter 9am-5pm M-F, that's fine, just make sure that's clearly posted on the company's Twitter profile. You're not monitoring for opportunities to respond and engage using tools such as Tweetbeep or Twitter Search; if you're unaware of what's being said, you won't be able to respond to it. Your brand, product or service -- in a word -- sucks. Now more than ever, technology is separating the pack and those who lead in customer service and quality products and services are clearly separated from those who do not. You can't fix your customers' issues. Either you don't care, or can't provide them the assistance they need, or direct them to a resource. In any case, the point of being there is to help; if you can't, then stay away. (And it may be time to reexamine your customer service department as a whole). Twitter is your only social media presence. Do your business a favor and publish FAQs and other content to help customers help themselves, first. Producing this content on a Web site, a Facebook page and other searchable resources will not only save your Twitter team time, but gives your customers total access to the information they seek. Don't, above all, make it more difficult for customers to access your company and your services.
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Changes…Again
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Apparently I underestimated the amount of time it would take me to manage two blogs while working full-time on SuzySaid Charlottesville and attempting to be a full-time mom this summer. But I'm back at it today - making changes to the bl...
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WSJ: “Fed Open to Buying More Securities”
As reported in the Wall Street Journal today, apparently there's talk among some members of the Fed's FOMC regarding the idea of purchasing more Treasury bonds and Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS). In other words, they want to see low rates for a longer period of time.
Some Federal Reserve officials are open to raising the amounts of mortgage and Treasury securities purchase programs beyond the $1.75 trillion that they have already committed to buying, according to minutes from the Fed’s April meeting.
“ Some members noted that a further increase in the total amount of purchases might well be warranted at some point to spur a more rapid pace of recovery ,” according to the minutes of the April 28-29 meeting, released Wednesday with the usual lag. ( Read the full minutes. ) The Fed can achieve low mortgage rates by increasing its purchases of MBS - when prices rise, yields (rates) fall. But it takes money, and lots of it. So the longer rates are artificially kept low, the larger the Fed's tab grows.
Thetruthaboutmortgage.com adds a perspective to the issue with it's most recent post about the Fed's slowing MBS purchases:
In a bid to keep interest rates on mortgages lower for a longer period of the time, the Fed has apparently decided to slow its purchase of mortgage bonds, according to a research note from Credit Suisse . The analysts said they believe Fed involvement in the mortgage-backed securities market will be necessary well into 2010, and as a result, they’ll need to slow buying so it there’s enough purchasing power to remain engaged next year. As the government reduces its purchases of MBS (and assuming investor demand stays the same), MBS prices will drop and mortgage rates will go up.
So are these two actions incompatible - slowing down purchases of MBS but increasing purchase funding? Not necessarily, because Fed could do both at the same time, all in an attempt to keep the low rate train rolling on.
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