Re: filmscanners: Cleaning slides (PEC tips)

[Arthur Entlich <artistic@ampsc.com>]

EdHamrick@aol.com wrote:

> In a message dated 5/3/2001 6:07:17 AM EST, artistic@ampsc.com writes:
> 
> 
>> Would you like me to translate "we'll contact Japan about it" into English?
>>  
>>  "Please go away and leave us alone... we didn't create this problem and 
>>  its Japan's fault. If they gave a rats ass, they would have fixed it 
>>  long ago, since they've known about the problem for a long time".
> 
> 
> My local Nikon contacts forwarded a complete technical description
> of this problem to Nikon in Japan, along with a demonstrated fix that
> solves the problem.  Having worked in a large company before, I
> suspect that the information never got to the engineers who work on
> the scanner software, and I suspect these engineers aren't even
> aware of the problem.
> 
> I've always liked the saying "Never ascribe to malice that which is
> adequately explained by incompetence."
> 
> Regards,
> Ed Hamrick
> 

Certainly, big companies "allow" important information to fall through 
the cracks.  Sometimes accidentally, sometimes intentionally, and 
sometimes at their peril.

I've certainly had my share of the "oh, we never got your __________" 
(fill in the blank with email, fax, call, letter) even on the third or 
forth volley.  I may be stupid, but I'm not that stupid.

Companies choose to develop a culture which respects communications from 
their clients or ignore it, or a bit of both.  When I managed companies 
(a good half dozen) no letter when unanswered, no matter how 
insignificant (to me) it seemed.  Some of those replies ultimately led 
to contacts which proved very fruitful, and some were from younger 
people who got to recognize that their ideas and concerns had value or 
import- that they weren't being ignored.  Yes, sometimes we used form 
letters. At one company (a poster and graphics company) we solicited for 
photos through magazine ads.  We received many submissions from very 
amateur photographers who thought they had great and useful images.  I 
developed a part form letter, part personalized response to try and help 
them recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and what they could do to 
make their images more useful for our needs.  I hopefully helped some to 
become better photographers.

When I go out of my way to contact a company and provide them with 
useful feedback as to a bug or defect, and often a solution (as you have 
with Nikon), I find it very offensive that the information  should be 
just lost in the mix somewhere.  It is equivalent to being ignored.  It 
makes one develop, a "why bother" attitude.  I do not easily forgive 
these type of companies.

Without over emphasizing this matter, I again have noted a huge 
improvement at HP.  As an example, if you go to their website now, you 
will find a direct link for email to their CEO.  And, unlike many 
websites where you can't even leave a message, if you leave one for 
Carly Fiorina (the CEO) you will receive a reply, and not a form letter 
either.  They now make sure your email gets to the proper department, 
and then you get a call or email from someone who can help.

This is a big change in their culture (almost a return to where they 
were before) and it is working well.  I was at an HP seminar 2 weeks ago 
(on their wide carriage printers) and I asked numerous employees there 
how they felt about the change in management, every one of them told me 
the same thing.  They felt so much more useful, more listened to, and 
more able to respond to customer needs than under the previous 
management and structure.  Carly apparently has completely revamped the 
corporate culture, and the corporate structure so there is more direct 
access to the right people both internally and externally.

Maybe it just takes a woman ;-)

Art