Customer service, euphemisms and communicating the truth

Customer service is nothing if not communication. Poor communication means a poor customer experience. Clients do not wish to repeat poor experiences so, by extension, poor communication is one step closer to losing a client.

On the contrary, good customer experience often compensates – at least temporarily - for average product quality in other areas.

Now I am not suggesting firms compensate for shoddy products with superior communication skills. However, I am suggesting that firms be truthful with clients, both in intent and meaning.

A segment of the courier industry fails in its communications methods with clients, at least if my two recent experiences with the industry are any indication. (Ironic, especially given that couriers are an important link in the communications network for businesses.)

In both experiences, I enquired about the late delivery of the packages I was expecting. Both companies responded by stating they had 'attempted delivery' but failed. I don't know about you, but 'attempted delivery' to me suggests someone came to my door, rang the bell and left after they found no one home.

Surprisingly, upon further probing, I was informed that 'attempted delivery' does not signify someone came to your office or home and tried to deliver the document. It just means the package was with the delivery man in his vehicle but due to 'driver overload' the driver never made it physically to the delivery address.

Incidentally, 'attempted delivery' is also the language used by the companies' online tracking systems. In other words, by tracking the progress of my package on the firm's online tracking system I might even feel guilty for having missed the nice delivery man who came to my door at a precisely stated date and time (yes, such details are available on the online system!).

Baloney! The courier companies are simply using euphemisms to convey a misleading message to clients. 'Driver overload – deliver aborted' may be a better phrase to use for such cases.

In many circumstances, sugar coating bad news to make it more palatable is a legitimate communications strategy. However, using misleading language with an implicit (or explicit) to hoodwink customers is not appropriate in any situation.

Clients deserve the truth. The truth is not just good ethics but good business. Treat customers with respect and they will accept occasional failures. Treat them otherwise and they will not remain customers for long.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Bloggers, poetic license and regulating Singapore’s social media

Bloggers have it easy. Bloggers can stir up a mess without really getting all the facts correct. Often, bloggers provide only that data which supports arguments put forth. Conflicting data can be ignored or, at worst, misrepresented.

Moreover, readers typically only read ideas which are supportive of existing beliefs. Few readers have the academic courage to regularly read ideas contrary to their personal beliefs. Thus, bloggers 'preach to the converted,' often without much substance.

Few blog posts receive 'academic' scrutiny. Nor should they for they are not academic papers but blog posts.

I take advantage of my 'bloggers license' regularly. ('Bloggers license' is as empowering and useful as 'poetic license!') However, most good blog posts contain the germs of ideas which, if adequately researched, contain more than a kernel of truth. In this context, good posts are not intended to mislead but, more likely, to question existing paradigms.

On the contrary, there are many in the blogosphere who are 'one trick ponies.' Such bloggers propagate the same idea almost like a broken record. The opinions may vary but the level of intellect at display seldom does. For some, foreign talent is to blame for everything. For others, the government is always at fault. On more global sites, broader themes including China versus the US, Islam versus the US, etc. are commonplace.

In light of irresponsible, often criminally irresponsible, commentary it is with some justification that Singapore's authorities suggest Singapore's social media requires tighter controls. However, an 'authoritative' top down approach misses the critical fact that much of Singapore's 'anonymous' cyber world radicalism is in large part due to the limited size and nature of the domestic mainstream media.

For the most part, Singapore's media is owned and controlled by the government. Most independent observers believe there is self-regulation taking place within the media. If US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks are to be believed, Singapore's print media is more akin to the former Soviet Union's Pravda or Izvestia than an open forum for debate.

Singapore may pride itself on having outpaced Malaysia in most things. Ironically, in the media space Singapore has much to learn from its Northern neighbour. It is not just online websites like Malaysiakini but also the proliferation of other print media news sources which give Malaysia an edge in fostering open debate on important national issues.

Multiple points of view are freely accessible – from the regulated mainstream media sector. Consequently, the 'unregulated' sector tends to either 'self-correct' to maintain credibility – or it becomes irrelevant and fades away over time.

In Singapore, there are more reasons to deregulate the mainstream media than reasons to regulate the social media. As far as the social media is concerned, Singapore's traditional top down regulatory approach is not in the country's long term interests. Instead, more independent mainstream forums for debate might well be the right medicine.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

It’s true: the tail does wag the dog (and Greece really does run Europe)!

Remember the 1997 movie "Wag the Dog" starring Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman? Well, I don't remember the story exactly but the idiom of the 'tail wagging the dog' really does have a lot of truth behind it. As, I guess do many such sarcasms.

Take the European debt crisis. At the heart of the Euro zone dent crisis is the powerful nation of Greece.

Well, most of us don't actually think of Greece in terms of power. Although they do have an air force that stages 'mock dogfights' with Turkish fighter jets from time to time. However, I somehow doubt Greek jets do much of that these days as jet fuel might just be in short supply due to budgetary reasons – unless the Germans can send across a few tankers full now and again!

Greece: the home of olive oil and democracy; the proverbial birthplace of democracy; the origin of western philosophical traditions. But did anyone realize that Greece is also a financial powerhouse.

The Greek economy is less than one tenth the size of Germany's economy. Include two of Europe's other larger economies (France and the UK) and Greece's economy is about 3.5 percent of their combined total. In other words, France, Germany and the UK together are about thirty times as big as Greece.

Yet, somehow Europe's financial condition hinges on how vehemently Greeks shout about the latest austerity package. No wait, let me correct myself. It's actually the global economy which skips a heartbeat each time something happens in Athens.

Even the world's financial behemoths like the US, Japan and China watch Greek monthly tax collection data. (Is Japan still a 'behemoth' and has China joined the club of economic 'behemoths?' It's my word against yours, I guess.)

But it's not just the European debt crisis. Numbers also just don't make sense to me as far as Islam's extremist fringe is concerned.

According to a 2010 study by Pew Research, there are approximately 1.6 billion Muslims in the world today. It is hard for me to believe that more than a few percent of Islam's adherents are extreme – at least to the extent that their entire purpose in life is to kill non-Muslims and impose Islamic law on the entire world. Like most other humans, most Muslims probably just want a better life for themselves and their kids – in this world. Granted, I have no hard statistics but I am sure I can find some if I 'data mine' hard enough.

Yet, as a Muslim, there is no getting away from the idea that the religion Islam is somehow to blame for an extremist periphery nurtured on hatred and ignorance.

Surely, Islam's extremists cannot number 500 million people or one third of the world's Muslims? And if they do number 500 million, well, that would put Islam on par with a 'civilized European' country such as France where the extreme right wing presidential candidate recently obtained about 30 percent of votes in the first round.

Can we start calling these Gaulic right wingers the French Taliban? Just to help put things in perspective.

Look around the world and it's clear, hard power is meaningless in the face of reality. Reality conforms to mass perceptions.

The real tussle for power lies in the minds of ordinary people. That notion also helps explains the disproportionate importance of the media in disseminating power.  

I am not sure but I think there might just be one more example of the tail wagging the dog: the Singapore government's persistent worrying about social media sites. These 'amateur' sites touch a miniscule segment of the country's  population compared to the government owned print and broadcast media.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

Islamic ‘blues’ from Pakistan at Singapore’s Esplanade: Faiz Ali Faiz

During live performances, great blues musicians improvise with their instruments routinely. A three minute song easily stretches to ten minutes or more simply because a musician 'speaks' his emotions through his guitar. The musician himself is in a virtual trance during the entire performance.

Much like a blues performance, the Pakistani tradition of devotional song called the Qawwali thrives on improvisation. However, in the case of Qawwali there are no guitars and the impromptu music is provided by the human voice. It is the voice which moves up and down the musical scale. Vocalists, not instruments, play with each other.

To be sure, the singing voice is supported by the tabla and harmoniums. Additionally, the music is underpinned by religious lyrics often written about Sufi saints or Pirs. In fact, the music's intention is to induce a mental state amenable to contemplating the greatness and beauty of God.

Many Sufi orders believe that the existence of God can be confirmed through 'out of worldly' religious experiences.

Pakistani Qawwal Faiz Ali Faiz

Singapore got a taste of good Qawwali music this last weekend. Faiz Ali Faiz (not to be mistaken with Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz) gave a rousing two hour performance at the Esplanade. Despite the apparent lack of familiarity with the language or the musical form, the audience appreciated the versatility and beauty of the human voice; the playful to and fro between Faiz Ali Faiz and his entourage.

For Singapore's Pakistani community it is a frustrating reality that cultural exchanges between Pakistan and Singapore do not occur more regularly. The odd art exhibit or concert once a year does not do justice either to Pakistan or relations between the two nations.

There is a reasonable population of Pakistanis in Singapore – certainly enough to fill up concert halls. Perhaps the problem lies with the Pakistani community not actively encouraging such links. Maybe the fact that Pakistan is overshadowed (at least in 'official' circles) by its more powerful neighbour, India, has something to do with the current state of affairs?

Most likely, it is a combination of neglect, malaise and India's natural linkages with Singapore. Nevertheless, the Faiz concert was an opportunity to celebrate Pakistan in Singapore – even if most Singaporeans cannot distinguish between Pakistan and India.

I enjoyed it thoroughly and look forward to more Pakistani artists visiting Singapore.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.

US occupies Pakistan’s Miran Shah in effort to dismantle Haqqani group

The US has finally acted. Miran Shah, headquarters of the Taliban's Haqqani group, is now under US occupation. The American flag flutters at a temporary US base in the North Waziristan town.

Emboldened by its successful 'intervention' to kill Bin Laden, the US has decided 'enough is enough.' No more threats or cajoling by US Central Command, ISAF, Panetta or any other high ranking US official.

April 22 early morning, soldiers from the US 101 Airborne were inserted into Miran Shah with orders to secure the city center until reinforcements from the neighbouring Afghan town of Khost arrive and secure the Khost – Miran Shah main road. It is understood that up to 1,500 US soldiers will ultimately be based in Miran Shah, with most arriving from Afghanistan within the next three days.

An aerial shot of the Pakistani town of Miran Shah, North Waziristan

An unnamed source in the Department of Defense said, "This is not a temporary move. Following recent high profile attacks on Kabul it became essential for ISAF to secure a forward base and deny the outlawed Haqqani group operating space and flexibility."

US troops have already begun repairing an old World War Two British airfield so as to permit C-17 transport planes to use the facility. A fort occupying the town's high ground and manned by several hundred Pakistani Frontier Constabulary paramilitary troops has been left untouched.
Despite the incursion, US officials are hoping the Pakistani reaction will be tempered. "US troops have strict orders not to engage Pakistani security personnel in fire fights. Efforts for a commanders meeting between the two sides are on. We hope the Pakistanis understand this is not a move against Pakistan but against terrorism – our joint enemy."

The US appeal for rationality will likely fall on deaf ears in Pakistan.

The recent Bin Laden raid on Abbotabad, the 2010 slaying of several civilians by a CIA operative in Lahore and frequent US drone strikes in the tribal areas have soured Pakistan - US ties almost beyond repair. Anti-Americanism runs higher than at virtually any time in the last two decades – and this is in a country which burnt down the US Embassy in 1979.

It is yet unclear how Pakistan's security establishment will react to the US provocation. Sunday is a holiday in Pakistan. Most in the nation's capital Islamabad are still unaware of the US incursion.

However, it is sure to provide more ammunition to Islamists within and outside the military establishment.

A map of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas, including the location of Miran Shah

US officials remain vague on their response if Pakistan's military starts covertly supporting armed anti-US lashkars (tribal militias) opposed to the expansion of the US presence from Afghanistan to Pakistan.

However, the US does seem to have prepared a diplomatic strategy to seize the initiative from Pakistan.

According to a confidential briefing, the State Department has agreed to support Afghanistan's contention that the Durand Line drawn in the 1890s is not an international border between the two nations. Additionally, Pakistani diplomats will be told in no uncertain terms that the US will support Baloch nationalist efforts for an independent state if 'push comes to shove.'

When asked about the US move, Pakistani security analyst Mian Iqbal told TGMS, "Undoubtedly, Obama is playing to his domestic gallery with US presidential elections around the corner. However, for Pakistan this is a disaster. At best, the country will erupt into violence for months, if not years. At worst, this is the beginning of end of Pakistan as we know it today. The Pakistani state, including the military, does not have the capacity to control the situation anymore. The world must be prepared for a manifold increase in global Islamic terrorism – it is the only weapon left for Pakistanis to salvage their tattered self-respect."

One hopes that US military strategists have evaluated all possible outcomes of the new, radical US strategy to quell violence in Afghanistan. Otherwise, it may just be further military escalation of an already unwinnable war.

*IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS*

Alright, so the events described above did not occur, at least not yet. It describes a fictional (though entirely possible) scenario devised by the Grand Moofti.

Pakistan is fast moving into the global 'doghouse' – the same place the country found itself during its last decade of democracy: the 1990s. In such an environment, anything is possible and one cannot count on rationality from any actors, including the US.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.  

Blogging and twittering: my ‘offline’ persona goes farther online

Social media marketing is a maze I am slowly trying to navigate.  When I started blogging, I did not realize it would be my first step into a whole new world. For me, blogging was a means to return to something I enjoy – writing and playing with words.

It took several books on blogging and a few years of experience before I understood blogging is part of the broader 'social media' phenomenon. (Revisit some of my early blog posts and notice that I did not know how to add hyperlinks or visuals at the time!)

Like virtually anything interesting, it is inevitable one gets sucked in deeper and deeper with time. That, my friends, is exactly what happened to me. My interest in social media has taken a life of its own.

Recently, I expanded my web presence through a LinkedIn account. In the short time since joining the LinkedIn network, I have become a LinkedIn evangelist! It is a great platform to expand one's personal and professional 'brand.' I now wonder why it took me so long to get connected!

LinkedIn, unlike blogging, is most certainly only a professional networking site. Most members have too little time to worry about my personal opinions on the US presence in Afghanistan or Singapore's Islamic law – unless it is couched in professional terms, e.g. through an article in an industry publication or seminar presentation.

Blogging, meanwhile, stands very much at the crossroads between personal and professional social media.

Having caught the bug, I will soon begin the Grand Moofti's twitter experiment! Surely, it will take time before I am comfortable (and conversant) with the dos and don'ts of twitter. Nevertheless, it promises to be a fun adventure.

And, yes, social media should be fun. Over time an individual's personal brand should develop naturally reflecting their 'real life' persona. A person's online and offline character should not be disconnected – the online is an extension of the offline (aka 'real') person.  

To some marketers, my blog represent a particular conundrum as far as creating an online brand is concerned. My blog covers diverse subjects. There is no one 'niche' which I nurture deeply over time. Arguably, there is little focus.

My posts, like my interests, range from Singapore, Pakistan, Islam, the Islamic world and whatever else takes my fancy at the time.

But, hey, that is who I am. A multidimensional individual with some core interests related directly to my own history as a Pakistani Muslim Singaporean finance professional. Not a one-dimensional, singularly focused person always hurtling down the same path.

And it's that propensity to experiment which has driven me to twitter in the first place. (Stay tuned for more, my twitter account should be active soon.)

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.  

Libya, Syria, ‘known unknowns’ and the Law of Unintended Consequences

The Law of Unintended Consequences can be blamed for many events. However, some events are probable, if not entirely predictable. The fallout from the Libyan 'liberation' movement is a case in point. Security analysts may refer to it as 'blowback' but for the rest of us it is often simply the unintended effects of covert espionage operations.

Recent historical examples of such blowback include the Al-Qaeeda movement arising at least partially out of American / western support for Muslim fighters opposed to the 1980s Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Or British backed Malayan communists trained to fight against the Japanese during World War Two that turned their sights on British / western interests following the end of the war.

The blowback from Libya's instability is just beginning.

From the start, it was clear that Libyan leader Gaddafi's demise will lead to a boiling pot overflowing troubles in Libya and also in Libya's neighborhood. Tribal rivalries coupled with money and weapons form a lethal combination. Throw in a domestic Libyan leadership vacuum and power hungry individuals and there is little chance of an armed struggle being avoided.

Today's Libya is no more than a huge weapons dump awash with funds from the western and Arab world containing large numbers of young, unemployed persons and an absence of any type of state authority, neither military nor police.

Consequently, news reports of localized fighting killing almost 150 people in Libya's border areas with Chad will surprise few security analysts. Arguably, it is only a matter of time before these troubles spread into Chad. Already, the Islamist sweep into Northern Mali is primarily due to the movement of pro-Gaddafi armed fighters seeking sanctuary following their retreat from Libya. Mali is as good a place as any.

Surely, in time the diffusion of instability from Libya will affect other parts of North Africa.

Algeria's troubles with a violent Islamist movement may resurface with a renewed inflow of weapons and fighters. Egypt's 'troublemakers' in the Sinai peninsula have already made their presence felt. Their propensity to create unrest might only increase as Gaddafi's armoury is sold to the highest bidder. Inevitably, Sudan and Niger will find themselves swirling in the same cauldron of political violence and instability.

Critics argue temporary instability is a price worth paying for the removal of Gaddafi. However, the real question must be whether there is a constant need for intervention by foreign powers in the affairs of other countries? And, if so, why is so little thought given to the aftermath to such intervention (remember General Jay Garner's Iraq)?

It took Iraq almost a decade to recover from the effect of the US invasion – and it is still not fully recovered. Afghanistan still suffers from the aftermath of the original Soviet invasion in 1979. Now Libya is out of the picture for the next decade or so. Syria appears to be next on the list.

Where does the list end? Pakistan – as soon as the country's importance as a supply line for NATO troops in Afghanistan wanes (further).

The architect of the Iraq war, Rumsfeld, once famously said, "[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don't know."

Nevertheless, there are also some 'probable knowns' and one of these 'facts' is that instability from Libya (and Syria) will surely spread from each country to its immediate neighborhood.

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Imran is a business and management consultant. Through his work at Deodar Advisors, Imran improves the profitability of businesses operating in Singapore and the region. He can be reached at imran@deodaradvisors.com.