Lesson Learned: Buying furniture

It has been a year plus since we have moved to Texas. One of the first things we had to do after buying a house is to fill it up the space with furniture, since our apartment furniture was second hand and we wanted to purchase furniture for long term use. So buying furniture was the first biggest project we took on.

We shopped at numerous brand name stores, compared prices and asked our friends and coworkers to make sure we are getting the most for our money. After extensive search and tons of hours of shopping we decided to go with Ashley’s furniture and take advantage of their 50% off only twice a year 4h of July sale. After spending a day(literally) deciding what to purchase and negotiating with the sales person we finally purchased our furniture. One thing done from the big list of things to do.

LESSON LEARNED: Now we realize that we had a mistake by buying furniture from a big showroom furniture chain (even though it was 50% off sale).

Here is what we should done:
1. We should have purchased from a furniture warehouse. This is where chain stores like Ashley’s get their furniture from. These guys sell almost the same furniture at much affordable prices. Couple things though: Don’t expect the customer support to be friendly as there are no sales people and don’t expect to purchase some long term warranty. If you can deal with these two things you will save money.

2. Some not so well known companies sell from the catalog the exactly same furniture as the big showroom furniture chain. What you can do here is to visit the showroom chain store pick out the furniture you like, make a note of name, model, color etc and find these catalog furniture company to place an order. You will save money and of course don’t forget to negotiate for the best deal. Same as before, don’t expect good customer service and extended warranties.

Buying furniture can be long tedious process, deciding on color, theme, style and what not. Take notice of above points to see if you can learn from our experience and save yourself some dinero.

Why Aren’t More Asians Getting to The Top at U.S. Companies?

That is first sentence of an interesting article titled “Breaking Through the Bamboo Ceiling” written by Sylvia Ann Hewlett on Harvard Business Review.  In the article, author brings out some really interesting stats, including:

• Only 1.8% of Fortune 500 CEOs are Asians
• Barely 2% are board members

So why is this the case?  Do Asians not posses leadership capabilities or skills to delegate work?  As the article points out, it is more of culture and personal beliefs than anything else.  To some extent I must agree with that.  My belief is that if I work hard enough, my work will be noticed.  There is no need for me to shout out loud and put a spotlight on myself.  Yet, I have learned (through experience), that is certainly not the way to get a promotion.  You have to market yourself and  your work.  Have to remind your boss about the value you bring to the table (again and again) and clearly state your career goals.  I’m still uncovering this mystery and can certainly use some help. 

Would love to find out your thoughts around how you go about getting ahead in corporate America.

Thanks.

Mumbai Blasts – People Helping People

“Three bomb blasts in Mumbai, considered a terror attack”, says NDTV.com.  Sad sad day, yet again not only for Mumbaikars but for all Indians.  News of destruction, death and injuries are coming in as moments pass. 

Out of all this, it is amazing to see people helping people in whatever ways they can.  Twitter feed #here2help is updating at amazing pace.  Mumbaikars are opening up their homes for the stranded and offering to help in any way possible.  Amazing human spirit.  Below are just 5 of the messages out of thousands:

In this tough time, it goes to show that Indians are united as one.  Thoughts and prayers goes out to those impacted by this tragedy.

Is Technology Making Kids Less “Social”?

Came across this post on my Facebook newsfeed which I thought was very interesting and true at least for me:

“My curfew was the street lights. My Mom called my name, not my mobile. I played outside with friends, not online. If I didn’t eat what Mom cooked, then I didn’t eat. Sanitizer didn’t exist, but you could get your MOUTH washed out with soap. I rode a bike without a helmet, getting dirty was OK, and neighbors gave a damn as much as your parents did. Re-post if you drank water from a garden hose & survived!!”

This was certainly the case when growing up in India, not sure if this is still the case.  While I was in middle school in India, first thing I did after coming back from school was, eat something real quick and run outside to play with my friends.  Nothing could keep me indoor.  We had games for all kinds of weather.  I thought I was Sachin Tendulakar of my apartment complex.  Kids from apartments from across the street were our enemies and spend number of nights strategizing how to kick their rears – of course it never happened.  While playing cricket, got in argument with elders whose daily routine was ruined by our high flying (Tendulkar like) sixers.  During Uttrayan time, there were competitions about who captures the most kites.  In summer, there were board games and marbles.  This one time, we even opened a bank where kids can borrow marbles from us – imagination at work.  That was then.

Today, kids don’t need anyone.  They got their Nintendo DS, Xbox, Internet, 200 channel cable, mobile phones and of course who can forget Facebook.  I am not saying it is for better or worse.  Today’s kids have access to the technology that was unimaginable just a decade ago.  Times have changed for sure.  These kids are digital kids, for whom text messaging is same as talking to someone face to face.  These are also the kids who have access to the world’s best libraries – any question can be answered within seconds.

However, what about social skills?  Undoubtly, technology has made it easier to stay in touch and connect with new people.  Real business can not be done on Facebook alone, can it?  Will these technology savvy kids able to read someone’s face and determine if they are trustworthy or not?

I’m curious to find out how are today’s parents developing their kids’ social skills in this age of gadgets?

Groupon is Not To Build Loyal Customer Base

There is an interesting article on Wharton – UPenn @Knowledge website, where professor David Reibstein is talking about how Groupon’s business model is not sustainable due to possibly improving economy, drastic increase in competition, and not meeting small businesses’ goal of bringing repeat customers.

Though very valid points, one thing small businesses need to do is not use it to build loyal customer base.  Expectation needs to be set and changed somehow.  Looking from small business’ perspective, their use of Groupon to build loyal customer base is just an imagination/wishful thinking. Groupon does great job of bringing those customers to your stores, however, story should not end there. Small businesses cannot expect deal-seeking customer to come to their stores on regular basis and pay full price next time, it simply does not happen. There are number of things small businesses need to do, once that customer enters the door.

Recently i purchased an oil change coupon from LivingSocial at 50% off regular price. When i went to that local business to redeem it, business owner did not seem too happy to see me, plus i was not happy with the customer service.  Needless to say, I will not be going there again.   I have seen this happen multiple times when i go in to redeem those coupons.

Instead, small businesses can do following:

1) When they see someone using one of these coupons, provide them with best customer service possible. People will pay top price for things/services when they feel like they are welcomed there

2) Collect their information (like email), so you can built your customer base and send them promotional offers – after all that’s what attracted them to their business in the first place

3) Collect feedback from them – make them feel like they are part of the process

4) Provide them incentives to invite their family/friends – loyalty cards

 

Use group buying sites to attract customers not to build loyal customer base – that part is up to you.

Things that I don’t understand about Social Media/Networking Sites

Social media:  everyone is doing it.  Everyone is on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and bunch of other sites that are out there.  There are few things that I don’t understand about each of these sites.  Lot of times, I have stopped myself and asked the question:  Am I using this service because everyone else is or is it adding any value for me.

Let’s start with Twitter:  To me Twitter is like a chat room (remember those?).  Everyone is talking about random stuff and posting same links to the stories.  Whatever you Tweet disappears in less than a minute and it’s like you never existed.  Twitter is like a popularity contest, who gets most number of followers?  Because more followers you have, more “influential” you are and more likely people are to re-tweet what you said and that’s how you build your online reputation or “street cred”.  I found Twitter to be most annoying when I ask a question about a topic.  Chances are, my question will never be answered because, in order for that to happen my tweet has to be at top of someone’s Twitter feed or filter.  If person X only uses Twitter in the evening, he will never read my question that I posted in the morning.  I found Facebook to be the best to get answers, quickly and from reputable sources – my friends/family.

Don’t get me wrong, Twitter is great for customer service and big companies who are trying to figure out what people are saying about their brand online.  I have gotten faster customer service on Twitter than via a phone (@Comcastcares).  I was able to get an appointment set up for very next day via Twitter, when phone rep told me I had to wait for few days before someone can come out and help me.  For big brands, it is great listening tool.  It provides them great insight into what people are saying about their brand/product/service.  This was not possible before, since consumers used to rant about product/service via face to face to their friends.  Now, everyone complains about everything to everyone.  There are bunch of companies who have great presence on Twitter.  Another good thing about Twitter is, it’s great way to get updated news and find relevant sites.  Lot of times, I’ve learned about breaking news via Twitter – most recently news of Osama Bin Laden  getting killed first broke on Twitter.  It is also great to follow your product/service/band and get the most updated news from them directly – yeah email newsletter or RSS feed can serve the same purpose.

Let’s go to Foursquare:   I have been trying to find an answer to this question for longest time but have not yet found an answer.  Question is:  What is the point of FourSquare?  I DO NOT get it.  I have used it.  I have checked into places and told the entire world where I am.  But what’s the point of that?  Why would I want to tell my friends and bunch of strangers where I am throughout the day and more importantly why would they care?  Someone tried to explain to me that point of all the check-ins is for you to get some kind of discount when you become a mayor.  If that is the purpose of it, I don’t want that discount.  By the way, I did ask “What is the point of FourSquare?” on Twitter and guess what, no one responded

From business perspective, I do see it’s value.  It’s free publicity for them.  If my best friend checks into to a certain restaurant, I’d get curious.  It tells me, if person X went there, then food must be good.  But then again, there is Yelp for that.

Facebook is my favorite social networking site.  The most reliable place for me to get someone’s opinion about product/service.  Though it is getting little crowded now with all the brands’ post interfering with my friends’ posts.  There should be a way to separate FB Page status updates and friend updates.  For marketers, this is the most reliable/accurate source to learn about individual customers.  Chances are, that person is not going to lie on their profile page about their hobbies, interests, education, location.  Only challenge is getting access to that data:  good luck with that without raising privacy alarms.  

There you have it.

5 Years at Microsoft

On Jan 16th 2011 I celebrated 5 years at Microsoft. Even today can’t believe it has been 5 years. Still remember my interview process, “The Call”, followed by my move to Seattle and that drive from airport to corporate housing in rainy weather (surprise, surprise) using Google Maps, yes I admit it. Also remember first day of new employee orientation and first day with my search team. 5 years later, after moving from Seattle to New York to Dallas it still feels like 5 years just flew by and still feel new with rapid changes in technology and Microsoft’s ability to still stay relevant in the era of iEverything.

In this 5 years, i have experience first hand some historic launches, news, and lessons learned.  Have seen Microsoft purchasing a big agency for tons of money, launching Vista, Windows 7, office 2010, reading an email from Ballmer about an attempt to purhase Yahoo, launch of Windows Phone 7, Kinect, first ever companywide layoffs, new name of Windows Live Search to Bing, transitioning Search service to Yahoo, can’t forget the launch of Kin, Bill Gates stepping down to do more meaningful things and how can I forget about a time Ballmer gave me high five at MGX. What a journey it has been, with all the ups and downs. Worst day without a doubt was layoffs day, when people I knew were being called into Manager’s office and see them leaving the company right after the meeting, just a horrible day. Hopefully don’t have to go through that again.  There were lot of best days/proud Microsoftie days.  One of them was, being inside NASDAQ for closing bell ceremony when Windows 7 was launched, another one was playing with Kinect before anyone could, what an amazing piece of technology that is and of course news of Bing gaining marketshare one point at a time

5 Years came and gone.  Without a doubt company has spoilled me.   If i were to find a new job where i am required to dress up everyday not sure if i would last that long.  Have been blessed to work with some of the smartest people in the industry and flexible managment.  Despite the size of the company, it is amazing to see people’s passion, honesty and professionalism.  Of course there some negatives as well probably because of the size of the company.  Stock price for one hasn’t moved much

Overall, it has been great 5 years with tons of unforgettable experiences.  I still feel like i just joined the company.  Let’s see what’s next…

Post was partially written on WordPress for Windows Phone 7

What’s In A Name?

Hello. My name is Tejas.  It is an Indian name.  I understand that it may be difficult for you to pronounce this 5 letter name. I know you want to call me, Tey-haas.  Go ahead and address me by that name and i will make sure to correct you. And no, you can not call me TJ, T or Tej.  I will help you learn my name, just like how i learned your name: Peter, Meredith, Jacob and Kristy.

Why do i make sure you know my name and pronounce it correctly?  Here is why.  When i was younger, around 14, my uncle told me a story about his name. When he moved to States, no one could pronounce his name, Pravin.  One of his co-worker asked him, if he can call him Peter instead of Pravin, to make it easier on him.  Uncle replied, yeah sure.  You can call me Peter and i will call you Bob. His coworker replied, my name is not Bob, it is David.  Uncle said, exactly. If i can learn to say your name, may be you can learn to say my name too.

So there you go.  This country is full of people from all around the globe, it is a melting pot.  In this day and age, everyone should be accustomed to people from other parts of the world, whose name may sound “unusual” or “weird”.   But that is the beauty of it.  Name is one’s identity, it defines you, your culture, values, individuality… Or may be it doesn’t.

Here is my problem:  I see lot of desi folks with names like, Tracy Shah or Crystal Patel.  Now i know those are gujju last names. I am pretty sure, your parents didn’t give you those American names. I am also aware that you are just trying to make it easier for others to pronounce your name and not make a big deal out of it. I have done it. I have allowed others to call me TJ to not draw attention to myself.  Not anymore though.  If you have an Indian name, embrace it. It is your name for crying out loud.  Indian names are full of colors and history.  If you are so ashamed/afraid to correct someone, may be you should just call yourself Mary Johnson or Michael Washington.  That isn’t too hard to pronounce is it?  You surely will get weird look, but at least no one will ask you to spell it out for them.  Sure, take an easy way out.

I’m actually glad, my name is not Peter or Bob or James.  How boring would that be? My name alone has started number of interesting conversations and how “Tay-haas” in Spanish means Texas and how funny it is that i actually live in Texas.  If my name was Peter, i’m pretty sure that conversation would not have happened, how dull.

On the flip side, if my first name consisted of 15 letters alone, i don’t expect anyone to pronounce it correctly.  But it is only 5 letters.  It can’t be that difficult, can it?  If nothing else, you will call me “Tay-hass” and i will correct you and before you know it, we will be discussing our family histories.

Is there something in your name?  What does it represent?

Why do doctor’s office have THE worst customer service?

Have you been to doc’s office lately?  More importantly, when you made an appointment, did Doc ever show up on time?  Don’t get me wrong.  I respect the profession to infinity.  Lot of my friends are in that field and i have complete respect for their dedication, hard work and will power.  Amount of training they go through is unparallel to any other profession.  However, my complain is not against Doctors but rather towards the way process works.

Ideally, you make an appointment to see a doc.  You show up on time and doc would see you, save your life/make you feel better and you go on your merry way.  However, the time a patient shows up at doc’s office and the time a doctor actually sees the patient, that is where something needs to be changed.  This is the way i have experienced it.  A nurse or physician assistant takes the patient in the office and measures BP, temperature, asks what the symptoms are and prepares basics for the doc.  Nurse/PA asks the patient to wait and leaves the room.  Now, this waiting in the examination room and anticipation of doc walking in at any second is the root of patient dissatisfaction.  Patient is told “Doctor will see you shortly.”  A normal human being defines “Shortly” as in 5-10 minutes and not 20-25 minutes.  This is the time when patient usually feels like his/her time is not being valued. 

Take this as a scenario.  You are starving and you go to a restaurant, waiter takes your order and you are waiting for food to come at any time.  Each minute seems like an hour when you are just sitting there.  But when a waiter gives you chips and salsa, that’s when your mind is occupied.  Similar appetizer should also be offered at doc’s office.  Something to distract that really hungry patient.  May it can be some kind of educational video, latest health news, information about the doctor or anything that will make each minute not look like 30 minutes long.

I have yet to meet an unqualified doctor.  To reiterate, my issue is not with doctors.  Frustration is with the process and the time patient spends in the examination rooms.

How has your experience been like at doctor’s office?  Got better ideas around distracting hungry patient?

Impact of Collecting User Information on Web Site

Recently i realized that there is a great opportunity to collect information about visitors who come to my website.  I wish i had done this years ago.  So i decided to do a test and see what kind of impact my site’s revenue would have if i were to put a form on page that drives majority of my site’s traffic.  Test Time period: 7 Days (i realize that this is pretty short time).  Purpose of this test was to collect email addresses of my niche audience.  At at the end of 7 day period i had collected approximately 450 email addresses, which is not bad.  However, impact on various site KPIs were interesting:

I kept the form short on purpose and it consisted of only 4 simple questions:

Impact on various KPIs:

KPI	Feb 3rd to Feb 10th	Feb 11th to Feb 17th
Time Spent On Site
Bounce Rate

Results: 

-  Ave time spent on site decreased by 28 seconds

-  Bounce rate, which i have tried so hard to bring it close to 50 increased

-  WoW AdSense revenue decreased by 17%, impressions decreased by 26.51% and clicks decreased by 28%

Key Learnings:

1)  When doing any kind of tests on your site check your site/page on most popular browsers to make sure it is showing up the way you want it show up.  Before taking off the form yesterday i checked my page on Firefox and guess what?  Form never displayed there.  It was still showing the old content.

2)  I learned more about my audience.  Google analytics told me that 53% of my audience came from India and only 12% came from US.  However, here is what i didn’t know: Of the people who filled out form, approximately 96% were male from India.

3)  Test for longer period of time.

4)  To increase revenue and other KPIs find what kind of topics attract male? (besides girls )

 

If i were to do it again, here’s what i would change:

1)  Instead of making my users require to enter the information before showing them content, i can collect information about them by asking them to join my mailing list

2)  Put the form on high traffic but average revenue generating page

 

What kind of results have you seen when you have put form on your page? Do share success as well as failure stories.