The Biggest Junk Mail

October 21st, 2009

Famous for the biggest everything the UAE postal system seems to be determined to great the worlds biggest junk mail service.

It defies belief that any postal service in this day and age would be prepared to simply stuff unsolicited mail into everyones PO Box.

Dear Sir,

 Emirates Post would like to offer you the Unaddressed Mail Service (brochure distribution all over the UAE through PO Boxes)  that can give you the opportunity to have direct contact with your customers through the Mass Marketing Strategy. I’ve attached the price list so that you can have a look at it.

 For more inf. Regarding this service or any other services Please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

 Best Regards

 Khaled Al Tamimi

Senior Sales Executive

تنفيذي أول مبيعات

 I wonder how long it will be before there is a premium PO Box that does not get junk mail added!

Stealing from the poor in Dubai

August 17th, 2009

The legendary outlaw Robin Hood used to steal from the rich to give to the poor, unlike the new form of low life that appears to be preying on the poor in the UAE to make themselves rich.

Targetting those who have lost their jobs, in the UAE, and are desperate to find a position a letter,  in 7 Days, a free newspaper distributed in Dubai, states these  despicable people are charging fees for none existent jobs.

One must realise how  desperate and prepared to clutch at any straw these job seekers will be as they and their family have to leave the country, within 30 days of their visa, which is obtained through their employment, being cancelled.

During the current recession, a number of recruitment agencies have sprung up overnight in the UAE. Their main aim is to catch gullible job seekers and make a quick buck out of them…
I am one of the victims who got caught in this trap.
When I saw an advertisement for a new company in a leading newspaper, I called and went to the office.
After promising a job within ten days, the female Customer Relations officer told me to give copies of my passport and photographs.
An elaborate document was given to me to be filled in and I was charged dhs100 in ‘processing fees’.
Next day a man working there called me and invited me in for an interview. He also said if I passed the interview, I would need to pay dhs300 as ‘job placement charges’. At the interview, he and another man said there was a job for me at a company in Jebel Ali free zone and that my letter of appointment would be ready within days…
They told me the salary and the benefits and that the employer had given this company the full authority to recruit. They even told showed me receipts of payments made by other clients.
I never heard from them again and each time I call the office, they notice my number.
I used other phones to contact them and those who answer my call say they will call back within two hours but they never call.
The man who interviewed me now says that the so-called employer does not have a vacancy after all. When asked why they charged me for a job placement he laughs and puts the receiver down.
This organisation employs people from many different nationalities.
Each time I call a different employee answers the phone. And they pretend they do not know each other…
Please publish this so that more job seekers do not fall prey to these underhand, corrupt agencies and also I urge the law enforcement authorities to take speedy action against them.
Victim
Dubai

Hopefully, this letter will spark the authorities in Dubai into action and they will stamp out this practise and severely punish the perpetrators, regardless of nationality.  There is no excuse to prey on the weak and letters of this type  do enormous damage to the reputation of the UAE where inaction would be seen as condoning theft from the weak and vunerable.

Do you ignore complaints?

August 11th, 2009

Customer service is one of the most important ingredients for growing a successful business but here is a lesson for all of us in how social media can bring worldwide exposure, of the wrong sort, to companies who ignore a customers complaint.

In days  gone by it was difficult to broadcast messages about poor customer service. Yes you could try speaking to the press but very few  of these stories ever saw the light of day.

United Airlines have discovered after ignoring a complaint from a musician, for over a year, that thanks to social media his complaint that they broke his guitar and did nothing about it  has been put out on the web for all to see.

This story was quickly picked up by the Consumerist magazine who published the story and with the You Tube video approaching 5 million views  this has come round and bitten United.

We should all remember this storey next time we decide how to resolve a customers complaint.

Dubai investment incentive

August 9th, 2009

The following comment to an article, in AB, on the reduction of seven of the many fees businesses are charged in Dubai,  left me wondering who the spin doctors think they are kidding.

We’re a small company which was waiting for this cuts to invest in Dubai. We’ll now invest thanks to this cuts which will provide us more cash for our day-to-day operations. I hope that investor deposit fees may decrease as well. So, these actions are signs that the economic post crisis in UAE is starting.

Sounds good so how much more cash would Habib now have for his day to day operations?

Well there are a number of different ways of creating a business in Dubai. Which is most suitable will depend upon the business to be carried out but lets assume he wants a commercial licence this appears to start at AED 15,000,  US$ 4,087

Therefore with a 20% saving our budding entrepreneur will have US$ 817 towards funding his day to day operations. So what could you do with US$ 2.38 a day in Dubai. Well it won’t buy a cold beer or even a cup of coffee. and it definatley won’t go far towards the office rent and costs of visas.

We hope Habib responds and we can all find out how saving under a thousand dollars would be the make or break decision for investing in Dubai.

Good communicators make better managers

July 31st, 2009

The explosion in communication tools, in the last ten years, with corporate websites, e-mail, mobile phones, SMS and the current buzz surrounding social media seems to have blurred the art of communication

Which is the most effective way to communicate with superiors, staff, and clients in the electronic age?

Being a good communicator is not necessarily a natural skill but rather one we learn. Great managers are those individuals who recognise clear communication is an essential part of their job and constantly work to improve their skills.

Effective communication should be open and honest exchanges of information with clear, easy to understand materials and a two-way feedback system. 

Great managers never lose sight of the importance of providing a clear demonstration of their interest in their staff and delivering all the news – both the good and the bad

A recent survey of employees in the US showed less than half (45%) said senior leadership both talks and listens, creating an environment of two-way communication.

Similarly, less than half (49%) say there are procedures in place to raise questions and issues with senior leadership or inform employees on a timely basis about major decisions and developments.
 
Conduct your own communication audits and ask yourself do your communications develop interest and encouraging response as opposed to simply presenting information.

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July 29th, 2009

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Social Not Working

July 23rd, 2009

 Social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have gained acceptance as a means of marketing and spreading the message online about companies their products and services.

A report issued this week by Nucleus Research suggest that almost half of office employees access Facebook during work, with some spending up to two hours a day posting comments, playing games and uploading lists that causes companies to lose an average of 1.5% of the working day.

With over 87 % of the surveys respondents unable to define, a business reason for social networking it becomes even more expensive than the cost of coffee nd water cooler breaks.

The research does not suggest companies should pull the plug on Facebook in the workplace but highlights a real risk for companies handling secure data where many users already know their corporate e-mail and personal accounts can be monitored by their IT departments whilst Facebook messages are not.

Yes, it does mean your staffs social networking account could be compromising your sophisticated e-mail monitoring software and communication policies.

The knee jerk reaction for many will or already has been to block Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and every other social networking site but before heading down that road think how easily an employee could pull out a web enabled mobile phone and carry on playing Texas Hold Em-Poker or Bejewelled Blitz or sending unmonitored e-mails.

Does you Company allow access to social networking sites in the workplace and if so how do you address the risks to your communications policy?

The right frame of mind

July 12th, 2009

I want to be my own Boss! Words, uttered many times every day by millions of people looking to start their own business, struggling to find a job in the present economy or unhappy with their current  job.

Before you make that first step towards becoming your own Boss, ask yourself, do you have the self-discipline to succeed?

As an employee you may have someone else scheduling your time, telling you when to have lunch, providing direction, giving you various task and other instructions plus the support of your colleagues.

As your own Boss you will be responsible for managing your own time and business activities a task that requires a great deal of self-discipline and focus if you are going to avoid household distractions like television, non business internet surfing,  chatting on IM with your old colleagues, shopping etc.

Distractions that were never around, when you were an employee and can conspire to make the transition from employee to being your own Boss more difficult than many imagine!

If you really want to build a successful business, you will need to leave your ‘employee mentality’ behind and layout some clear rules for yourself and your family that set specific times for both work and family.

Once you have developed your schedule and to-do list stick to it, you will be more productive.

Yes, it is possible to be flexible in your working times to attend the school sports day or special function but the family must understand you will not always be able to take time off and the tasks on your to-do list have still to be completed .

You will not stay in business long if you hide your mistakes or blame them on others, the system, tools or the processes. Your most important lessons come from making mistakes and then correcting them.

Learn from your mistakes! Then fix them! Remember them and find new opportunities.

Managers who stifle creativity!

July 3rd, 2009
As a manger and the leader of your team, you have the authority to authorise, encourage or restrict most aspects of your employees working day, and this places you in a position of power and responsibility.
Sadly, the way many organisations approach the management of people and projects kills the incentive to be creative and stifles creative ability.
Some of you will recognise this business model:
Always pretend to know more than everybody around you.
Get employees to fill in time sheets
Run daily checks on progress of everyone’s work
Ensure that highly qualified people do mundane work for long periods
Create barriers between departments
Never speak personally to employees, except when announcing increased targets, shortened deadlines and tightened cost restraints
Ask for a multi page documents to justify every new idea
Call lots of meetings
Place all the emphasis on the budget
Buy lots of computers
To get the best results you have to be good at managing people. Yes success is all about people, great managers make it a priority to build relationships and spend time listening to their people.
What great ideas do you have to motivate your team?

As a Manager and the leader of your team, you have the authority to encourage or restrict most aspects of your employees working day, and this places you in a position of power and responsibility.

Sadly, the way many organisations approach the management of people kills the incentive to be creative and stifles ability.

Some of you will recognise this style of management:

  1. Always pretend to know more than everybody around you.
  2. Insist employees to fill in time sheets
  3. Run daily checks on progress of everyone’s work
  4. Engage highly qualified people in mundane work for long periods
  5. Create barriers between departments
  6. Never speak personally to employees, except when announcing increased targets, cutting deadlines and tightening cost restraints
  7. Ask for a multi page documents to justify every new idea
  8. Call lots of meetings
  9. Place all the emphasis on the budget

To get the best results you have to be good at managing people.

Success is all about people, great managers make it a priority to build relationships and spend time listening to their people.

Do you have some great ideas to motivate a team and get the best out of them or how you deal with a manager who stifles your creativity?

Are you worth what you think?

June 25th, 2009
Each day our e-mail in boxes are filled with fantastic offers for extending parts of our anatomy, getting millions from a Nigerian who does not even know our name and a share of Bill Gates billions.
Amongst these are always the send this email to five friends and get untold good fortune mails and only occasionally a real gem being circulated to everyone in someone’s address book’
This morning I got one of these and decided it was worth sharing as in demonstrates how strategic anticipation and thinking for ones self.
Two sons work for their father on the family farm. The younger brother had, for some years been given, more responsibility and reward, and one day the older brother asks his father to explain why.
The father says, ‘First, go to the Macintosh farm and see if they have any geese for sale – we need to add to our flock’.
The brother soon returns with the answer, ‘Yes they have five geese they can sell to us.’
That father then says, ‘Good, please ask them the price.’
The son returns with the answer, ‘The geese are £10 each.’
The father says, ‘Good, now ask if they can deliver the geese tomorrow.’
In due course the son returns with the answer, ‘Yes, they can deliver the geese them tomorrow.’
The father asks the older brother to wait and listen, and then calls to the younger brother in a nearby field, ‘Go to the Smith Farm and see if they have any geese for sale – we need to add to our flock.’
The younger brother soon returns with the answer, ‘Yes, they have five geese for £10 each, or ten geese for £8 each; and they can deliver them tomorrow – I asked them to deliver the five unless they heard otherwise from us in the next hour. I agreed that if we want the extra five geese we could buy them at £6 each.’
The father turned to the older son, who nodded his head in appreciation – he now realised why his brother received more responsibility and reward.
With thanks to the original author and do not hesitate to send any similar stories direct to us we would be pleased to publish them.

Each day our e-mail inbox is filled with fantastic offers for extending parts of our anatomy, getting millions from a Nigerian who does not even know our name and a share of Bill Gates billions.

Amongst these are always the send this email to five friends and get untold good fortune mails and only occasionally a real gem being circulated to everyone in someone’s address book’

This morning I got one of these gems and decided it was worth sharing as it demonstrates how strategic anticipation and the ability to think for yourself can lead to higher rewards.

Two sons work for their father on the family farm. The younger brother had, for some years been given, more responsibility and reward, and one day the older brother asks his father to explain why.

The father says, ‘First, go to the Macintosh farm and see if they have any geese for sale – we need to add to our flock’.

The brother soon returns with the answer, ‘Yes they have five geese they can sell to us.’

That father then says, ‘Good, please ask them the price.’

The son returns with the answer, ‘The geese are £10 each.’

The father says, ‘Good, now ask if they can deliver the geese tomorrow.’

In due course the son returns with the answer, ‘Yes, they can deliver the geese them tomorrow.’

The father asks the older brother to wait and listen, and then calls to the younger brother in a nearby field, ‘Go to the Smith Farm and see if they have any geese for sale – we need to add to our flock.’

The younger brother soon returns with the answer, ‘Yes, they have five geese for £10 each, or ten geese for £8 each; and they can deliver them tomorrow – I asked them to deliver the five unless they heard otherwise from us in the next hour. I agreed that if we want the extra five geese we could buy them at £6 each.’

The father turned to the older son, who nodded his head in appreciation – he now realised why his brother received more responsibility and reward.

With thanks to the original author and do not hesitate to send any similar stories direct to us we would be pleased to publish them.