A Clever Spell

The firm of Trilegiant is listed as one of the best known North American service providers organizing club programs. The business and Mr Lipman, its President, join with many retail names including famous dental, shopping, entertainment, health, and protection businesses to streamline the consumer’s purchasing experience.

Trilegiant and Mr. Lipman are scarcely unknown to the field. Founded over three decades ago, Trilegiant hails from the city of Norwalk, Connecticut and now owns and operates eight facilities through an even half dozen states and containing 3000 members of staff ready to address any questions. In the present day, they service more than twenty-five million customers all over America.

Mr Lipman’s aim is to find risk free solutions, allowing members to ensure value, spend less, and which do all this without shopping turning into something time consuming. Just as an example, affordable protection for extended warranty, guaranteed returns, and the cost of repairs are available for your purchase through the Buyers Advantage initiative. Other optional schemes like HealthSaver offer quality healthcare which won’t break the bank, and that only mentions a pair of the great initiatives that the business promises.

Helping out the whole community is an interest of the CEO and his staff. To take one example, in 2005 forty staffers put their heads together and earned in excess of $30,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. Not only that but they did it in a mere one working week — now that’s amazing! Trilegiant researches into matters of interest to clients. Had you read that in 2005 there were approximately six million four hundred and twenty thousand reported automobile fender benders in the United States of America alone? Trilegiant does — and they’ve given it some thought. A more accurate number would be much higher — it’s impossible to keep track of the unrecorded accidents, and “accidents” is not the category that instances of “road rage” is counted under.

Nobody would want their own car to be included in these statistics, especially among the numbers for injury, and for the past three years Autovantage car club subscribers have received the firm’s yearly “road rage” factsheets. To keep you safe, the useful tips these factsheets contain are intended to raise your awareness.

And there it is; Trilegiant, a wonderful example of a company which realizes how fundamental the welfare of its subscribers truly is. Using services introduced to improve consumers’ buying experiences and a true dedication to important causes they make it clear exactly where their interests lie. In summary, they are the essence of a community-minded firm.

Originally, when Henry Kravis and his business partner George Roberts established Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the 1970’s with the assistance of the First Chicago Corporation, the company’s specialization was in highly leveraged transactions. But in the hope of making the companies they take over more ecologically friendly, they have rolled out a unique green enterprise which has totally changed the way business concerns and environmental agencies carry on their everyday business. KKR’s Henry Kravis and the New York based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces last year, with the mission of making green business operation a widespread idea. Their mission is to offer encouragement to businesses in fighting against environmental threats such as water pollution as well as any exorbitant consumption of water resources. Eco-efficiency (a phrase initially popularized by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) constitutes the framework for their mission, utilizing ecologically aware policies like optimizing data centers for efficiency, improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance and recycling programs. Successful though it was the management didn’t even understand the full advantages of the project until the head of the program and global public affairs, Ken Mehlman, looked over the figures from the project subsequent to its first year in operation. Only at that point did Ken realize that the program wasn’t solely reducing their ecological impact, but in addition it was saving companies a large amount of money. These days, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have almost every business in their portfolio involved in the program. If you think about the fact that the portfolio is valued at $86 billion, you can imagine what an enormous accomplishment this really was.

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These two organizations with the assistance of Ken Mehlman are developing the Green Portfolio project. To illustrate, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co joined the EDF’s Climate Corps Program which instructs students taking an MBA how to promote cost efficient, green practices.

KKR and Ken Mehlman have been formulating a series of metrics and other applicable products that administer various resources. These metrics permit any business organization to assess their progress and identify any problem areas.

Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to reduce their environmental impact. In conclusion, the work of these organizations has made ecologically friendly business practice not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their radical ideas are setting a new standard in the high-pressure business world of today.

Facebook has now implemented its privacy settings change on users that it had announced earlier. The social networking site had presented the concept of selectively restricting content viewership for each piece of information rather than a general privacy setting which would be applicable over all the content of a single user.

The announcement to users that the new privacy settings were in force came via a pop up on December 9th, asking users to update settings for their content. Unfortunately, Facebook has also taken the step of resetting all existing settings to default levels, thus exposing more of the users’ content than they deem necessary.

A lot of information that was protected from public gaze through user-set privacy settings earlier is now in public domain, because of the privacy settings being changed to default. This means that the users of Facebook need to change the settings immediately to ensure that sensitive content is not freely circulating around the web either through Facebook or through search engine channels.

While critics are not objecting to the change of the privacy options, they are definitely not impressed with the way Facebook has forced users to take immediate action. They are accusing the social networking website of pushing users to reveal more information in a bid to make the social networking site more attractive.

However, Facebook spokespersons have made it clear that there is no such underhand intent behind the privacy settings change. The whole concept has been mooted to allow users to manage their content better and to decide how much of their content will be made public rather than have a blanket privacy setting which will encompass all the user’s content.

With the ever-growing popularity of social networking sites, internet safety might be an issue for you if you are thinking of getting broadband for your home computer. If you choose to search for broadband providers through Broadband Genie, you will be given all the information you need about the suppliers on their easy to use comparison table to help you choose the best broadband for you and your family.

Hailing from New Jersey, Nicholas Bredimus studied the spheres of hospitality, airlines, and software and to the benefit of all three areas of business. This innovative man has worked in many fields, from the high value home design sector through a study of air safety and software programs to help with time management. Examining Nicholas Bredimus’ heritage you can easily predict he was destined to rise to prominence. Drawing elements together from a true melting pot, his clan traces to Classical times, with his mother’s branch predominantly German and Scottish. His father’s family, in contrast, originates in Luxembourg and England, from where his forebears emigrated in the late nineteenth century. And following emigration to the US, the family maintained its work ethic and resolve to go up in the world. Nicholas, who would grow up with his sisters and brothers, was a child of a father employed as a mechanical design engineer and a mother who worked as a practicing nurse. He would spend much of his life in homes across a number of states. He’s taken on respected roles with firms throughout the airline industry — the bulk of them acclaimed brands. These included the title of Vice President for Trans World Airlines (TWA), Republic Airlines, and Hughes Airwest. A dedicated software programmer, his innovations in airline software are most likely his greatest gift to the industry. Bredimus is easily most famous for the airplane maintenance system he crafted for US Airways, which would rapidly become the industry standard. He created many other systems for the hotel and airline sectors both before and after, among them completely automatic software to handle airline bookings, now in use at over 50 airlines, to say nothing of the first room reservation software on the PC in use in the hotel sector, the rollout for which was a major event at more than seven hundred hostelries. He also designed QuikTix, the world’s first electronic ticket sales network.

Though it is certainly his forte, he has also often worked on other fields. In his own firm, as a divisional manager with American Express, and as the inaugural president of a new American Airlines division his career is impeccable.

These days, though, he has stepped back from his airline connections and the software design industry, although he’s still making best use of his abilities. He’s at work now advancing building design — mixing the demands of luxury with true concern for the ecology.

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Hailing from New Jersey, Nicholas Bredimus combined the spheres of hospitality, software, and airlines and forever changed all three industries. His resume covers time-saving software, airplane safety advancements, and he’s even involved in designing high value homes. It could be predicted, of course, that given his family tree he was certain to rise to prominence. Traceable back into ancient history, in fact Nicholas’ family has associations with a great part of Europe. Within the maternal branch, for example, he can boast German and Scottish bloodlines. England and Luxembourg are home to his paternal line, though the family came to America in the late 1800s. And after arrival in America, the family maintained its drive and zeal to go far. Nicholas, who would grow up with his four sisters and two brothers, was a child of a father who worked as a mechanical design engineer and his spouse, a nurse. He would go on to live in Arizona, Kansas City, Texas and Virginia.

Once his schooling was complete, he engaged in a few respected jobs for several of the most important airlines. Republic Airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA), Hughes Airwest - these airlines would all at various times respectively name him as a vp. Most prominent, however, was his work as a creative programmer working with the airline industry.

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He is most famous for one particular project, his airplane maintenance management applications which come into use by almost all air services. He turned his attention next to recording and making bookings. For both air travel and hotels he produced software to deal with the bulk of the work required prior to that point. Expanding into yet another zone, he designed a networked system to assist in ticket sales - another first for his resume. Bredimus has served in a number of roles entirely outside of software development, let’s remember. Key jobs with American Airlines and American Express followed, and of course he started up a business of his own in the early 1990s. As of now, though, he has stepped back from his airline connections and from programming, although he’s still making the most of his skills. But to answer your unasked question, his inventiveness is on display in high-priced condos employing all of the most advanced smart technologies available.

I expect you know that donating your time as a volunteer lets you strengthen the bonds of your community as well as assisting people in need. But finding the room for this can be tricky, and before you know it you don’t have nearly as long left to actually do some good. It hardly needs pointing out, when volunteering becomes a team effort with co-workers, it will be far more fun.

For this reason companies like Adaptive Marketing LLC, a firm from Connecticut that developed shopping and financial benefits programs like Leisure Exclusives, are making themselves points of organization for volunteer activities and helping their employees make time for reaching out. Initiatives like these were always annual, limited events — in today’s world, so much more can be achieved. Looking at just one company, Adaptive Marketing has provided its staff with chances to participate in everything from athletic shoe recycling efforts to tree planting days. With the information — date, location, time, specifics of event, et cetera — announced it became very simple for staff to set aside the time for volunteering and what they’d be doing as they did so.

It’s essential to let volunteers support projects according to their own interests. Businesses involved in this like Adaptive Marketing, (who offer to the public programs like Leisure Exclusives) present their staff members with a wide variety of activities in the local area. You’ll soon see your employees promoting green initiatives etc. Adaptive Marketing’s staff members are sure to have a project they’ll enjoy participating in, ensuring they’ll enjoy the time they spend volunteering.

Normally, when companies recommend their staffers to consider volunteering at local schools, it is often to help with a single event or a regularly scheduled, ongoing task. Even those who say they don’t have the time to volunteer can usually commit to the public library’s sale of used books. Lending a helping hand is a practice with a long history at many companies. Goodwill is generated by the projects undertaken by Adaptive Marketing’s staff members over the course of these company-supported initiatives. Something that volunteer activities are sure to do is leave your staff feeling good about themselves, which creates a motivated corporate culture.

Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was established in the seventies and in the beginning their main business was in ‘bootstrap’ buyouts. However, they have put together an innovative venture that concentrates not merely on profitability, but additionally on how ecologically aware each of their companies are. When Henry Kravis from KKR and the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces last year green matters went mainstream. Issues like hazardous emissions and unconscionable water consumption are an important part of their company mission.

To achieve this, they use eco-efficiency which calls for techniques such as reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals, increasing the durability of products, and fuel economy. Even though the program was a huge success, no-one realized how incredible the consequences really were until Ken Mehlman, the head of the Green Portfolio Project and global public affairs, reviewed the figures for the first year.

Much to everyone’s surprise, Ken learned that applying eco-efficiency not only raised environmental awareness, but was increasing the profitability of all their business concerns as well. At the time of writing, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and Ken Mehlman have nearly every last business in their portfolio participating in eco-efficiency principles. Seeing that this portfolio of business organizations is worth 86,000,000,000 dollars, you may be certain this was no easy feat. The original Green Portfolio project has developed beyond its basic remit and currently encompasses new opportunities. To illustrate, KKR joined the EDF’s Climate Corps Program an organization which instructs students taking an MBA how to introduce cost effective, planet friendly principles. KKR and Ken Mehlman have made the effort to create metrics and analytic tools which evaluate and manipulate various resources. Systems such as these can evaluate an organization’s progress and identify any underlying problems. The business community has been revolutionized by the ground-breaking efforts of Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Their innovations have made reducing their ecological impact easier for firms in every industry and proved to the world that running a profitable business need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.

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Like thousands of other people you will have heard mention of Mr. Naveen Jain’s name in connection with him being the CEO & co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the renowned information commerce company. In addition to achieving a ranking on the Forbes 400 Richest in America list 2000, this maverick entrepreneur has won diverse choice awards, foremost the WSA Industry Achievement Award, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. Even so it certainly does not end there. For Naveen Jain and his family are likewise as avid about philanthropy and will attempt to aid people in need whenever they are able to.

All our anticipations for the years to come are held in our young generation. Naveen Jain also regards children as constituting the focus of his enterprises and he makes the best of any occasion available to aid them. This, too, is the chief reason why he is thoroughly using every possibility he can to offer assistance whenever workable. So, Naveen Jain, his relations and the staff at Intelius are donating time to philanthropical foundations such as the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club, Hopelink, and Child Rights and You (CRY). Expectably, they will offer magnanimous pecuniary aid, but even more importantly, they dedicate their time and care to the most deprived and at risk children. Beyond this, he donates to the Children’s Hospital in an attempt to restore children’s health too.

Because Naveen Jain is a former student of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it’s no wonder that formal training holds a tremendously high prerogative in his benevolent activities. This encompasses deserving causes and charitable foundations local, state, and nationwide. Thus Intelius and its CEO are assisting voluntary organizations and philanthropic foundations like the Rotary Club, the University Preparatory Academy and the Vedic Cultural Center.

Getting food to the malnourished of the world is another critical goal for Naveen Jain and those around him and to him, it makes not one iota of difference. Although Naveen is aware that the task of locating sustenance for all the world’s starving is a staggering one, he also believes that the unfeasible can really turn out to be realizable when each and every one of us labors together. If this entrepreneur actually achieves his goals, there will be a decisive conclusion to poverty and famine on this planet at some point.

You would believe that being the man in full control of a wildly flourishing market leading business in addition to being a dedicated husband and father would leave little resources for donating and support. But in spite of all this he ensures that all of his benevolent projects can rely on all the aid he can plausibly marshal. To wrap it up, this indefatigable man is indisputably a lot more than a mere though admittedly very successful pioneer of commerce. He is, even more importantly, also an eminently humanitarian minded individual and a veritable community champion.

In these times compassionate charity work is as important as ever. You will very likely have seen Mr. Naveen Jain in connection with him being the co-founder and CEO of Intelius, Inc. the celebrated information commerce company. Beyond achieving his ranking on the Forbes list “400 Richest in America” 2000, this enterprising entrepreneur has been bestowed a whole range of distinguished awards, foremost the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the WSA Industry Achievement Award. Nevertheless things categorically develop further from there. Because Mr. Naveen Jain and his family are just as passionate about philanthropy and will endeavor to aid needy people whenever the opportunity arises. All our hopes for the years to come are manifest in our youth. This enterprising man views - and treats - young people as a principal core of his charity dealings and he takes any occasion available to help them. This of course, is the primary reason why he is so thoroughly taking advantage of every possibility he can to support them wherever it is feasible. So, Naveen Jain, his relations and his workers at Intelius give their time to a vast range of charities as, for example, the Indian American Education Foundation, the University of Washington, and TreeHouse. They hand out ample monetary assistance but more importantly they commit their time and attention to those children who require it the most. Furthermore, he helps support the Children’s Hospital endeavoring to improve the condition of child health. Because Jain is a former student of XLRI Jamshedpur and the Indian Institute of Technology, it’s not at all surprising that professional training is also a key hub in his benevolent works. This also includes campaigns and good causes that cover the entire spectrum from neighborhood programs to the global. Thus Intelius and its head are actively involved in supporting charitable bodies and organizations such as the University Preparatory Academy, the Vedic Cultural Center and the Children’s Hospital.

Getting foodstuffs over to the malnourished of the planet is another critical goal for Jain and those around him and to him, it makes not a jot of difference. Although he is cognizant that the job of finding provisions for all the world’s starving is a staggering one, he is also aware that the unattainable can actually be positively feasible assuming that the whole world exerts themselves towards a unified end. If this entrepreneur obtains his objectives, the final curtain will definitely come down on famine and neediness on this planet in the future. As an observer you could suppose that functioning as the leader of a prosperous business and a dedicated spouse and family man would give him no spare leeway for charity and aiding the needy. But he makes certain that all of his charitable projects obtains all the aid he can plausibly marshal. Indeed, this altruistic businessman is undoubtedly way more than merely a business trailblazer. He is, in fact, a highly humanitarian minded citizen and an exceptional community activist.

When my current lease expires, if I trade-in my Porsche Cayenne for Cadillac, that’ll signify a win for Cadillac and a loss for Porsche, right?

After all, when it comes to earning my business, these manufacturers are playing what’s termed a zero-sum game. If one wins, the other, by definition, loses.

Throughout the economy there are examples of these rivalries, of pitched battles for scarce buyers. And most of us have been schooled to think that we’re incessantly competing, whether we’re students seeking scarce “A’s” in classes, or job seekers, hunting for the best positions.

But the “new economy,” and especially e-commerce, are calling the traditional “me-against-the-world” mindset into question. I, for one, am finding that most of the people and companies against whom I used to think I was competing, simply aren’t significant factors in whether I earn business or fail to earn it.

Here’s what I mean. I consult in the areas of customer service, telemarketing, and selling. I offer keynote speeches, seminars, on-site development programs, and a host of books, audio seminars and video seminars.

My techniques are quite distinctive, and while there are some clients who love all of my stuff, and are proud to have become “Goodman-ized,” most folks don’t rely exclusively upon any single source for their information. They may be hooked on my customer service programs, but happily look elsewhere for their general sales tips.

Am I really competing against the purported “gurus” who supply such sales material, especially because I have what I consider to be some pretty hot books and resources in that area?

Traditional thinking says, emphatically, “Yes!” I shouldn’t be happy with just a portion of my client’s investment in training tools. I should resolve to maximize my profits by getting the entire pie for myself!

After twenty years in consulting, I can tell you this is never going to happen. For one thing, clients crave novelty. They grow bored with a single source, and sooner or later they want to hear other voices.

Rather than fighting this tendency, which is what the “zero-sum” competitor in me used to do, I’m more inclined these days to develop lead-sharing and referral programs with others in the consulting and training world.

In fact, now I’m interested in putting together relationships where I serve as a broker or an agent for people I used to consider to be my direct competitors!

I see it this way. Even if we all had identical strengths and skills and prices, our personalities wouldn’t be perfect matches for every opportunity. Add to this the fact that it is often easier and more credible to sell-in someone else other than oneself, and you have a better recipe for success. Why rely upon the same, narrow range of ingredients all the time?

One final thought. I used to get leads from companies where it was fairly clear to me that I had to really stretch to fit the description of what they were seeking. Instead of twisting myself out of shape, now I see that I should have tried to identify someone else who could have been a better fit.

But in most cases, I’d bury the lead, instead of passing it on, lest my competitors get an advantage. I’m sure that some inquiries simply didn’t buy any services from anyone, as a result. So, my “win-lose” mentality produced a “lose-lose” result. Nobody did any business!

This doesn’t make economic sense, and it’s also poor customer care.

Today, I believe that everyone is better served by changing this viewpoint. We’re not necessarily facing a world of competitors, but rather a world of potential collaborators.

And what we’re really competing against isn’t other people or companies, but against an economic model, based upon scarcity, that simply doesn’t make as much sense as we once thought it did.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of http://www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone® and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service. A frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide, Gary’s programs are offered by UCLA Extension and by numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. Gary is headquartered in Glendale, California. He can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com