Let's go good and fast !

When someone demands something yesterday I say to them do you want this quickly or do you want it to work? Try it, the looks on their faces the first time you say it is worth a fortune. When they reply, as inevitably they will, both !

You can say it's not an "and" it's an "either or".


One of the things I do for a living is build web sites and one of the primary things I worry about, when I'm doing so, is speed.

How fast:

• will this load
• can a user get to what they want
• can they find information
• can they find the site through a search engine
• can I restore it from backup
• can I get this application built and ready to go
• can I move onto the next project

Sometimes it seems to me that this need for speed is in direct conflict with good customer service, if I'm rushing people through my site how can I give them the sort of personal service that will make them say wow?

For a long time I worried about this issue until one day I started looking at speed in a completely new way, in fact I started to look at it in the same way as I had been taught to look at money when I worked for a Pensions company and later for a cash handling company.

Get ready for another saying,

Speed is just another commodity.

Ok not earth shattering at first glance I admit, but when you start to apply this thought to your work it really starts to change how you perceive it.

In the past I have become incredibly frustrated because I couldn't go as fast as I perceived the end user wanted, I would rant and rail against those things that stood in my way, I tried to circumvent the barriers to the head-long charge for results and sometimes I came unstuck.

Do you know what?

The end users who seemed so pre-occupied with speed suddenly became very concerned about quality.

Eventually, and I don't claim to be a quick study, it dawned on me, when users say fast they actually mean good and fast and that is a whole different ball game.

When users say fast they actually mean good and fast.

So having learnt that fast means good and fast how have I implemented that and how has it helped me in my work?

I have often said "I can do this within your challenging time-scales but I can not guarantee that it will work, or I can do it in the time-scale I have laid out and I can guarantee that it will work, choose."

You'd be surprised how often the time-scales set in stone suddenly appear to be more fluid.

Of course you have to be realistic in your estimates and if your new time-scale is accepted then you have to come in on time.

If you get "we want it yesterday regardless" then you can proceed happily in the knowledge that should there be a problem you have pre-cleared yourself.

Of course I still try and do the best job I can and avoid problems but I find myself far more relaxed when I have followed this procedure.

Try it tomorrow and watch your stress levels drop.

By the way, giving excellent customer service is sometimes about saying no !

John Anslow
http://www.ffriar.com