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... into this lucrative source of sales and earnings. Don't laugh too hard. My clients already know that most days will find me sitting at the computer or in front of the microphone in my bathing suit. To understand the magnitude of this transition to informality, consider that when I moved from New York to Southern California in 1982, I didn't even own a pair of jeans. Informal meant a sport coat and tie. Year by year, the warm weather and casual attitudes gradually loosened me up. The watershed event came in 1995. After much soul-searching, we moved our offices and studios into a wing of our house. The pool quickly became my "stress-buster" during the course of the day. The restorative factor of several 10-minute breaks to swim a few laps is better than a ... pay their premiums. They call you in case of a claim or a change in coverage. But when was the last time you called them? When's the last time you "caught up" on the circumstances of their lives? When's the last time you sat down and reviewed their coverages with them? Some home-based businesses, like our company, might have tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment on the premises. Some might have clients coming to their residences as we do. Few understand that their standard Homeowners policy isn't likely to cover their business operation and equipment. Many of you might be thinking that the idea is good, but that it's an awful lot of work for a Personal Lines account, or even a small BOP. Let's look at it for a moment. Obviously ...

...he source of, say, tickets to a sporting event. Nevertheless, some people in ...rer in the field. Assured that the equipment would perform as part of the firm’s computer network, the equipment was installed. After nearly six...

...l will be the most widely viewed sporting event of the year, not everybody app...ey work hard!) they have the proper equipment, the support of capable professi...

...of thousands of dollars worth of equipment on the premises. Some might have cl... cover their business operation and equipment. Many of you might be thinking t...

... one of the three sections. 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour. 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year. 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips. $9 ,690 will be spent today, tomorrow, next Thursday, and every day in the future on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment. 55 malfunctioning ATMs will be installed in the next 12 months. 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the nest 12 months. 114,500 mismatched pairs of shoes will be shipped this year. $761,900 will be spent in the next 12 months on tapes and CDs that won't play. 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the ... today. 315 entries in Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language (unabridged) will turn out to be misspelled. Incidentally, 99.9 percent accuracy would be a remarkable improvement in the context of current performance levels. For example: A Hewlett-Packard study of 300,000 semiconductors from three American firms and three Japanese firms recently found the average failure rate of the American chips was more than 0.1 percent. The failure rate for the Japanese-made chips was zero. The U.S. airline industry, despite reams of advertising about improved performance, reported last year that just 80% of its flights departed on time-and only 74% arrived on schedule. The airline industry also assumes 5% to 10% of all luggage will be mishandled and 3% of all checked baggage will be lost en route. ...

...tations of privacy using Company equipment. Unlike written communications, e-m...

...uture on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment. 55 malfunctioning ATMs will b...

... you own valuable cameras and/or sporting equipment? ...

...remises? Valuable cameras and/or sporting equipment? ...

... and back-offices so that CSRs have immediate access to customer histories. However, real personalization solutions are emerging. And because they're personal, they're controversial. Such products might mine chat text to determine a customer's personality predilections based on a Myers-Briggs type of personality inventory. Let's say that you're shopping for a car online, and have a Type A' personality. A CSR might push you toward a red sports car, rather than the beige sedan that they might've suggested if your analyzed conversation showed you to be a Type B. Is this ethical? Some would say no. But many customers are willing to trade a little privacy for the convenience of not having their time wasted by an agent showing them items in which they have no interest. Businesses that keep personal information about their customers to themselves will ... Depending on the Web page, CTI can even direct the call request to a specific CSR who is familiar with the goods and services advertised on that Web page. The downside of this technology is that few customers have a dedicated line for their computers, so most have to get offline to receive a call. This brings up another solution, voiceover Internet protocol (VoIP) . VoIP For computers equipped with a microphone and soundcard, VoIP can provide an outstanding customer care solution. Click on a VoIP icon, and a live CSR speaks directly to you through speakers or headphones. It's just like a telephone, but without the line charges. As with live chat, a VoIP-equipped salesperson can show an online customer Web pages with new products or services while discussing their attributes with the customer. ...