Why is good service so important again?
I'm writing to you today from China. Here I have learnt once again why good service is so important. If you want a customer to pay more than elsewhere, then you have to make the difference! You have to know what they like and anticipate their wishes.
Here in Shenzhen is the Grand Hyatt Hotel – I was here at least six times a year before Corona – and even stored some luggage in Shenzhen, so that I only had to fly with hand luggage. Liquids and such ... that was difficult on the plane.
It’s been over three years since I was last here, and I arrived to be greeted by an armada of hotel staff. My beloved Coke Zero was waiting for me in the car outside the airport. My luggage, which I hadn’t expected to see again, had been stored for three years and completely cleaned for my new stay. Everything was hanging in the wardrobe and the bathroom was neat and tidy. My razor was charged and my chargers stood on the desk. Of course, the fridge was full of Coke Zero and the white wine I had last drunk three years ago. Even the room service knew what I liked to eat.
That’s what hospitality really is. And we have to do the same at Jarltech. Always write down what our customers want and like. And when I go out to dine with a customer, I need to know whether they are vegan or if they don’t like pork, for example. Some customers want to be called and courted on a weekly basis, whereas others find this rather annoying. Some still prefer paper catalogues, others believe it’s environmental pollution. And all the better if a customer returns after three years, and I still have it all written down somewhere. Jarltech may not be a hotel, but we are a service provider that has to differentiate itself The difference is always in the details.
Dear doctors, what exactly is going on with sick notes these days?
The average number of sick days is rising… relentlessly....
The average number of sick days is rising… relentlessly. Soon the amount of sick leave taken by employees will even exceed the statutory minimum holiday entitlement. And yet it was assumed that, because of the extensive working-from-home rules, the number of sick days would actually go down on average. But they aren’t. This leads to an enormous economic burden. And do doctors share some of the responsibility?
First of all, if doctors are all so good, why are people ill so often? And secondly, shouldn’t we perhaps point out to the doctors – typically high earners – what their actual position in the economy is? Here’s the hard truth: doctors generally make no contribution whatsoever to net economic output. Doctors are paid by the collective of health-insurance contributors – a compulsory levy. Even the taxes doctors pay in abundance are, in the end, funded by the same insured community.
So why do doctors harm this very community so often? Because it costs them nothing? I’ve just looked at around 200 sick notes in my company. Why do they always run from Monday to Friday? Wouldn’t Monday to Thursday be enough sometimes? I’ve never seen that happen.
And what I also have never seen are »restricted« sick notes. A doctor can quite easily classify an employee with an injured foot as »unfit to drive«, which would allow the employer to have them work from home or pay for a taxi. Or a doctor could give a recommendation such as: »The employee is suffering from a contagious illness but can easily work five hours a day, should be allowed to sleep in, and must avoid contact with other people.« An employer is bound by such a note – and may or may not still be able to make use of the employee.
But as I said: I have never seen anything like that in 33 years as an employer. Frankly, it’s a scandal – and perhaps it’s time to consider whether employers might, one day, have a claim for damages based on such omissions. I’d be in favour of that!
LinkedIn is great… except for…
Dear friends, I love LinkedIn. It’s the last platform that still manages to give me an interesting news feed....
Dear friends, I love LinkedIn. It’s the last platform that still manages to give me an interesting news feed. And I truly enjoy seeing what my business partners are up to.
But there’s one thing missing: a defence mechanism. I receive around ten connection requests EVERY DAY from coaches, brokers, consultants, and intermediaries. Why on earth? Does the fact that I appear to be a successful business consultant mean that I urgently need a life coach who has fewer than 100 followers?
For weeks, my tagline has read: »Requests from people who only want to sell me something are welcome. By sending me a request, you agree to pay a €500 invoice in exchange for a 10-minute call.«
But no one seems to care. These people just click without even bothering to read my text. It drives me mad. Prospecting without preparation is pointless. Honestly, good leads cost money. I could name ten people right now whom I’d gladly pay €500 for a 10-minute call with, even if I didn't want to sell them anything.
But seriously, how delusional do you have to be to think that a businessman is waiting for your cold request as a part-time life coach or sales trainer?
@LinkedIn: Please fix this! I'll even pay if you let me set a filter that says: »No requests from strangers or from people who don’t share at least ten connections with me.«
Ideally, people with fewer than ten mutual connections who want to sell something should offer something in return. This would make them valuable leads. I’d even pay for that. I'm vain enough to want to be approached with effort, creativity, and individuality, not with a one-click approach.
Federal Statistical Office: Abolish It!
Me again on reducing bureaucracy – can't we get rid of something?...
Me again on reducing bureaucracy – can't we get rid of something? Surely every country in Europe has something like a federal statistical office that constantly bothers companies with various surveys.
Well, I can understand that the government wants to know how the economy is doing. But surely not with questionnaires!
Firstly: The tax offices already have quite up-to-date data.
Secondly: How would one rethink this?
Simply have an AI select 300 companies in a country – from different industries, with different customer groups, import and export profiles. These companies would be required to transmit data in real-time. OF COURSE, in exchange for payment. Or the government provides an employee for this purpose.
Then the finance minister can simply press a button on Monday at 1:00 p.m. – and knows exactly how the economy is doing today, Monday afternoon, at 1:00 p.m.
If a bomb goes off somewhere, you can immediately see whether fewer orders come in three hours later or if people start hoarding toilet paper or leaning towards cheaper products because they want to save money.
It’s totally simple, anonymous, data-secure, and doesn't bother anyone who isn't being paid for it.
How Brussels Makes Us Big: BureaucracyBUILDUP, Now!
There are days when you read a new EU regulation and think: They can’t possibly be serious. But then – a brief moment of enlightenment – you realise: for...
There are days when you read a new EU regulation and think: They can’t possibly be serious. But then – a brief moment of enlightenment – you realise: for Jarltech, that’s not bad news at all. Because where others see nothing but chaos and paperwork in bureaucracy, we see one thing: potential! Scanner potential. Label potential. Mobile potential!
In short: sometimes Brussels delivers more growth than any marketing campaign ever could.
1. The Pizza Box Directive – when the QR Code is Served Hot
New rule: every pizza box must carry a sticker listing ingredients, allergens, CO₂ footprint and the GPS coordinates of the oven. Sounds ridiculous? Perhaps. But from the point of view of the POS industry: a feast! Naturally, such a label has to be temperature-sensitive. Suddenly every pizzeria needs a label printer, every delivery van a mobile scanner – and every customer can trace their pizza digitally.
2. The Traceable Cucumber – from Seed to Salad Bar
The EU wants to know just how bent a cucumber really is. Each one will get its own barcode at harvest, including field number, water consumption and even emotional state at picking. For us, that means: scanners in greenhouses, label printers in agriculture – the barcode grows along with the crop.
3. The Soap Dispenser with a Data Port
Hygiene 2.0: public soap dispensers will soon have to record when and by whom they were refilled – of course via scan or NFC. Sounds like a joke, but it’s almost reality. And we say: finally, IoT that stays clean!
4. The Digital Mop Bucket
In the future, every industrial cleaning agent will need to be traceable. Fill the wrong bucket, and you might soon be committing a data-protection offence. But don’t worry: with our label printers and robust handheld scanners, everything stays cleanly documented.
5. The Baker’s Digitalisation Duty
Bakery sales, 2026: every bread roll will be digitally recorded – with baking time, flour type and temperature curve. That may sound over the top, but these are exactly the kinds of ideas that emerge in Brussels. And us? We provide the scanners, the POS systems, the software.
6. Toilet Paper with Proof of Origin
Paper is patient – and soon traceable too. Every roll will carry a QR code so consumers know which forest the trusted sheet of pulp came from. We see a clear growth market here: scanners for the necessary room. Sustainable, traceable, verifiable.
7. The Barcode for Electric Cars
Every charging session will soon need to be confirmed three times – on the car, the plug and the power source. What sounds like bureaucracy is, in truth, growth!
8. Beverage Tax 2.0: The Barcode as a Receipt
When every cola, every beer and every smoothie soon requires its own tax barcode, that means: more labels, more tech, more sales.
So thank you, Brussels – for every new idea we can turn into scanners, labels and innovation.
More regulations, more opportunities!
Anyone know a decent lobbying organisation in Brussels? Maybe we should all just chip in!