FISCA will be organising a talk on "Coping during a Financial Crisis" for its members. Each member will be given a free copy of my book, "Practical Guide on Financial Planning". The talk will be for 1 1/2 hour, including questions. Details will be sent separately to members on date, time and venue. A talk will be held once each month.
I wish to thank FISCA members for your support. So far, the activity of FISCA is rather limited due to lack of resources. I hope that the talk and book will be appreciated by members. We can also organise members in groups to get to know each other.
Tan Kin Lian
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Good response for Financial Planning book
I have received many orders for my Financial Planning book. I wish to thank the buyers for our support. One person bought the book to present to a nephew. This is a good idea, as the young will find it easy to understand, practical and useful. It can save them from wasting a lot of money by buying the bad products.
I am offering my books at a discount of 15% under the promotion code - BLOG. Several buyers did not enter the code, and had paid for the full price. I am sending to them my Shape Quiz (retail price $2) for each book that they buy at the full price. I hope that they will enjoy it.
A few people have indicated that they wish to show their support by buying my book. I thank them for this fine gesture. Help me to give the book to your family and friends, as it will be useful to them.
To order, click here.
Tan Kin Lian
I am offering my books at a discount of 15% under the promotion code - BLOG. Several buyers did not enter the code, and had paid for the full price. I am sending to them my Shape Quiz (retail price $2) for each book that they buy at the full price. I hope that they will enjoy it.
A few people have indicated that they wish to show their support by buying my book. I thank them for this fine gesture. Help me to give the book to your family and friends, as it will be useful to them.
To order, click here.
Tan Kin Lian
Practical suggestions to improve a call center
Many customers find it difficult to access the call centers of large organisations, such as banks, telephone companies and government departments. They have to wait a long time for the call to be answered, and had to go through a maze of automated messages.
Here are some practical tips to improve the situation:
a) Have different telephone numbers for different languages. There is no need to ask someone to indicate the language, as it is identified by the specific number.
b) The first question for the automated message should be "press 1 to talk to a person or 2 to go through the automated system".
c) The next question should be optional "Enter your account number if available, press 0 to bypass".
With this simple change, the customer experience would be improved tremendously, without any additional workload for your call center.
Here is another tip, Train your call center staff to identify the routine inquiries (which they can handle) and the specialized inquiries (which they cannot). For the specialized inquiries, get the name and contact number of the customer and get the specialized staff to call back. Most people have mobile phones and would be happy to receive the return call.
Tan Kin Lian
Here are some practical tips to improve the situation:
a) Have different telephone numbers for different languages. There is no need to ask someone to indicate the language, as it is identified by the specific number.
b) The first question for the automated message should be "press 1 to talk to a person or 2 to go through the automated system".
c) The next question should be optional "Enter your account number if available, press 0 to bypass".
With this simple change, the customer experience would be improved tremendously, without any additional workload for your call center.
Here is another tip, Train your call center staff to identify the routine inquiries (which they can handle) and the specialized inquiries (which they cannot). For the specialized inquiries, get the name and contact number of the customer and get the specialized staff to call back. Most people have mobile phones and would be happy to receive the return call.
Tan Kin Lian
Practical ideas to improve a corporate website
I had a difficult time in filing my GST return. I had to go through the IRAS spiderweb (a new term introduced to me by a commenter in my blog) that involved a few dozen clicks before one comes to the correct webpage. I could not find the webpage to submit my return, even with the guidance of an IRAS helpline officer. She could not find the webpage also, after guiding me on two attempts.
I was able to access the webpage later in the day, through the help of the another more experienced officer in IRAS. The most probable reason for the earlier failure was that the form was not yet activated earlier. Why is there a need to "hide" a blank form, i.e. to submit the GST return, through complicated structure of access security?
This type of spiderweb is not unique to IRAS. It applies to big organisations, such as banks and most government departments and agencies - such as LTA, CPF.
I wish to give some simple tips for these big corporations, which need a complicated website to serve many purposes and that need more than 100 forms.
a) Have 1 tab called FAQs. This should drop down a list of all the FAQs needed to guide your staff and customers in the work of your organisation. Each FAQ is identified by a number and description for easy asess, such as "GST23: Filing a GST return" or "IR8A: Filing your personal income tax".
b) The forms that are required to complete any task can be linked to the relevant FAQ. A click on the FAQ will display the form.There is no need to ask the customer to log in (which is another big hassle. Just give them the relevant form to fill in.
c) The form (including the particulars of the person who prepared it) can then be stored in the server with the SingPass of the person who is required to sign the form. This allows a staff or outsourced accountant to prepare the form and for another person, e.g. the director, to sign the form.
d) This signing person can log in with the SingPass and locate all the forms that require his signature. This is similar to the real world. The director has someone to do the work and presents the physical form at his desk for signature. The director does NOT type the entries in his form or search the filing cabinets to get the form.
I hope that these suggestions will be useful for big organisations to make it easy for their customers, including unwilling customers such as taxpayers, to access their website easily and conveniently.
Tan Kin Lian
I was able to access the webpage later in the day, through the help of the another more experienced officer in IRAS. The most probable reason for the earlier failure was that the form was not yet activated earlier. Why is there a need to "hide" a blank form, i.e. to submit the GST return, through complicated structure of access security?
This type of spiderweb is not unique to IRAS. It applies to big organisations, such as banks and most government departments and agencies - such as LTA, CPF.
I wish to give some simple tips for these big corporations, which need a complicated website to serve many purposes and that need more than 100 forms.
a) Have 1 tab called FAQs. This should drop down a list of all the FAQs needed to guide your staff and customers in the work of your organisation. Each FAQ is identified by a number and description for easy asess, such as "GST23: Filing a GST return" or "IR8A: Filing your personal income tax".
b) The forms that are required to complete any task can be linked to the relevant FAQ. A click on the FAQ will display the form.There is no need to ask the customer to log in (which is another big hassle. Just give them the relevant form to fill in.
c) The form (including the particulars of the person who prepared it) can then be stored in the server with the SingPass of the person who is required to sign the form. This allows a staff or outsourced accountant to prepare the form and for another person, e.g. the director, to sign the form.
d) This signing person can log in with the SingPass and locate all the forms that require his signature. This is similar to the real world. The director has someone to do the work and presents the physical form at his desk for signature. The director does NOT type the entries in his form or search the filing cabinets to get the form.
I hope that these suggestions will be useful for big organisations to make it easy for their customers, including unwilling customers such as taxpayers, to access their website easily and conveniently.
Tan Kin Lian
Social services and taxation
The citizens of a country have to decide on the types of social services to be provided by its elected government and how the cost of these services should be paid for. In some countries, the government provides generous social services, such as old age pension, unemployment benefit, health care, education, and collects high taxation to fund them. In other countries, the government has a low rate of tax and provides minimal services, leaving the people to pay for these services in the private market.
There are various ways of collecting tax to pay for the social services and other cost of government. The most popular form is income tax (on earned and investment income) and levies but an increasing portion is now through consumption tax (such as Goods and Services Tax).
Many countries provide generous benefits but collect insufficient taxes to pay for these benefits, leading to a budget deficit. Some countries collect a lot of tax but provide low benefits, leading to a huge budget surplus (such as Singapore).
What are your views on social benefits and taxation? Give your views in this survey.
There are various ways of collecting tax to pay for the social services and other cost of government. The most popular form is income tax (on earned and investment income) and levies but an increasing portion is now through consumption tax (such as Goods and Services Tax).
Many countries provide generous benefits but collect insufficient taxes to pay for these benefits, leading to a budget deficit. Some countries collect a lot of tax but provide low benefits, leading to a huge budget surplus (such as Singapore).
What are your views on social benefits and taxation? Give your views in this survey.
Order for Financial Planning book
You can place an Order for my book, "Practical Guide on Financial Planning" at the Internet Shop now. I have received many orders during the past two days.
Enjoy a 15% discount when you buy this book or other books during February by entering the Promotion Code - BLOG. Click here.
Enjoy a 15% discount when you buy this book or other books during February by entering the Promotion Code - BLOG. Click here.
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