Friday, January 27, 2012

Cloudy Blue Sky - EP 2

More Cloudy Sky photos




For more blue sky photos, click on this link Cloudy Blue Sky - EP 1

Malaysia Taiping Zoo - Ep2

More photos from Malaysia Taiping Zoo.
For earlier photos, click on this link Malaysia Taiping Zoo - Ep1



















Thursday, January 26, 2012

Malaysia Taiping Zoo - EP1

Taiping () is a town located in northern Perak, Malaysia. It is the second largest town in Perak after Ipoh, the state capital. Taiping took over Kuala Kangsar's role as the state capital from 1876 to 1937, but was then replaced by Ipoh.
(Source: Wikipedia)

During the year end break, I took a day trip to Taiping zoo.  I am really excited finding the varieties of animals (eg: tigers, zibra, hippo, monkeys, lion, bears). 

It is well maintained and pretty clean.

I will definitely be visiting it again.

For more photos, click on this link  Malaysia Taiping Zoo - EP2

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Billing Like You Are Running Your Own Business

I just attended our company consultant yearly seminar.  Every year, we have multiple speakers and our company top performer is on the list this year.  Let's call him Joe.

One of the trick that Joe shared is value billing. 
Eg: A client approaches him with a problem and a report can be developed to provide information to the client. Joe will sit down and ask himself the question.  "If I were the client, how much is this report worth to me? How much value will it add to my business?" 
If it is worth 10 hours, he bills 10 hours.

I agree with his concept.  If you go to a specialist, you pay for the price because you are paying for the expertise.

It gets more interesting here.

A client approaches him with a problem and he thinks a program needs to be developed. He thinks it is worth 30 hours.  He goes to our company programmer John and ask how much it will take to develop the program.
John : "This program will take 15 hours"
Joe : "Can you do it with 12?"

As you can see, Joe is negotiating for lower cost.  Hang on, isn't it worth 30 hours?  That's right, if John agree to 12, then Joe will be earning 18 hours. 

From Joe's point of view, it is all business.  He is making money with value billing, he makes use of the resources available to him, negotiate for lower cost and earn the margin.

Anything wrong with that?  I think it is the perception.  The first thing that come to my mind is:
"What a ripped off"
"We can't trust this guy"
"He is not a team player, he is the crocodile"

Having a second thought, it is all business with this guy.

We have always been told, it is hard to close a deal, because it is a competitive market and the client is not willing to pay.  So, whenever we are asked to lower our quote, the perception is, we need to lower it to win the deal. 

So, the trick is, when you are dealing with Joe, you need to think like he is.  You are a specialist and you are going to negotiate based on what you think the product is worth. 

I am not sure whether it is going to work if every consultants in the company is practising the same, because you will be second guessing whether he is hiding the hours from you.  After all, everyone wants to meet his target and earn his commission.  If you take it personally, there will be less trust between colleagues.

It is all business and therefore, Joe is sharing his trick honestly and openly.  He is not the real crocodile, he is just running his own business.

It is an interesting topic to look at, isn't it?





Friday, November 11, 2011

Ellen and her Hawaii chair

Exercise is good, but many of us are not doing it.

Isn't it good if we can all exercise while doing our work?
Good idea, but it may not work as you expect.

I just saw this on you tube, which is on Ellen a while back.  Very very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHiqVygN-w0

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Photo shots of different width

How fun, just found out that I can take shots with different width.  it can print to an A2 paper, then A3, postcard and then for email. 



Saturday, November 5, 2011

YouTube Challenge - I Told My Kids I Ate All Their Halloween Candy (Must Watch)

This is really funny.

The challenge was for the parents to tell their kids that they have eaten all their Halloween candy.  As expected, most kids cry. 

But, there are a couple of reactions that are really really funny.  You must watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YQpbzQ6gzs&feature=aso