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Welcome
to the Next Step Solutions E-Newsletter!
 Dear Margaret,
Hope you all had a great Independence Day! I certainly did. I
am one of those old-fashioned, emotional patriots who tears up when
attempting to sing the Star Spangled Banner, so this is a holiday with real
meaning to me.
Our
celebration was not fancy. Hot dogs, potato salad and pie seemed
appropriate, in spite of the caloric content. All tasted great. We skipped
the major fireworks displays, but enjoyed the ones in our neighborhood.
And, finally, we endured the noise of those neighborhood firecrackers that
went on far into the night, long after we would have preferred enough quiet
to actually sleep.
Along with
the noise and the food and the fun, it's good to take a moment to remember
what we are celebrating - this great country of ours and the enduring
wisdom of our founders. For our "moment" this year, we chose to
read the very document we celebrate on the Fourth of July - our Declaration
of Independence. We read it aloud, as the fireworks boomed just out side
our window. In fact, we had to pause a couple of
times and wait for the noise to subside.
The words,
the wisdom, and the courage demonstrated in the Declaration of Independence
continue to resonate for us all today. The signers really did risk all of
what they pledged - life, fortune and sacred honor. We must remember their
sacrifice and celebrate their achievement in founding this great country,
the United States of
America.
Announcing
the Next Step Blog!
by Margaret Purvine
 The web is an
incredibly dynamic place. It is sometimes surprising to consider how brief
a time it has been in existence. It has become the dominant source of
information for most of us, particularly for the young people just entering
the work force. My generation was the first to grow up with TV. Now, they
grow up with the web as a constant presence.
Like many
businesses, we have had a business web site for some time. We continue to
add to it regularly, striving to keep it fresh and useful for our business
readers. The web is evolving, however, and we are attempting to evolve with
it. The current trends include online communities and user-generated content.
The web is speeding up, not only in access and download times, but in the
availability of its content. As soon as new content is out there,
especially important or provocative content, there is an explosion in
response.
Although
the quickness of the Web can be a little unnerving at times, the
interactivity is incredibly exciting! This is what we hope to tap into with
our new Next
Step Solutions Blog - www.businessinwashington.com. We invite you to
check it out. Even more importantly, we invite you to respond. Let us know
what you think about the blog itself. We also
encourage you to add your experiences and ideas - in short, add your
content to ours.
I am
including an excerpt from one of our initial blog
entries in this newsletter with a link that will take you to the complete
entries. It is our hope that you will enjoy our blog
and find its content useful in your business.
The
Customer Is Always........Wrong?
by Margaret Purvine
 Yesterday, an item
appeared on CNET's "Crave" site about Sprint breaking up with
customers. I was totally struck by the article when I saw it and spent some
time digging into it.
It seems
Sprint decided to shed customers who they felt were overusing their
customer service lines. The letter was sent in late June to a supposedly
small number of Sprint customers, citing too many phone calls as the reason
for terminating their service.
On the
surface, anyone who has been on the receiving end of customer service calls
can understand Sprint's issue. Read
more..........
Free
Resources from Next Step
Special Quotes for Independence Day
"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men
are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain
inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, & the pursuit
of happiness: that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among
men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
"And
for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection
of divine providence we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our
fortunes, & our sacred honor."
Thomas
Jefferson, Founding Father and President of the United States
Excerpts taken from "A Declaration by the Representatives of the
United States of America, in General Congress Assembled", signed on
July 4, 1776, as written by Jefferson and ammended
by the General Congress assembled to declare our independence from England.
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