ABOUT:
Duncan Peberdy
For over 30 years, Duncan has been involved with technology. He’s old enough to have sold computers
that only had Floppy Drives as storage devices, the first Fax Machine under £1,000 [the Brother Fax 100
1987], but first cut-his-teeth as a commission-only salesman of Canon photocopiers.
More recently, since 2006, Duncan has developed a passion for improving meetings and collaboration.
In 2009 Pearson published Brilliant Meetings - which Duncan proposed in an unsolicited approach to
Pearson, which was followed in 2014 by Managing Productive Meetings.
Around ten years ago, Duncan became interested in classroom collaboration for learning and teaching.
SCALE-UP, pioneered by Professor Bob Bichner at North Carolina State University, was getting established
in the UK, from which other methodologies for small group active collaborative learning flowed. In 2014
Duncan was sponsored by several leading technology companies to write and publish, with contributions
from academics and professionals in the HE sector, Active Learning Spaces and Technology:
Advances in Higher and Further Education. By 2017 wireless collaboration systems were helping
universities better equip their students for the modern workplace by enabling learning which developed
the much-sought employability skills;critical thinking, problem solving, communication and collaboration,
and Duncan’s follow-up book Creating the Digital Campus: Active Learning Spaces and
Technology, was again well received throughout the sector.
From 2015 to 2020 Duncan ran a successful Learning Spaces Roadshow, which in 2018 was assimilated
into Jisc, helping universities and colleges to better understand the many requirements for the successful
deployment of small group active collaborative learning enabled by technology.
In summer 2020 Duncan returned to being a self-employed consultant for technology enabled learning
spaces, and to provide time to launch this new book.
ABOUT:
The Consequences of Poor Customer Service
When goods and services don’t perform as expected, companies - however small or big - should want to
know. Why? Because according to research by Accenture, the estimated cost to businesses of customers
in the USA switching due to poor service is $1.6 trillion. For 32% of customers, just one bad experience
can result in customers voting with their feet, which can be a real problem for companies fixated on
achieving customer lifetime value [CLV] for their products and services.
Flip that around, and research by PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC] clearly shows that companies who get
customer service right can charge a premium for their products, in some cases up to 16% more. Just
look at Apple. Some might consider their products overpriced, but it can’t be a coincidence that a
company with high levels of customer loyalty and superb customer service is the first in the USA to be
valued at $2Tn.
As a departure from my usual world of EdTech, this new book, Keep Calm and Carry on Complaining,
features five case studies that highlight what can happen when companies don’t respond correctly to a
genuine customer complaint. In taking on BMW, Microsoft, TUI, VW and a local prestige hotel, you’ll
discover how I got my complaints in front of the CEO, using a strategy that emails and letters don’t seem
to achieve.
But for anyone in a customer facing role, and in the UK 80% of our GDP is generated by the service
sector and almost 80% of people are employed in customer-facing roles, the real lessons to be learnt
from my book are how not to treat your customers when you get it wrong. In all my examples, BMW,
VW, TUI, Microsoft and the Chateau Impney Hotel would have all saved money by providing excellent
customer service as a given, and not just because I embarrassed them into it.
And make sure you complain if bad service and faulty goods come your way, because companies that
truly care about your business will want to know and put it right.
ABOUT
ABOUT:
Duncan Peberdy
For over 30 years, Duncan has been involved with
technology. He’s old enough to have sold computers
that only had Floppy Drives as storage devices, the
first Fax Machine under £1,000 [the Brother Fax 100
1987], but first cut-his-teeth as a commission-only
salesman of Canon photocopiers.
More recently, since 2006, Duncan has developed a
passion for improving meetings and collaboration.
In 2009 Pearson published Brilliant Meetings -
which Duncan proposed in an unsolicited approach to
Pearson, which was followed in 2014 by Managing
Productive Meetings.
Around ten years ago, Duncan became interested in
classroom collaboration for learning and teaching.
SCALE-UP, pioneered by Professor Bob Bichner at
North Carolina State University, was getting
established in the UK, from which other
methodologies for small group active collaborative
learning flowed. In 2014 Duncan was sponsored by
several leading technology companies to write and
publish, with contributions from academics and
professionals in the HE sector, Active Learning
Spaces and Technology: Advances in Higher and
Further Education. By 2017 wireless collaboration
systems were helping universities better equip their
students for the modern workplace by enabling
learning which developed the much-sought
employability skills;critical thinking, problem solving,
communication and collaboration, and Duncan’s
follow-up book Creating the Digital Campus:
Active Learning Spaces and Technology, was
again well received throughout the sector.
From 2015 to 2020 Duncan ran a successful Learning
Spaces Roadshow, which in 2018 was assimilated into
Jisc, helping universities and colleges to better
understand the many requirements for the successful
deployment of small group active collaborative
learning enabled by technology.
In summer 2020 Duncan returned to being a self-
employed consultant for technology enabled learning
spaces, and to provide time to launch this new book.
ABOUT:
The Consequences of Poor
Customer Service
When goods and services don’t perform as
expected, companies - however small or big -
should want to know. Why? Because according to
research by Accenture, the estimated cost to
businesses of customers in the USA switching due
to poor service is $1.6 trillion. For 32% of
customers, just one bad experience can result in
customers voting with their feet, which can be a
real problem for companies fixated on achieving
customer lifetime value [CLV] for their products and
services.
Flip that around, and research by
PricewaterhouseCoopers [PwC] clearly shows that
companies who get customer service right can
charge a premium for their products, in some cases
up to 16% more. Just look at Apple. Some might
consider their products overpriced, but it can’t be a
coincidence that a company with high levels of
customer loyalty and superb customer service is
the first in the USA to be valued at $2Tn.
As a departure from my usual world of EdTech, this
new book, Keep Calm and Carry on
Complaining, features five case studies that
highlight what can happen when companies don’t
respond correctly to a genuine customer complaint.
In taking on BMW, Microsoft, TUI, VW and a local
prestige hotel, you’ll discover how I got my
complaints in front of the CEO, using a strategy
that emails and letters don’t seem to achieve.
But for anyone in a customer facing role, and in the
UK 80% of our GDP is generated by the service
sector and almost 80% of people are employed in
customer-facing roles, the real lessons to be learnt
from my book are how not to treat your customers
when you get it wrong. In all my examples, BMW,
VW, TUI, Microsoft and the Chateau Impney Hotel
would have all saved money by providing excellent
customer service as a given, and not just because I
embarrassed them into it.
And make sure you complain if bad service and
faulty goods come your way, because companies
that truly care about your business will want to
know and put it right.
