The Last Mile

I am back home in London and guess what? Big storm, it's following me!

This last post is all about what happened in the last 3 days and 248 km / 154 miles of my cycling journey in Vietnam. I know a few of you wonder if I made it. So here comes the answer...

Two days before last mile and just after Typhoon Dori, came one beautiful day of sunshine and I cycled 80 km from Danang to the imperial city of Hue via some hilly mountains overlooking the sea. Wonderful!
At this point of the trip I looked at weather forecast every time I had an Internet connection. It did not look good: Rain and storms for the rest of my journey.
The following day, it rained. I decided to get on with it and arrived after 90 km - swamped and freezing - at a friendly beach resort. I was the only customer and after the evening power cut, it was really dark out there. The staff offered to have dinner with them in their kitchen. One of them translated parts of the conversation: "... in some regions in the north of China there are tribes that eat humans. If you get off the main track alone, the tribe hunts you and has you for dinner..." brr...
Last mile day: I waited for the rain to slow down for two hours before I took off at 10 am. It was a great ride to Vinh Moc Tunnel* followed by 4 hours cycling under the rain and a score of 78 km.
One that last day, while the rain was bashing me, I laughed a few times at myself considering the ridiculous aspect of the situation. And on the more serious side, I went through my options again and again and finally I decided: "THAT'S THE LAST MILE".

I had continued cycling the past three days until I was sure about this. With "this" I mean CHANGE. Change is hard. We have expectations, visions, ambitions and we usually work hard to achieve them. But when change is meant to be, it shows up like a series of "time to change flags". We can either decide to ignore the flags and stick to the original course. Or we can see them for what they are and adapt and evolve.
In this case, continuing beyond that point was not a good option. It would have meant keeping going under the rain for another 5 days with more risks, no comfortable night accommodation, no place of interest to look forwards to and several nights in the dark. 
It would not add any value to me and considering this was my holidays, I decided to adapt and evolve.
I took a 17 hours bus transfer to the sunnier north of Vietnam legendary Halong Bay. From there I did a two days cruise. It was really beautiful, one of those place you shall see before you die, And finally I transferred to Hanoi by bus.

So here is finally the achievement outcome:

The cycling
I cycled a total of 11 days and 913 kilometres / 567 miles up to the city of Dong Hoi
I'd guess something like 200.000 pedal strokes

There was also the blogging
I have around 600 contacts on linkedin and 30-40 on Facebook. I wondered if I could engage my network with my cycling stories and to what extend. The results were great, I had no particular expectation but hope a few people find it interesting.
But my network really liked this:

798 views on Linkedin
Introduction to Solo Female Cycling in Vietnam 315
The Value of a "Just Do It" attitude 85
Can you really prepare for everything? 64
The Ultimate response 218
The flap of a butterfly's wings 116
The Last Mile: TBC (I will update by mid November)
And 18 likes/encouraging comments/private messages were sent too. Thank you!
383 Blog views
Introduction to Solo Female Cycling in Vietnam 81
The Value of a "Just Do It" attitude 92
Can you really prepare for everything? 84
The Ultimate response 83
The flap of a butterfly's wings 43
The Last Mile: TBC (I will update by mid November)
CTA: Conversion Linkedin to Blog 48%
Audience Geography: USA, UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Vietnam, Ukraine, Spain, UAE, French Polynesia

Am I satisfied with the outcome of my holidays? 
Yes! Sure I cycled less than planned. But I also did twice my own 400 km record in Cambodia. I did not get the type of muscle pain you get when you have not trained. My bicycle was really the right one. And so without the nasty weather I could have done it, I know it.
I had a great experience with tough and rewarding moments.
Many amazing memories!

And that's a wrap, so goodbye for now and thanks for following me!

THE END
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Halong Bay villagers idea of marketing: kids rowing with their foot to attract tourists attention and sell things!

*Vinh Moc Tunnel: 2,000 m long and 30 metres deep tunnels dug into stone with simple tools during the Vietnam War. 60 Vietnamese civilian families moved their village underground and 17 babies were born in it between 1966 and 1972
Below picture: type of bombs landing in the Vinh Moc zone.

Long transfer bus, almost like a first class flight...

Halong Bay

The flap of a butterfly’s wings

In the last week or so, a butterfly flapped its wings and directed a typhoon right towards me. In turn I altered my route from the originally planned path and from one alteration to the next, I met a group of three french girls. At night, the town went dark due to the curfew and I had a street food dinner with them surrounded by candle lights and young Vietnamese singing all evening. That's one of theses incredible moments, coming out of nowhere.

Most moments of truth take seconds to happen: meeting someone new, reaching the finish line of a race, giving life just for a few examples.

But some of these moments will have a rather large impact on our lives and yet we cannot predict the size and shape of that impact. All things around us including ourselves are part of a chaotic system.

Customer behaviours are also chaotic and thereby very hard to predict. That's why there is often a big deviation between consumers loyalty indicators and actual retention rates.
Unless you know the actual change (up to date customer and market dynamics) from initial condition (customer and market situation at the time the loyalty indicator was taken) you cannot make accurate predictions.
That's an area where big data shows great potential for the future. If we could put the relevant consumer and market data together to present a dynamic view of the changes from initial condition, we could react within the chaos and change the course of future events. But that's still a few years away, the next generation will have to deal with that...

So what can we do to maximise consumer loyalty in the meantime? I'd say the two main things are 1) to ensure a consistent high quality branded experience across all interaction points and 2) to minimise customer effort in the retention journey.

Stay focused on operations, the devil is in the flap of a butterfly's wings!

That was the thoughts from my bicycle under the rain between Danang and Dong Hoi, central Vietnam


References:
The flap of a butterfly’s wings : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect
Chaotic systems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaotic_system


Pictures: floaded bridge, hotel courtyard fallen trees during typhoon, little girl playing in the floaded street, photos: candle light dinner in the street, stone bench moved by the typhoon, me waiting at the boat the cross the river

The Ultimate Response*

I have now reached beautiful Hoi An in central Vietnam. 
I got there today from Tam Ky riding through the off track 40 km Thanh Nien road , with the Chinese sea to my right and rice fields to my left, so beautiful! I then boarded a small boat to cross the Thu Bon river.  The journey was sporty due to the road and wind conditions. There is another typhoon on the way for tonight, but not to worry, this time I am fully prepared. I am staying at the best hotel Hoi An as to offer - Anantara  - which feels very safe: they insisted no guest are to stay on the third floor today in case the typhoon would blow off the roof. And as I am writing this, they are gluing all windows with tape.

Anyway back to the subject of this post....

The Ultimate Response*

While cycling, I was reflecting over how I adapted my communication over the past week to try and fit in: I smile. I smile a lot.

Not being able to communicate in the same language can be a real experiential challenge. There is the spoken language but also the tone of voice, the body language and the unspoken cultural rules. 
Gender, age and type of communities count too. 

Several times a day, some people scare me off. Several times a day, I scare some of them off. We look different...

In these situations a smile always seems to be the ultimate response to reestablish a positive energy. 

It's a safe way to start an interaction or to turn it around if it started on the wrong foot. It's a little bit like waving a white flag.

This holds also a lot of truth in my profession, call it "customer management" to be broad enough. 

Generally, to deliver a positive experience, a brand's goal shall be to communicate in a way that such communication brings a smile to consumers' face. If it does, then it succeeded establishing a rapport and the smiling consumers are more likely to engage with the next call to action.

But making people smile is not necessary an easy task. 
For a start brands need to engage with a smile first. As an example, many call centers representatives have a mirror on their desk which allows for self awareness of their emotions when picking up a call. A lot of smiling in the mirror leads to excellent customer satisfaction performance. 
But brands need to engage with a smile that is also genuine. Kind and happy employees - in sales, marketing and customer services - deliver genuine smiles. This is why all the literature on the subject of customer loyalty management insist companies must drive employee satisfaction to enable customer centricity in their organization. 

I find sharing a smile  is one of the most universal communication language there is. It works in all cultures, genders or age groups. It is the ultimate response brands shall be looking for in their customer relationship management. Chances are, if a brand makes people smile, it will have a high Net Promoter Score too. 

So how about this next piece of communication you are planning, will it make consumers smile?

*With the title "The Ultimate Response", I am making a reference to the book by Fred Reicheild, "the Ultimate Question" in which he introduces the NPS score, presented as the best and ultimate measure of Customer Loyalty

Pictures from the last few days: Rice fields, Vietnamese Trail, Beach near Dai Lanh

Can you really prepare for everything?

Good morning Vietnam!

I had been thinking about the value of a good preparation as my next post and finally I am not going to do that!

It's been 4 days since I left Ho Chi Minh City and I have only cycled 220 km of a 400 target. The first day, I realized my map scale was wrong and the two following days, a typhoon came my way (picture hereby).

Hence the question, can you really prepare for everything?

Last Tuesday, at 3 pm the sky went a kind of grey I never saw before. I was 35 km away from destination and decided it was time to quickly find a alternative place to stay. I got a Cab at 3:30. At 3:45 a typhoon stroke through. I had a half smile on my face: 50% smiling because I made the right decision and 50% not smiling, was the cab a safe place to be?

I put a lot of preparation into this trip. I'd estimate more than 100 hours. For start I have been doing cycling/running/yoga at least an hour daily for weeks. I also have the perfect bicycle for me, hours talking about the right frame, wheels, tyres, gears, saddle, outfit, diet, tools. Also a lot of time was spent evaluating different routes, one alternative being cycling inland along the Mekong and another crossing Laos.
And so, I knew a typhoon could come my way.

How many times have you had this situation?
... a similar one in business I mean: you plan, you know the risks and yes, the risks materialize. Sometimes things you have not considered as risk happen too.

I think preventing every issue from happening is impossible, even with the best planned project. The most important thing is how you deal with the issues, isn't it?

 I was lucky, I made it with my cab driver into 30 cm of water to an amazing hotel in a fishing village, no foreigners allowed. The Chinese sea was angry but I felt protected with the locals. The following day I took a bus to my next destination. 

Today Thursday, I arrived at beautiful Dai Lanh beach after 90 km cycling in less than 5.5 hours, all according to plan this time!

Intro to Solo Female Cycling in Vietnam blog

Next Monday, October 7th, will be the start of a great new cycling experience. I will cycle solo 1700 km in 17 days from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi by the cost line of Vietnam.

Along the way, I'll be sharing impressions and reflections that can be applied to the professional life via this blog.
I look forward to your thoughts and feedback!

Some of you might think "gee, I can think of better ways to spend my holidays!" and honestly, I can understand your reaction. There was a time I would have thought the same. But after my first cycling experience in Cambodia seven years ago, I realised long distance solo cycling was a very rewarding type of holiday.

Here are 3 good reasons why I look forward this holiday:

- To explore my limits: 1700 km is 4 times the distance I ever did in a cycling trip and so despite a good preparation, I am not sure I will make it. If I do, the feeling of self satisfaction will be amazing.

- To get lost:  When lost you become more aware of your surroundings, instincts are awakened and there is only room for now time. 

- To get a different perspective: Everyday life, I have so many things to do, I am always on the go. There is little time left for self reflection. When I cycle solo, the first day is usually like a introvert general review of all aspects of my life spinning in my head. The following days, I will look at it from my bicycle in Vietnam, a different perspective

What do you think? Can you share your preferred way "to explore your limits", "to get perspective", "to get lost"? 

The Value of a "Just do it" attitude: my 1st solo cycling in Cambodia

Seven years ago, for my first cycling trip in Cambodia, I did not think so much prior to go on a cycling adventure. I just wanted to do something different. I had never been in Asia, never backpacked, never cycled long distance: perfect!

I was very determined to do it my way. To start with I barely trained. Not to mention the fact I flew without a bike nor did I have any idea about where to get a good bike in Cambodia. Luckily, I did have a backpack...

In the end, I bought a 3-speed bicycle in Ankor Wat to a local family. The father and his two sons proudly customised the bike for me with two planks of wood at the rear to hold my backpack. The night before I left, with the map of Cambodia wide open on the outdoor dinner table, my host family held a reunion to help me finding the best cycling route to Phnom Penh. One of the villages they had me stop to for the night did not even exist on my map. The whole experience was a big improvisation act and it was exciting!

The first day I realised I needed constant feeding and drinking to keep the energy up. Luckily I found plenty of coconuts and bananas which I could buy from local farms stands along the way. Each time I stopped to such stand I was the local attraction. Kids came around smiling, saying "hello" and looking at me and my funny bicycle (see picture below). In the afternoon I had trouble breathing due to road dust and that's when I understood the benefits of a Khmer scarf.

The second day after I received my third marriage proposals - from boys average age 15-17 years old - I realized the concept of indepandant women had probably not reached the rural areas of Cambodia. One of them took a bit more time. He cycled behind me in silence for half an hour before asking "would you like to marry me?". From that point I decided to proactively mentioning I was married to everyone.

The next day saddle soreness and leg muscles pain kicked in. Repair a tyre??? Forget it! That's when I understood the point about  (1) training, (2) having a good bike and (3) ugly cycling shorts. Unfortunately, there was not much I could do about any of these three things at that point and I had only two choices: "bita ihop" ("get on with it" in Swedish ) or give up.

I reached Phnom Penh after 4 days and 400 km cycling. I sold the nasty bicycle as soon as I could and did not talk about cycling for a while.

A few years have past and when I am looking back, I am satisfied I made it to the end goal despite the pain. I am happy I "just did it". After all, I do have a great story to tell now.
I also gained first hand experience about a long distance cycling and valuable knowledge I used when preparing my next trips.

What do you think, is there a value to a "just do it"attitude. I'd like to read your professional or private experiences!