What's The Diff?

The things Quicken Loans team members care about and want to share with the world

Ann-Marie Murphy

The Business of Being Punk Rock

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

My Jeep on St. Maarten was the DIFF!

You might not know it from looking at me, but I’m a lover of all things punk. Conventions are boring and doing things just because one is “suppose to” makes me want to throw up a little bit. That’s why I’m drawn to Radiohead’s movement to change the business of music.

A couple months back, Radiohead blew off iTunes and opted to sell their new album, “In Rainbows,” on their own Web site for the compelling price of… you pick. That’s right, you got to choose how much you wanted to pay for it.

Radiohead called the experiment, which came to a close Monday, “the most positive thing we’ve done.” And according to Wired, it was an “undeniable success” because of the attention it grabbed for the music group. I still haven’t seen a credible assessment of the average amount Radiohead was able to pull in per album, but the move to go it alone was an attractive enough proposition to me that I downloaded the album and paid what I believed to be full-price: $12.99. Hey, at least with Radiohead, I know I’ll enjoy listening to the *whole* album.

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It’s none of your d*@% business!

Monday, December 03, 2007

Editor’s Note: While we appreciate Ann-Marie’s anger and her need for a spam-free social network, these are the opinions of Angry Ann-Marie only and not Quicken Loans….at least not everyone.

Someone had to do it. With the departure of “Angry Ed” to what I can only imagine are the blissfully sunny streets of LA, the DIFF had been left with a certain void. Well, no more. My rebellious ways – and the fact that my name starts with an “A” – has earned me the title of “Angry Ann-Marie” from here on out. Most of my teammates shan’t be surprised…

My latest beef? I recently made the move from the obnoxious, ad-filled, seizure-inducing pages of MySpace to what I thought was the social networking site at the end of the rainbow: Facebook. The white-space alone on Facebook was enough to make me take a deep, refreshing breath; I finally thought I found the place where I could keep in touch with friends without being stalked by advertisers. But now I wonder…

Facebook recently launched a marketing initiative called Beacon, which it originally positioned as a way to share interests with friends. Beacon was supposed to be the business world’s opportunity to make an innocent foray into online social networking, allowing me to do such things as share the latest video I rented – demonstrating my fascinating movie tastes – with my friends on Facebook directly from the video rental company’s Web site. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to bother my friends with such purchases, but I figured that as long as I was given a choice, fine by me.

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Macy’s to Lower Your Credit Score?

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

macyscard

I’m completely neurotic about my credit. I’ve never paid a bill late, am very careful about opening new credit cards and would flat-out freak if my credit score dropped below 720. That’s why I was particularly revolted when I read about Macy’s new “information sharing” practice on The Consumerist.

Here’s the low-down: If you have a Macy’s credit card but haven’t used it in more than two years, Macy’s will give Citibank the thumbs up to open up a Citibank Mastercard on your behalf. You do have a chance to opt out, but that would require that you actually opened and read what could have only been a long form-letter from Macy’s detailing this new practice (and if you’re anything like me, this letter went straight into the trash before it was given a healthy once-over).

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Zingerman’s Deli – Absolutely DELIcious!

Monday, April 02, 2007

If you’re a cheese fiend and deli meat devotee, you ain’t tasted nothing yet until you’ve been to the world-famous Zingerman’s Deli, in beautiful Ann Arbor, Mich., home of the University of Michigan (go Blue!). Considered one of the ten great places to nosh on authentic Jewish deli food and the coolest small company in America, I’m not the only one who thinks Zingerman’s is doing something right, as they celebrated their 25th anniversary last month.

Zingerman’s is a different kind of deli because of its outstanding – and unmatched – selection of domestic and imported cheeses and meats, fresh Bakehouse breads, olive oils galore and much more! Their specialty foods has even inspired a gluttonous tradition that I’ve shared with my boyfriend for years – an outright feast of old and new favorites, laid out as a massive spread of what can only be described as the loveliest platter of tantalizing tastes and unforgettable flavors one has ever experienced.

Mmmm, my mouth is watering as I write this. It can get a bit pricey if you’re not careful — I never seem to escape without at least $50 worth of goodies, but it’s no rip off. Trust me, it’s worth every penny.

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Dan Mulhern on Why Employees Matter

Monday, March 19, 2007

Is Michigan’s First Gentleman Dan Mulhern (Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s husband) our newest team member here at Quicken Loans? Naw, but he did attend our all-day new team member orientation last week with chairman Dan Gilbert. He seemed to enjoy it too; check out what he said about us on his blog: Quicken Loans: Why Employees Matter at Reading for Leading.

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If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

Friday, March 09, 2007

Are you harder on yourself than anyone else in your life? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Besides myself, there’s a very successful and well-respected person that used to have the same problem. His name is Bill Emerson and he just happens to be the CEO of Quicken Loans.

I had the pleasure of sitting through a Q & A with Bill yesterday and asked him what he thought were the biggest, most positive changes he’s made within himself since starting with the company. Among his answers, I was comforted to hear, was that he too suffered from negative self-talk. By acknowledging that this sort of thinking was negatively impacting him as a person and a professional, he said, he began to change his thinking. And years later, he says he’s much better for it.

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Servant Leaders

Monday, March 05, 2007

As a leader, you are a servant to your team. If you think otherwise – that your team members are servants to you – then I suggest you take a few minutes to reflect on all the things that are wrong with that philosophy. Here’s an example of the latter way of thinking. If you have trusted and respected leaders – or are one yourself – then you’ll probably laugh as hard as I did at this "Note from Boss to Employees" that was posted on the Execupundit blog.

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It’s Just Our Policy

Monday, January 29, 2007

Because of my e-shopping addiction, I’ve become a self-proclaimed authority on the entire process of buying stuff online. My latest experience comes from a large online retailer that couldn’t seem to get it right at any turn.

First, I place the order. Since I’m notoriously impatient, I check back to view my latest status every chance I get. It took four days to “process” my order. Whammy number one. I shoot an e-mail over to the store’s customer service asking if there was a problem. The reply made me want to poke myself in the eye with a fork:

"Hey Ann-Marie… Your order <blah, blah, blah>. Hit us back with any other questions.”

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“View All” or Don’t Bother

Friday, January 12, 2007

“Hello, my name is Ann-Marie and I’m an addict.”

I’m an Internet junkie. I can’t get enough of it. Whether it be chatting on Gmail, laughing at the daily Dilbert blog entry, reading the latest headlines on my RSS news feed or my biggest nemesis, e-shopping, I’m completely and totally hooked. But it’s only the last category – e-shopping – that has some serious drawbacks. While I love how easy it is to order anything online, from a basket of brownies to my gadget du jour, the bane of my bank account appears to be that it’s too easy. The “order” button might as well be a shiny pocket watch dangling at the end of a hypnotist’s string. But, my compulsion to click the “order” button aside, it continues to surprise me how many large retail companies still don’t get it right when it comes to the sales process.

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Monday, May 21, 2012