Monthly Archives: January 2018

January 31, 2018 · 10:07 am

Getting The Message

You may have read about a missile alert issued in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. A worker mistakenly believed that there was an incoming missile attack and issued an alarm. The initial report was that he had hit the wrong button on a drop-down menu. As it turns out, he had missed the part of the incoming alert message that said it was an exercise. The message itself also included the words “this is not a drill” (it shouldn’t have) which proved to be confusing at best and terrifying at worst.

As I read about this, I thought about how many times employees don’t hear the messages we send them. This particular employee had a track record, according to reports, of confusing real-world events and drills several times over the last decade. While I’m not sure this is the individual I would want in a critical role, that fact that he was should have reminded his management to be absolutely clear when giving him instructions.

You don’t think this kind of miscommunication could happen in your business? Well, maybe not, but let me ask you a few questions.

  • Do you ever tell your staff that it’s OK to fail and yet punish people who do so at review time?
  • Do you ever tell people to innovate and yet get mad when they don’t follow protocols you’ve established?
  • Do you ever tell anyone to work carefully and yet push them to make an unrealistic deadline?
  • Do you ever refuse to prioritize their work with them and instead tell them that “everything is a big priority”?

Those are the same type of confusing, conflicting messages as the guy heard in Hawaii, and just as in that situation the chances are good that the recipient will mishear and push the wrong button (or, as in this case, the right button at the wrong time). Putting aside the fact that the Hawaiians did themselves no favors by allowing one individual to issue an alert (they’ve remedied that – it now takes two to do so), or that the individual in question had made similar mistakes in the past,  the fault lies just as much with the supervisor who issued conflicting instructions (This is an exercise/this is not a drill). It’s a mistake no supervisor can afford to make unless they enjoy creating terror in their businesses. Now, who wants that?

Leave a comment

Filed under Consulting, Helpful Hints, Huh?

Tagged as , , , ,

January 29, 2018 · 10:12 am

Your Focus Is Fake

Over the weekend the NY Times published an article about a company called Devumi that sells followers. As the piece says:

Photo by Jehyun Sung

Devumi sells Twitter followers and retweets to celebrities, businesses and anyone who wants to appear more popular or exert influence online.

Since social media is, well, media, an outlet’s ability to charge is based upon its reach. Since everyone has the ability to be a little piece of the media these days, having a bigger audience or the ability to demonstrate great influence by having hundreds of thousands of followers is a big deal. Take Facebook where:

up to 60 million automated accounts may roam the world’s largest social media platform. These fake accounts, known as bots, can help sway advertising audiences and reshape political debates. They can defraud businesses and ruin reputations.

I’ve seen this happen first hand. I was working with a client and we were approached by someone (actually a pair of someones) who wanted to work with us. They proudly showed off their 1million+ Twitter followers as evidence of their ability to impact what we were doing. They seemed a little shady so I ran their Twitter account through one of the services that examine followers for signs that they’re fake. 95% of their followers were bots or fake accounts. No deal.

The Times piece is really excellent because the thing it points out to me is something that is important to you, or should be. The reason having fake followers works is that brands are too focused on reach and not enough on results. The thing those fake followers won’t do is to buy. Yes, you can buy fake click-throughs as well, but I’m quite sure that your conversion rate will plummet if you do so since no bot-master is going to spend a nickel going through your sales funnel. When celebrities (or celebrity wannabes) inflate their follower totals, it’s part ego and part to demonstrate their popularity. Does anyone look at real-world results that might point to those things? Ratings? Box-office? Ticket sales?

Have you ever heard anyone giving out advice (marketing or otherwise) tell you to be fake? Probably not. Authenticity is the underpinning of great marketing today. There is no incentive for Twitter or Facebook to fix this since their financial well-being is partially judged by how many people are on and use their platforms. It’s a shame, and if we did politics here we could talk about how this same problem has gone beyond marketing products and services and into influencing our political system. You can fix it, however, by measuring what matters. Reach doesn’t really matter. Results do. That’s how I see it. You?

Leave a comment

Filed under digital media, Huh?

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

January 26, 2018 · 1:16 pm

I Love This Bar

Happy Foodie Friday! Actually, it’s more like Boozie Friday since our topic today revolves around a bar. Not just any bar: my bar. No, I don’t own it, but I feel as if a little part of it is mine. Let me explain and why this has a lot to do with your business.

Over a year ago on a Friday afternoon, I wandered into a bar I had passed a number of times. It’s not part of some chain. It’s part of a vanishing species: the local watering hole. Vanishing? Yes. As one trade publication points out:

The number of what the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics calls “drinking places” — a subcategory of restaurants that is focused just on sales of alcohol — have seen a multi-year decline in number. The number of privately-owned locations dropped by nearly 4 percent between 2013 and 2016, from 44,599 to 42,961 establishments. Nielsen data from 2015 paints an even starker picture, stating that one out of every six neighborhood bars closed between 2004 and 2014.

My bar may or may not be a “drinking place” since they do serve food (much of which is quite good), but it seems as though every Friday each person who passes through the door is greeted by name as they approach the bartenders who already seem to know what they’re having. Yes, it’s the epitome of the “Cheers” experience: a place where everybody knows your name.

In many places, particularly outside of big cities, neighborhood bars are being replaced by what I’ll call chain bars although technically they’re probably called casual dining establishments. You know what I mean – Buffalo Wild Wings, TGIFridays, and their other corporately-run brethren. It’s a shame, and it’s not because they don’t have the same drinks and maybe even better food. What they don’t have is the atmosphere. I’m sure they believe they are in the hospitality business but it’s just not the same.

A great neighborhood bar – my bar – feels like an extension of drinking in someone’s home. It has a unique vibe to it. You’re among friends, not just among other customers. That sort of feeling is something that I think any business can and should try to precipitate and instill in everyone who comes in contact with it: customers, staff, vendors, and the community as a whole. That changes a “like” into a “love,” and who can’t always use a little more of that?

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Thinking Aloud

Tagged as , , , , , ,