Tag Archives: advice

February 26, 2020 · 3:57 pm

Please F Off

Part of the process in the franchise consulting I do is to acquire leads, just as it is in most sales-related businesses. I do that in a number of ways, once of which is through what are called “portal leads.” These are names, phone numbers, and email addresses, among other things, those interested parties have submitted to get more information about a particular franchise or just to speak with someone about franchises generally.

It probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that some percentage of these leads are submitted by people surfing around late at night. Maybe they’ve been drinking or maybe they’ve had a bad day and are angry with their current job and are thinking about moving on or taking more control by investing in their own business. These folks don’t answer the phone or respond to emails. There is another tiny percentage of leads that have been submitted by people playing jokes on their friends, generally college students.

I got one of those the other day. The lead was in Norman Oklahoma although the phone number was a Dallas area code. Still, Norman is a college town so it wouldn’t be unusual for people to relocate there. Of course, when I dialed the number, the person who answered was not the person whose information I had. That happens sometimes too – often a typo when the person is typing in their number. The email worked, however.

I hadn’t heard back the next day so I sent another email explaining why I wanted to speak to them. This one came back with a curt reply: “please fuck off.” That’s an exact quote including all lower-case letters. It’s our topic today.

I’m from New York so I’m quite used to rude. My issue is that rude seems to be the new normal. If I was, as this fellow is, a senior at the University Of Oklahoma and was going to be entering the job market with my BBA in Finance and another BBA in Venture Management come May, I wouldn’t be cursing anyone out, especially not someone I don’t know. I appreciate the fact that I may have obtained his information through no fault of his own, but the reply and how he handled it is all on him. I realize that he doesn’t know me but I’m also relatively easy to check out. Maybe a contact with 40 years in business could be useful to him even if he’s not interested in a franchise?

The world moves quickly and at times we’re all under a lot of pressure. It’s taken me four years living away from New York to truly appreciate how far nice will get you. The old me would have tracked this kid down as well as forwarded his comments to the heads of his major departments, inquiring if this is how all OU seniors approach the world.  Let’s all remember that privacy is non-existent and people with bad intentions can find you and make your life hell, as sad as that is. Maybe it’s the old hippie in me, but a little more nice in this world would be just fine with me. You?

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January 3, 2020 · 12:26 pm

New Year, New Protein, Same Problems

Happy New Year and Happy Foodie Friday! I hope you all had safe and enjoyable holidays. I did and I used the break to do some experimenting in the kitchen. If you’re like me you probably have a dozen or so stand-bys that you cook a lot of the time. For me, these tend to get repeated with some frequency as I’m planning the menus for the week.

One “resolution” for this year is to try to be less meat-centric in my cooking so I used the holidays to try a few new things, one of which was a tofu recipe. While I do have a daughter who’s a vegan and an expert tofu preparer, I’m certainly not. Because of that, I was more dependent on the recipe I found that I might be with many other proteins. I bought all of the ingredients and followed the directions carefully.

Here is where the problem arose and it gets to the business point I’d like to make today. The ingredient list was very specific about using Sambal Oelek, which the recipe termed a “spicy garlic sauce.” That’s what I bought. I didn’t take the time to scroll through the comments on the recipe (an error I won’t make going forward) or I would have seen this exchange:

Commentor: sambal oelek doesn’t contain garlic. i’m looking at the ingredients and it’s ground chilis, vinegar, salt, and preservatives. is it possible you mean huy fong chili garlic sauce?

Author: AHH omg, you are right!!! That is exactly what I meant. They’re so similar in packaging that I just thought they were interchangeable names 😦

So I bought the wrong stuff. That’s not my issue, however. The date of the post was September of 2018. The author has known for over a year that the recipe is wrong and hasn’t corrected it to reflect the proper sauce. That’s what got me thinking about a number of points this illustrates.

First, we all know to be careful about things we read on the internet but it doesn’t hurt to remind ourselves that we need to delve more deeply into everything we read. Don’t take what you’re reading at face value. Find other sources. Dig more deeply. This reminded me to use my cookbooks as a source more often rather than the internet. I know the cookbooks have been vetted by people who cook everything carefully to assure the recipes are right.

Second, if we create content, I think we have an obligation to make sure what we post is accurate and if we find out that it’s not, we have an obligation to correct it. We should also point out the correction. Legitimate sources do that. If you want to be considered a trustworthy source, you need to do it too.

Third, the young woman who runs this blog (which is very nicely designed) seems to be trying to run it professionally even if it’s a side-gig from her regular job. My issue isn’t that her style is very light and fun. It’s HER style and every business should have their own. The problem is that light and fun can’t mean posting smiley faces when there’s an error. You need to take action. I can almost hear the “whatever” in her response to the above comment and this exchange which comes from the recipe saying to brown all 4 sides of the tofu cubes:

There are 6 sides to a cube, not 4…..

Yes, someone has always pointed that out to me. I haven’t gotten around to changing it in the recipe; it doesn’t affect the recipe in any way that I can’t get my shapes right 😉

A minor point? Sure. Is she right that it doesn’t affect the dish? Probably. But it does affect her audience’s perception of her professionalism and maturity. These two corrections would probably have taken her under a minute to make.

Make a resolution be accurate in everything you post in 2020. More importantly, promise to correct your errors. There is just too much misinformation out there, isn’t there?

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Filed under digital media, food, Helpful Hints, Huh?

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November 6, 2019 · 10:27 am

Who’s Calling?

If you carry a smartphone, and nearly everyone does, you’ve probably had the experience of your caller ID showing a fake number that’s calling, often with a fake name or organization displaying. You might think it would require a great deal of technical knowledge to be able to spoof a number or generate a fake caller ID, but you’d be wrong. There are several apps available in the Android or Apple stores that will do just that for you. They’ll even change your voice and add fake, location-specific background noise. I’m not clear what the legitimate purpose of these apps is but for $8, you can set yourself up to run any number of scams if you’re so inclined.

It dawns on me, though, that many folks do exactly the same thing with their social media posts. Their food is picture-perfect. They’re always smiling and having fun, often in some unusual locale. Their party never stops. They never mention that they’re short on cash, their job is unfulfilling, and they’re slowing sinking into depression. I mean, what’s the point of being happy if you can’t post it? As with the phone apps, everything is not as it seems.

I think businesses can learn from this. I’m not suggesting that they use social media to bum us all out, but I am saying that being authentic and transparent will win the day. People appreciate being made spoof-proof, and that happens when they know the businesses they follow aren’t posting visual checks that their real-world business can’t cash. Are they using “influencers” to say nice things about their business when that person has never been in the place or used the product? Have they generated some FOMO by purchasing fake followers?

Don’t believe every number that pops up on your phone. The IRS isn’t calling you. Neither is the Social Security Administration. I’ve had my bank call me but I’ve never had them ask me for account information over the phone. Don’t believe that everything you see on social media is the whole story. It might have been the only good day in a month. And if you run a business, there are very few people who will patronize you based solely on some pretty Instagram photos. Dozens of review sites will keep you honest. People like to know who is calling for real. So be real.

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