Tag Archives: business thinking

May 24, 2016 · 10:14 am

Kicking The Curb

The government is one of everyone’s favorite punching bags. It really doesn’t matter where on the political spectrum you fall. The government is the target of an angry rant and/or much headshaking at some point. Today’s topic is a great example of that and it’s instructive to business as well. No, I haven’t reconsidered my self-imposed ban on politics in this space. This has nothing to do with politics and a lot to do with things such as management, customer service, and accountability.

English: A flat automobile tire. Français : Un...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The town in which I live just installed new curbs on Main Street. The new curbs, which meet federal and state standards, are made of granite for their durability (lots of salt and snow plows on the roads here in New England). They also have really sharp edges which, as documented in this article from a local blog shows, have been shredding tires. No, driving on the curb isn’t normal here, but parallel parking is, and apparently there have been many cases of the curbs cutting down tires as the tires bump into them.  The government’s response?

The granite curbs used on Main Street are the same material and construction that is used throughout Connecticut and meets state and federal specifications.  Because it is cut stone it does have a sharper edge than asphalt or concrete. It is a chosen material because of it hardness and resilience to salt. It can stand up to New England winters with routine snow plowing and application of salt. The curb is not intended to be driven upon and will not damage a tire on routine contact.

In other words, not my problem.  We’re following the rules and despite the fact that the rules have caused the citizens (read customers) whom we serve to suffer flat tires, it’s your fault.  Quit hitting the curb. Rather than thinking about how to round the edges and to solve the problem, the government official is thinking about how to blame the victim.

You might be shaking your head about this (as you should) but business does the same thing. Rather than fixing customer problems we look to shift blame.  We do things such as ask customers to sign lengthy agreements written in legalese in which they waive rights.  We impose hidden fees which are only clearly disclosed when someone complains. I can’t wait to hear the Downtown Merchants Association (a local business group), who will lose business as customers choose other places to park (and shop) weigh in on the topic of how the nicer new curbs have “helped” make downtown more attractive to business.

I happen to believe there is a valuable role for government to play in our lives (so do you every time you call a cop or report a fire or drive on a road). I don’t think there is a place for any business – government included – to ignore its customers nor to leave obvious problems unsolved.  You?

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May 20, 2016 · 8:49 am

Bringing The Heat

This Foodie Friday, let’s bring the heat.  Specifically, let’s talk about hot peppers.  Many people, myself included, enjoy spicy food.  The problem with cooking food that brings the heat is that what’s hot to me might not be hot enough for you.  Now that I think of it, the opposite is nearly always true – if I’m happy with the heat in a dish, chances are most of the folks for whom I’m cooking are going to find it hard to eat and enjoy.

This image shows a Habanero chile, which is th...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This article from First We Feast summarized it nicely:

A 2013Technomic study showed that 54% of Americans prefer spicy sauces and dips—a number that was and likely still is increasing rapidly. Unlike so many other taste preferences, though, the growth of spice brings with it a prickly issue: How much heat can your tongue handle?

As it turns out research shows that tolerance to hot food is both genetic and a learned habit – you can train yourself to eat hotter food if you’re willing to go through the pain of doing so, and some folks have a head start based on genetics.  “Hot” or “Spicy” is really a subjective term even though a measurement standard exists that make it really easy to tell how much heat is in a dish. Scientists can measure Scoville units to determine how the capsaicin in a pepper or a dish registers as heat.  It’s an objective standard.  Which brings us to the business point today.

Too many of us rely on gut feel – how we perceive things to be – rather than an objective standard.  What seems fine to us might be intolerable to our customers. There is little in business that we can or should do without measuring, even if we can’t test in advance.  That’s not to say that we never should put things out there based on our own tastes, but we need to listen carefully to feedback and be prepared to adjust the seasoning.  It’s fine to bring the heat in any product or business, but let’s remember that some folks can’t stand any heat and will go running from our kitchens if we’re not paying attention.

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May 19, 2016 · 10:51 am

Publisher : Cavete

Sometimes I look at what’s going on in publishing as if someone was whispering the Springsteen lyric in management’s ear:

Those romantic young boys, they’re callin’ through the window
Hey, Spanish Johnny, you want to make a little easy money tonight?

The easy money comes from native advertising, particularly the kind that’s plug and play. Just as in the song, however, there isn’t any easy money that comes without strings attached and some research from Penn State found out just what those strings entail.

The research team found that when content was identified as native advertising, readers held a lower opinion of the media outlet it was published in. However, the reputation of the company being promoted was not affected…“We all have the idea that the news media should be objective and neutral…that’s how it works,” Wu said. “But people may see the media and companies working together to deceive us…so they change their perception toward the media more dramatically. On the other hand, people see that the company is just doing what it’s supposed to, promoting itself.”

The speaker in the quote above is the PhD student who conducted the study. While I certainly understand the importance of revenue generation in an increasingly competitive and difficult marketplace, I also understand the value of a publisher’s reputation. That reputation, like all of ours, takes a long time to establish but can be shattered rather quickly. The loss of trust is fatal for any brand and particularly so for an information service.

Maybe it’s called “native content” or maybe it’s actually identified as “sponsored content” or a “promoted post.”  Either way, it’s generally not immediately identifiable as being from a source different from the main news or information the publisher puts out.  I think most of us dislike being enticed to read something under false pretenses, and part of the decision to invest time in reading involves the quality of the content which is predicated on the source.  When we’re deceived, we’re unhappy, and when we’re unhappy, we don’t return.

Publishers need to beware.  There is no easy money to be made unless you’re in it for the short term and are reputation-agnostic.  Are you?

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