Tag Archives: business

December 3, 2013 · 11:21 am

Can’t Help Falling In Love

Let’s talk about a goal I think most businesses have in common for our TunesDay fun.  As part of my initial work with clients we generally spend a fair amount of time discussing their goals.  After all, stumbling around from crisis to crisis without a real plan is no way to run an operation.  Most of the time, a lot of the goals can be distilled down into one simple thought – make your customers and partners fall in love with you and your offerings.  We want to get them to the place where The King is:

Wise men say only fools rush in
But I can’t help falling in love with you
Shall I stay, would it be a sin?
If I can’t help falling in love with you

The song – I Can’t Help Falling In Love (With You) is as close to a rock and roll standard as there is.   It’s been recorded dozens of times since Elvis did it in 1962 and it’s been a hit several times since.  In fact, Elvis used it as his show-closer for many years.  Here is one of my favorite performances:

The performance from the live in Hawaii shows are better vocally, but Elvis is too distracted by the audience to put everything into it until the end.  But I digress.  Having someone fall in love with your business isn’t as easy as it sounds, just as it isn’t on an interpersonal level.  In both cases, you must take the relationship seriously and not be dismissive of it (oh, there are other customers).  You need to love them and be willing to make sacrifices.  You need to be focused as much on their needs as you are on your own – sometimes maybe even a little bit more.

We don’t take enough time to find out enough about our customers/partners – their goals, needs, and passions.  You can’t have a serious relationship and fall in love without that understanding.  We need to support them and actively look to help them solve their problems.  Hopefully they, in response, are singing the finale to the song:

Take my hand, take my whole life too
For I can’t help falling in love with you

That’s the goal.  How do we make it happen?

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December 2, 2013 · 10:53 am

Klearly Stupid

The holiday shopping season has begun in earnest and so today let’s remind ourselves about how some online businesses deserve the equivalent of a Darwin Award for killing themselves as this big opportunity arises.

Stupid IV

(Photo credit: LauraLewis23)

You might have heard about KlearGear.com, a $47million online retailer of what they call geek toys and goodies.  They deserve the aforementioned Darwin Award for resolving a dispute with a customer in a manner that will, in my opinion, destroy their business.  Let’s see what you think.

A customer ordered something from the company way back in 2008 which didn’t arrive.  The customer then posted a negative review on the web.  Nothing very unusual about this so far, I know.  What happened next is.  Some genius at KlearGear decided it would be a good idea to “fine” the customer $3,500 for disparaging the company, citing a clause in their site’s Terms Of Service that wasn’t even in those terms in 2008.  When the customer didn’t pay, they reported the $3,500 as a bad debt to credit reporting agencies, trashing the customer’s credit rating.  You can read the gory details here.

Unfortunately for the retailer, the customer fought back and looks set to win a $75,000 judgement against the company.  Frankly, that’s the least of the retailer’s worries.  The torrent of negative commentary on social media has prompted the company to hide its Twitter account and to close off other social points of contact because of the overwhelming response.  Of course, by going into hiding the company has pretty much destroyed its own reputation on the web.  My guess is that the rest of the business will follow.

This began with a $20 item.  Instead of accepting that there was a problem – perhaps even one of the customer’s own making (which it wasn’t) – and apologizing, KlearGear escalated the problem.  The lost $20 sale is now a potential $75,000 liability which pales by comparison to the millions of dollars of negative coverage they’re receiving.  As we’ve said before, when you’re doing business the right way, the need to moderate or control customer feedback doesn’t exist.  If your product or service is great, so too will be the general commentary about you on the web and social.  We’ve also talked about how it’s easier and more profitable to sell to repeat customers than to find new ones.  That’s a huge reason why the best retailers go out of their way to minimize (or get rid of!)  bad customer experiences.

This is a textbook case on how not to handle customer service or bad reviews.  It’s about as bad as it gets and reached new depths of business stupidity.  You agree?

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November 22, 2013 · 9:53 am

President Kennedy

Fifty years ago today I was sitting in my third grade class when a teacher came in sobbing.

John F. Kennedy

Cover of John F. Kennedy

President Kennedy had been shot and the next few days have been burned into my brain ever since.  Strangely, all of those memories are black and white, since that was the kind of television we had at the time.  In retrospect, the day and his death ended an era of hope in this country as we moved into an era of conflict and chaos.

Smarter people than I have written about JFK’s impact but I thought it might be appropriate to translate a few of his thoughts into business thinking since that’s what we do here on the screed.  As is also our custom, I’m going to avoid the politics of what he had to say as well as what others had to say about him and his administration.  First, the most famous quote from his Inaugural Address:

Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

In business terms, this is a recurring theme here.  Flip “country” to customer and I think you’ve got a solid paradigm through which you can view almost any business decision.  Next, the quote that triggered what might be his most enduring legacy:

I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

While we can debate the merits of the space program (and I wrote about that a while back), I don’t think there’s much debate about two things.  One, that program contributed to the rapid advancement of many of the technologies you’re using at this very moment to read this.  Those same technologies are driving a lot of growth in our economy and around the world.  Two, and this is the main business point, the imperative to think big thoughts.

No business can succeed by standing still.  What’s the next frontier?  How can we be better and lead?  Kennedy viewed space as a defense project which is clear when you read the address from which the quote is taken.  Dreaming big is a great defense, because the odds are your competitors are trying to as well.  As the space program has proven, the by-products of big ideas are often more valuable than accomplishing the goal itself.

Finally, Kennedy took office as a 43-year-old, following President Eisenhower who was 71 when he left.  He was the first president born in the 20th Century and projected an image of youth and excitement.  His language was forceful and filled with imagery of destiny and long-term thinking about solving problems.  That’s a great model for anyone who presents ideas which most of us do on a regular basis in business.

What happened 50 years ago today was a tragedy.  I wonder sometimes how different this country – and the world – might be had Kennedy served two terms.  While his presidency wasn’t without controversy and crisis (if you haven’t seen the movie Thirteen Days, find it and watch it!), it’s his legacy of civil rights, social programs, NASA, and the Peace Corps that stand out in my mind.  His approach to leading is a great model despite some of the personal foibles he had, and taking his approach to business issues isn’t bad either.  You agree?

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