Tag Archives: business

November 26, 2012 · 12:12 pm

The Fine Print

Here we are again in the holiday season, which really means “primary spending time” both for consumers and retailers. The flyers bundled with my newspaper on Thursday had many more pages than did the paper itself. While they’re not as offensive as political ads, the frequency of ads for “Black Friday Deals!” on all programming was at week-before-the-election levels.  Numbing…

What bothers me about quite a few of these ads is not really restricted to this season but since everyone’s mind is on shopping I thought I’d put it out there today.  I have a huge distrust of fine print.  You know – the things about the stuff in big type that are written in tiny type and make the great deal not so great.  On radio ads it’s when the announcer starts talking very fast and unintelligibly.  As Consumer Reports pointed out, it’s getting a “free” download of antivirus software with a recent purchase. By the way,  free has a time limit — six months – and then you get billed for $49.99 after that if you don’t happen to cancel.  You might see it on a brand’s Facebook page – “like” us and get a coupon for $5.  Of course, the coupon is only good when you purchase $25 worth of stuff.  Book some hotel rooms online and you’ll probably miss the fine print about “resort charges” or “safe fees” that are positioned as optional but which are anything but.  I’ve never heard of anyone getting them removed from the bill.  My phone’s “unlimited” data plan allows me the use of unlimited amounts of data but after I get to some point the speed is throttled, making the plan limited in other ways.

I have to think that the revenues gained from these offers is offset to some degree (one hopes to a very large one) by the costs of customer service and refunds generated by the fine print.  Think for a minute about how we behave as individuals.  We don’t extend offers to our friends with fine print, at least not if we expect to keep them as friends.  “Let’s go to the movies” doesn’t come with “unless I can find a better option with someone else” or “of course, you’ll buy all the popcorn.”  Why would we behave differently as a brand?

Fine print, except as mandated by law, is a bad idea.  No fine print from me on that.  How about from you?

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November 20, 2012 · 2:57 pm

The Four Minute Mile

Late post today so I’ll make it brief.  I was returning from some morning meetings (hence my lateness) and I heard someone talking on the radio about one crisis or another – geopolitical, financial – who knows.  They kept saying that a fix was “impossible” and spent the better part of the segment explaining why that was so.  I, of course, immediately thought of Roger Bannister.

 

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(Photo credit: I am I.A.M.)

 

Right up until that day in May of 1954, it was thought that running a mile in under four minutes was not humanly possible.  I’m sure there were a lot of sportswriters who pontificated much as did the person on the radio this morning about why that was so.  15MPH for that period of time?  No way.  I’m sure they were doing so right up until Bannister crossed the finish line in under four minutes.  To show it wasn’t some superhuman feat, John Landy finished right behind him – also under four minutes.  Suddenly, the common knowledge – and the mental barrier it imposed – changed.  Miles have been run hundreds of times under that barrier now and the record is 3:43, closer to three and a half minutes than to four.

 

We often do the same thing in business.  A sales goal is not achievable   A product can’t be built.  The person with the qualifications we really think are required for the job can’t be found so we settle on someone lesser.  Four minute barriers we can’t break.  Until we do.

 

I’ve used the Bannister example with groups before to get them to think about how our mental barriers hold us back.  What do you think?

 

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November 12, 2012 · 9:34 am

What Veteran’s Day Teaches Us About Business

It was Veteran’s Day over the weekend here in the U.S., a day when we honor the service of all of our military veterans.

Veteran

(Photo credit: Keturah Stickann)

It takes place on 11/11, a date chosen because it coincides with the formal end of World War 1. Silly humans – we thought that was the war to end all wars. We’re celebrating the holiday today and many folks are taking the day off (Federal holidays are almost always on Mondays) so I’ll be brief.
All of my social media streams were filled yesterday with people thanking veterans for their service and rightfully so. Putting your country and your fellow citizens ahead of your own wants and needs is a noble act. While it’s not on the same level, how we behave in business can mirror that action.

My inelegant analogy is that we need to put customers and their needs ahead of our own.  Shaving a few cents off of cost or improving our margins to the detriment of the customer experience or product is selfish.  Maybe we need to think of our customers as our superior officers.  When they say something, to echo the Charge Of The Light Brigade, ours is not to reason why.  We need to hear them and act.

To all our vets, thank you for your service.  To my fellow businesspeople, let’s look to the standards of excellence and selflessness demonstrated by our vets as we go about our lives – lives which others made possible!

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