Category Archives: Business Situations

Ever wonder how you should handle a particular business situation? Everything in Business Situations is indexed to help you find the assistance you need quickly and conveniently. Leadership Development, Management Training and Business Ethics (among other topics) are covered in this category.

What Every Business Can Learn from the Social Media Efforts of @Delta

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It was about 6:30 last evening when I found myself at the Delta Sky Club in Tampa, Florida. I was booked on Delta’s 7:45 flight to Atlanta (where I am speaking to a group of Ford dealership managers about Internet processes this morning). I had a yearning for a cup of coffee, but I really didn’t think indulging in a caffeinated beverage that late in the day made sense. (Between my upcoming flight and the strange bed I was soon to be sleeping in, it would be hard enough for me to get any rest. As it ended up, I got a solid six hours.)

I grabbed a clean cup at the self-serve coffee station and placed it under the decaf jug’s spout. Pushing down on the lever I discovered they were out of decaf, so I moseyed to the bar to let the Delta bartender know this fact.

“Oh… thank you,” she replied.

I got a glass of water to hold me while she made the decaf and headed back to my seat in the lounge.

Twenty Minutes is Plenty of Time to Make a Pot, Right?

At about ten minutes before seven, I headed back to the coffee station only to discover that the decaf jug was missing. Clearly, the bartender just forgot to return it after she made a fresh pot, I surmised, so I walked over to the bar to ask her if the decaf was ready.

“Oh… it’s too late to make any decaf,” she replied.

I looked at her and just blinked my eyes for a couple of seconds to get my bearings.

“Um, isn’t nighttime when people usually drink decaf?” I asked.

“Well, I was told it’s too late to make any more decaf tonight,” she replied smiling.

Would You Like a Double Gin & Tonic instead?

I figured that a pot of decaf must cost Delta all of two dollars, so I wondered why they were being so cheap. Had I been ordering double Gin & Tonics all night they wouldn’t have batted an eye – even though my drain on their profits would have been much greater.

Since I really wanted that coffee – to the point that I could actually taste it on my way back to my seat – I decided there was nothing I could do but sit down, shut up and be a good Delta customer. In other words, I was fuming. Not because I didn’t get my precious coffee, but because of the arbitrary nature of how the Delta team at the Tampa Sky Club chose to create rules. They didn’t want to have to clean the pots after a certain hour (I surmised), so they invented a rule that you couldn’t make decaf after six.

They reminded me of a bunch of teenagers working at any fast food establishment fifteen minutes before closing: “Oh shit, here comes another customer. Don’t they know we close in like fifteen minutes?”

Vent or Die

I could keep my now rage about being denied a cup of decaf inside me or I could let it out. I chose to let it out. Of course, rather than throw chairs around the Sky Club or even demanding to speak to a supervisor, I decided to just Tweet about this experience to my 1,200+ alleged followers. (Because it was a Friday night, I was pretty sure that no more than 1 or 2 would even read the damn thing. I just needed to vent.)

I followed that message with one more Tweet a minute later to complete my thoughts about the whole affair:

Feeling somewhat content having gotten this off my chest; I sent a couple of emails, packed up my belongings and headed for the departure gate.

A few minutes after I settled into my seat and cracked open an unsatisfying bottle of water, a Delta agent came to my row and asked for me. Instinctively, I just knew I was going to hear some regurgitation of why they don’t make decaf after 6:00 PM and how sorry she was but that “the policy was important to ensure the blah, blah, blah…”

“Mr. Stauning?” she asked.

“Yes?” I replied.

She followed with “We were wrong not to make a fresh pot of decaf for you in the Sky Club this evening. Can you tell me who it was that told you this?”

I was floored. She admitted they were wrong and actually wanted to know which of their employees needed some additional training on customer service.

After I told her my experience and the brief conversations with the bartender, she thanked me for being a loyal Delta customer and handed me a $12 meal voucher for Atlanta. (Delta knows, you see, that I am flying out of Atlanta today after my meetings and so they correctly assumed that I might have to grab a bite in the airport.)

For the cost of a few minutes’ time and $12, Delta was able to completely resolve a minor situation with a long-time customer (and often vocal critic). Moreover, the half-dozen or so people who heard the exchange on the plane were undoubtedly impressed.

#TheLittleThingsThatMatter

As I hashtagged in both of my Tweets, it’s the little things that matter. Not making decaf for your frequent fliers is a little thing; but it genuinely pisses customers off. Telling your customers you were wrong and offering to buy them a $12 lunch the next day are little things; but these are what customers remember and appreciate.

The lessons that all businesses – whether they’re a B2C or B2B establishment – can learn from how @Delta handled this “little thing” are these:

  1. Be diligent and genuine about your social media pursuits. If you’re going to be on Twitter or Facebook, don’t do it for branding or marketing purposes; and don’t just become another spammer. Be social. React genuinely. Solve problems. Or shut the hell up.
  2. Be quick and don’t escalate the little things – SOLVE THEM. I don’t know who made the decision to greet me on my plane and present me with a meal voucher, but this decision did not have to be reviewed by a committee. Imagine if the team that monitors Delta’s Twitter account had simply waited until the next day and responded to my Tweet with “Dear Mr. Stauning: blah, blah, blah…” That would have been infuriating (I know, because another minor issue with a company last week was handled just that way. They would have been better off ignoring my Tweet than to send me down the customer service path of hell I am currently on.) Delta has empowered someone to make quick decisions in the field to solve minor customer issues. This seemingly tiny act can do more to defuse a bad situation than all the “we’re sorry you feel this way” emails and calls from insincere customer service drones.
  3. In all relationships, it’s truly the little things that matter. This is especially true in the realm of customer relationships. The customer is not always right… but, they are always the customer, and when it’s your fault that they feel bad you need to tell them it’s your fault, and then you need to fix the problem.

But The Steakhouse Did So Much More…

Some of you may be familiar with a similar, albeit more extravagant, response from an overpriced steakhouse to a loyal customer who also Tweeted his desires from the Tampa airport. The differences in this case are that Delta (in my opinion) wasn’t looking for publicity, just hoping to satisfy their customer. Additionally, Delta operates on a much smaller margin and deals with many more customer service issues than a chain of restaurants, so sending a guy in tuxedo to deliver me a porterhouse dinner would not have been fiscally responsible. Finally, the guy who Tweeted about steak was just a whiny traveler who wanted something he couldn’t have.

(Well, I guess the two stories do have a little in common.)

Dear Occupy Wall Street Protesters: When Did I Become the Bad Guy?

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It seems that as a pro-capitalism, successful business leader that I am somehow partially to blame for what ails the protesters who’ve joined the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. I am the enemy. I am the bad guy.

While I’ve tried desperately to comprehend both their demands and their end game, I have to admit that I am at a loss. One day someone who seems to be an OWS muckety muck (they don’t have any true leaders as of this writing) is claiming that all of capitalism must go; though the next day the protesters are joined by union leaders (whose members are employed by companies that benefit from capitalism) and the message is that corporate greed must go. (Is there anything more amorphous than “corporate greed?”)

It would be nice, actually, if they only had these two viewpoints; but the truth is that for every smelly twenty-something you see holding a sign (or an iPhone), there is a different take on what it is they are trying to “solve” with these protests.

I put the word solve in quotes because I’m not sure they want to solve anything. They really just seem mad that they don’t have all the same luxuries as the successful people in our society (the bad guys). Most of them just seem to want those of us who’ve worked for what we have to give it all back to “society” so that we can all be equally miserable doing without.

When Did I Become the Bad Guy?

By most protesters’ definition, I am a bad guy. I have my own business and I make a good living. My children have cool gadgets and we live in a nice house; in a nice neighborhood. I am really very satisfied with my life. A life, I might add, that did not happen by accident. So I need to know: When did I become the bad guy?

As an eight-year-old in 1971, I began selling candy door-to-door in Glendale, Arizona. I’m not sure how much I made, but it was probably somewhere around $10 per week. (We were poor when I was growing up, so if I wanted to buy anything, I had to earn the money to buy it.)

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From around 1973 through 1977, I ran paper routes (sometimes one route in the morning and one in the afternoon) and sold magazines, newspaper subscriptions and seeds door-to-door. I used my money to buy sports cards, comic books, bicycle parts and candy.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

Throughout my high school years (77-81), I worked at fast food joints, a minor league ballpark and an amusement park. (I doubt there was ever 20 consecutive days that I was out of a job.) I used the money I earned in high school to buy a motorcycle, then a car, fill those with gas, buy beer (yes, illegally) and eat at Jack-in-the-Box or McDonald’s on occasion.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From 1981 until 1985, I served in the US Marine Corps; mostly on the island of Guam. I was a Russian Linguist in the Corps and I worked what some civilians would think was not only a weird schedule, but probably inhumane. It was called a “2-2-2 and 80.” With this schedule, you worked two day shifts (8AM-4PM); two mid shifts (12AM-8AM); and two eve shifts (4PM-12AM); then you had 80 consecutive hours off. You only had eight hours between your second day shift and your first mid shift; likewise after your second mid shift. I used the money the Marines paid me to buy beer, a computer, stereo equipment, a car and some pretty cool Christmas presents for my family every year.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

After the Marine Corps, I enrolled at Arizona State University where I took a full class load while I worked fulltime to pay my bills. (During my time at ASU – among other equally glamorous jobs – I drove a taxi, worked as a security guard and even sold manure.) As my money got tighter, I took fewer classes and worked more jobs. I studied business, though because I eventually ran out of room on my credit cards, I left ASU deeply in debt and a few credits short of a bachelor’s degree. Ready to just join the workforce and not worry about college, I accepted a job as the manager of an aircraft parts warehouse and worked very hard to do my part to help this Mom & Pop operation become successful.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

A couple of years later, in 1991, my soon-to-be wife and I moved to Chicago so that I could begin work for a beer distributorship as a salesman. Once I arrived, I made sure that I always worked harder and smarter than any of my coworkers. As a result, I was promoted to a territory sales manager position and given a nice raise.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

After I got married in 1993, I decided to go back to school and finish my degree at Governor’s State University. I endeavored to finish my education by working during the day and going to school at night (and on some Saturdays). About a month before my first son was born in July 1994, I finally earned my bachelor’s degree.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

By the time I left this beer distributorship in mid-1997, I had worked my way up to Vice President of Sales earning $73,103 in 1996 (when you included all my bonuses). Even though I now had two sons at home, I was working more than sixty hours each week to better myself.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From mid-97 until mid-2001, I owned a tiny minority stake in an equally tiny beer distributorship in Missouri. As the managing partner of this wholesale operation, I often arrived at work before 5 AM to load the beer trucks. Once I finished my morning paperwork, I would go out into the field to meet with retailers and convince them to carry my product (which was not easy since the previous distributor had gone bankrupt and left the market without my brands for more than eight months). I was a business owner in name only (because the banks really owned the business) and some nights I worked past midnight. Over the four years that I ran the operation, we were able to dramatically grow our sales (easy to do when you start at the bottom) because of hard work and a lot of perspiration. We sold the brands we distributed in May 2001 to a couple of competing wholesalers, and I reentered the corporate world.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From 2001 through 2009 I moved my way up through various companies by always outworking my counterparts. I not only worked harder, but I also studied (as I had been doing since 1991) all the industry information and business success literature I could get my hands on. I was a voracious reader of the likes of Tom Peters and Stephen Covey. I am convinced that my success over that period was due to the hours I dedicated towards working hard and studying equally hard. In 2009 I reported to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

In 2009 – during the worst recession of my lifetime – I left the safety of the corporate world and started my own business: part consulting and part developing products to make others more successful. Over the last two years I’ve routinely worked more than twelve hours a day, including most weekends; and my travel schedule, while not as grueling today as it was in 2009, still earns me 1st Class upgrades on nearly every flight. I feel like I’m finally bringing in enough money to help my sons (I have three of them now) get a better head start than I got; to help them to not run out of money while going to college; and to help them choose a career that’s fun for them, rather than taking the route I took and always having to work to pay the bills. My business is doing so well that I expect to start hiring fulltime workers in 2012 (provided the economic and tax situations make that a feasible decision). I have no debt (other than a house I’ve been trying to sell in Atlanta) and we’re putting away a good amount for our retirement.

If I hadn’t become the bad guy before now, then clearly it was my decision to chase the American Dream (and my ability to catch it) that made me the bad guy to the Wall Street protesters. Just so I can get this straight: It’s okay to chase the American Dream, but if you happen to catch it, be prepared to be asked to give it all back to those who weren’t willing to sacrifice as much as you were…

…

I wish I had some great wisdom to bestow on those protesters who think I’m the bad guy. I wish there were words to ease the minds of those who are (in effect) protesting the fact that my “greed” will someday create jobs for them – jobs that will allow them to chase the American Dream if they so desire.

Unfortunately for the protestors, the words they need to hear will not ease their minds. They should have heard these words years ago from parents who should have taught them about hard work and dedication to a job well done.

The words I have for the Occupy Wall Street crowd is simply this: Stop bellyaching; retract your outstretched paw looking for a handout; go home and shower; and (as I did my entire life) seek out any job you can get. Once you’re in that job, work harder and smarter than everyone else and good things should happen for you.

And if they don’t, then you start over.

Leadership Lessons from Microsoft and Xbox Live

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Imagine you are an executive of a large corporation that competes in a number of verticals and enjoys a monopoly or near monopoly in many of these. Your company generally produces great products that meet the needs of many consumers. In some verticals your products are even considered best in class. While some people may fear your monopoly power, others are grateful for the fine products you provide.

If this were the case, you would likely be on top of the world. In fact, your company would probably be in such great shape financially that your great products would beget great customer service that would beget huge barriers to entry (even if someone built a better or comparable mousetrap).

Now, imagine that even though you produce some great products, your company is generally hated and mistrusted by consumers; and that most consumers feel like your company is just a necessary evil, and that they would gladly drop you as soon as they are provided with a suitable alternative. How would you feel coming to work every day? Would you be okay earning a living in this environment? Would you even care what your customers thought so long as they remained customers? Would you do anything to change customer perceptions?

True leaders – those who come to work with a sense of humility, a desire to serve and an abundance mentality – would work diligently to change not only customer perceptions, but also the corporate realities that created those perceptions. It appears that there are no true leaders at Microsoft. (Or, at the very least, none that have had a positive impact on Microsoft’s reputation among the consuming public.)

Pigs Get Fed, but Hogs Get Slaughtered

There is a saying in business that pigs get fed, but hogs get slaughtered. The idea is that it’s okay to step up to the trough and eat – it’s even okay to get fat doing so – but when you take far more than your share – when you are perceived as someone who constantly takes and never gives – you become a hog and you will be slaughtered. Microsoft is a hog.

Microsoft operates an online gaming platform known as Xbox Live. Two of my sons subscribe to this platform as Gold Members, and one of them is set to renew his annual Gold Membership next month. This annual renewal generally runs just over $50 and is a relatively good value if use the service as much as he uses it. In fact, he uses the service so much that he sometimes receives Xbox gift cards for his birthday or at Christmas. These gift cards might be for points to use in Xbox Live or even an actual subscription for an Xbox Live Gold Membership.

We recently received a notice from Microsoft that his Xbox Live membership was set to expire next month and that his account (which I created and maintain for him because of his age) was set to auto renew the Live membership for $59. Let’s be perfectly clear here: I never authorized Microsoft to auto renew anything. I make it a habit to never set anything to automatically renew because of the hassle getting my money back when some subscription inadvertently renews automatically.

Time to “Uncheck” the Auto Renew Box

I assumed Microsoft was up to some shenanigans here, so I decided to log into my son’s account and deselect the auto renew setting on his Live membership. (In this instance, my son has a couple of 12-month Gold Membership cards that he can apply to his account, so there is no need for an auto renewal. However, I would have deselected this anyway to avoid hassles when those expired.)

To make a very long story somewhat short, it seems Microsoft (in all their technical expertise) cannot create a button on their website that allows someone to cancel the auto renew feature online. You must call Xbox Support (yes, physical make a telephone call) in order to do so.

I want to let that sink in.

In 2011, one of the most technologically advanced companies in the world cannot program their website to allow someone to deselect an auto-renewal setting for an online service.

Before you decide that I am an idiot for believing that this is a technology issue, let me say that the first of two Microsoft reps who had to help me turn off the automatic renewal told me that Microsoft “… used to allow people to cancel the auto renew online, but that it created issues and that it was easier for most people to just call in …”

I want to let that sink in.

Microsoft requires that you log into your Xbox account to get the link that leads you to the page that tells you to call their support team to cancel this feature, but they say it is easier for me to cancel this feature via phone. Stop peeing on me and telling me it’s raining.

The phone call to cancel this service took more than sixteen minutes and required that I provide the same secret account information twice (I was told this was for my own security “… to ensure your account is not being accessed fraudulently …”).

I want to let that sink in.

I can order anything I want from Xbox online in less than 30 seconds, but in order to cancel something, I need to jump through hoops on the phone with two representatives and provide answers to secret questions twice. I feel very protected. God forbid some hacker cancel a service and save me money.

How do Others Feel about this?

Not surprisingly, people absolutely hate Microsoft over this very issue. In reactions ranging from expletive-laden tirades on Xbox message boards to thoughtful videos intended to warn the public or alert the executives at Microsoft that something is amiss, there are literally thousands upon thousands of frustrated customers (like me) who understand when a company is stepping up to the trough way too many times.

Microsoft is not the first or the last company that will make it hard for their customers to cancel a service, but there is a particular “fuck you Mr. Customer” feeling about this move that leaves a very, very bad taste in a consumer’s mouth.

I cannot understand how this is a good move for Microsoft. Does this required phone call discourage enough people from removing the auto renewal feature that it is a net win for Microsoft? If that is the case, then Microsoft is taking advantage of consumers, in my opinion. What goes through the mind of someone who sets up or supports a policy like this? There is an inherent evil in this thinking that reminds me in a very small way of the Enron traders who made money by screwing the State of California.

It’s in the Math, Microsoft

I know the folks at Microsoft are smart, but I cannot believe the math even works in their favor on this one. Given the anger so many consumers show over this ill-conceived policy, I cannot imagine that Microsoft makes up for the potential lost revenue with incremental renewals. Additionally, in my case they had to pay two people (both I assumed were Americans by their accents and clear grasp of the English language) to assist me in cancelling the default auto renewal for this service.

Of course, even if the math works out in Microsoft’s favor in the short run, over the long run (where most leaders should have their greatest focus) there is no way the sheer hatred generated by this policy is a long-term win for the company.

(A small personal example of this: I am a fairly heavy user of search engine services and generally split my searches between Google and Microsoft’s Bing; with Google getting about 75% of my searches and Bing getting the rest. Because of the business I am in, I also happen to be someone who tends to click more on sponsored search results than most. In fact, I estimate that I view sponsored results an average of 50+ times per week. Just moving to Google for all of my searches will cost Microsoft over $300 per year in lost revenue from my clicks. Of course, this is too small to even be chump change to Microsoft, but this is just one Microsoft service I will eliminate. For all future home computer purchases, I will forego buying the latest version of Microsoft Office and opt for the comparable free alternatives available at OpenOffice.org. And so on, and so on…)

True Leaders Would Care

Microsoft’s executives – the guys and gals needing the leadership lessons – will never miss my revenue, of course. They will also likely never feel any sting from the lost revenue of the thousands or millions who will do as I do. They could, however, feel a slight pinch from any attorneys general who choose to sue them over this practice. (You see Microsoft: States take it very seriously when big companies try to scam their citizens. Just ask the 24 states who sued Time Magazine in 2006 for their auto-renewal policy; something the states considered a deceptive business practice.)

As I wrote earlier, true leaders – those who come to work with a sense of humility, a desire to serve and an abundance mentality – would work diligently to change not only customer perceptions, but also the corporate realities that created those perceptions. And true leaders would not need government action to do so… true leaders care enough to do what is right.

Besides the pigs and hogs saying, there is another saying I think is appropriate for Microsoft: The worst time to take advantage of someone is when you can. Microsoft should plaster their offices with signs reading exactly that; it just might make a few people hate them a little less.

 

Google Builds a Better Mousetrap and their Reward is an Antitrust Investigation?

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“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”

While this is actually a misquote of Ralph Waldo Emerson from the nineteenth century, the phrase is an affirmation of the power of innovation and a confirmation that hard work and great ideas will be rewarded by the marketplace.

Fast forward about 130 years or so and the saying might well be:

“Build a better mousetrap and the Feds will beat down your door.”

It seems that Google, because of their better mousetrap, is now the target of an FTC investigation, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal. And while there has been no official announcement as to what the probe will entail, experts are speculating that the investigation will examine whether Google searches unfairly point consumers to Google’s own network of services at the expense of the competition.

Oh, Say it Ain’t So!

How dare Google exploit their own search results in an attempt to steer people toward Google services! Why that would be like McDonald’s not offering their customers a Whopper; or the Apple store not offering HP laptops! How dare they, I say! As Americans, we cannot stand by a let a company like Google be rewarded for their better mousetrap; we must stand united with the Federal Trade Commission and allow them to dismantle any company that would dare profit from their own innovations.

In all seriousness, the free markets have (by a 2:1 margin) determined that Google’s search results are superior to what came before or since. Why should anyone expect Google to not profit from this innovation? Why should we expect Google to highlight their competitors in their search results? (Um, which by the way, they do.) Why should we expect Google to not build out a better suite of mousetraps (like Google Places) that make the Google results even more relevant to consumers?

The truth is that if Google does not deliver what consumers want, consumers will try other search engines and Google would quickly lose its market dominance. Google became Google because their results are relevant. (I truly cannot recall the last time I looked past the first page of Google results for anything.) Google understands better than anyone that they cannot break the trust of consumers or Google’s market share will evaporate just as quickly as it grew.

Who’s Next Up for the FTC?

I most often shop at Safeway for groceries and I noticed that the Safeway brands are ALWAYS priced lower than the national brands. This seems like Safeway is trying to steer me toward their brands so that they can (wait for it…) … make money! Moreover, Safeway decides what to put on sale and what not put on sale. This seems like an unfair practice, because my favorite brand of mustard is almost never on sale there. (Sacrilege.)

Is Safeway next up for the FTC? Not likely, but how far are we from an FTC antitrust investigation into Facebook? Does Facebook compete unfairly because they only sell Facebook ads on their website? Shouldn’t they allow others like Yahoo! or ReachLocal to sell their own ads and place them on Facebook? How about services on the horizon for Facebook that will have the sole intention of keeping people from leaving Facebook to do anything else on the Web? (I don’t even like Facebook that much, but they have every right to build a better mousetrap and provide additional Facebook services that will engage their user base – even if that means that users no longer visit other websites.)

As a business owner, I have no right to a share of Google’s traffic – even if my website provided a superior or less expensive alternative to whatever Google ranks above me. It is up to the markets to decide my fate (and Google’s); and the Feds should stay out of it.

 

Facebook is a Waste of Time for 99.9% of Businesses

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A little bit of knowledge is a very dangerous thing… especially in business.

With Facebook recently passing the 700 million worldwide user mark and basically two-thirds of all US online consumers counted as a part of this hoard, most business leaders have been scrambling for a couple of years to leverage this incredible base for financial gain. The problem for these business leaders is they don’t understand the first thing about social media… and they’ll be the first to admit that.

Most small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners and, frankly, C-level executives at large corporations are likely among the one-third of US online consumers without a personal Facebook account. They’re too busy, too old or too smart to have created one that they actually manage for themselves.

Of course, with about three quarters of a billion worldwide users and everyone shouting that businesses absolutely must have a Facebook presence, SMB owners and other business leaders feel in their hearts that they should do something… anything.

Enter the Consultants

The explosion of Social Media has brought with it an explosion of companies and consultants hell bent on helping businesses leverage social media… without regard to whether a business should even care about Facebook. A year ago, I wrote a column for Digital Dealer Magazine introducing what I called the Continuum of Social Media Engagement for Business (with the cool acronym C-SMEB) that details (for car dealers in this instance) what types of businesses should expect to interact in meaningful ways via social media with their raving fans.

The argument I made in that article – one that I still support today – is that the frequency of engagement is so low for some businesses (like car dealers and real estate brokers), that it is irrational to think they should be heavy players in social media engagement. (Leveraging social media as a conduit for managing contests or to spread coupons is fine, but low-frequency-of-engagement businesses should not expect to drive any real ROI from their customer interactions via social media.)

The bottom line for car dealers, and really 99.9% of all businesses, is that consumers don’t want to interact with you socially because there is nothing in it for them. For those of you really good at math, this means 1 in every 1,000 businesses might get some return on their investment of time, energy and money (none of which is infinite) that they spend toward social media interactions, but the other 999 should stick to proven and more traditional avenues for driving business.

Of course, none of this stops the consultants from descending on your business with their idiotic opinions and worthless (or worse) advice on how you should change everything about how you reach consumers, because “… if Facebook was a planet it would be the second most populous planet in our solar system!”


 

What is the Goal of your Business?

If you answered anything other than “make money for the owners,” then stop reading, because you either work for the government, run a non-profit, or you don’t understand what capitalism means. Regardless, you are not going to be swayed by my arguments here, as they apply to businesses trying to increase their customer base, revenue and profits via their marketing activities.

Clearly because it helps them secure high-dollar contracts from unsuspecting business owners, the vast majority of social media consultants lay truly asinine “measurements” on your lap and expect you to buy-in 100%. The most idiotic I’ve heard is “ROE” (Return On Engagement), which is supposed to give businesses a good feeling about what it is Facebook, FourSquare and others are delivering for them. The “return” in this case is not increases in revenues or profits, but rather increases in alleged Facebook “Likes” and Twitter followers. (I write “alleged” because no one really knows if anyone is actually reading the banal crap most consultant-aided businesses are posting or tweeting.)

One consultant recently wrote that a “great” measurement for ROE was a company’s “share of conversation” over their competitors. Hmm, I don’t think any businesses can really translate “share of conversation” to “share of market,” so this has little application in a true for-profit business. (Additionally, just because consumers are talking about you does not mean it’s a good thing. For example, I imagine that Rep. Anthony Weiner’s current “share of conversation” is greater than all other Congressmen combined, but that doesn’t make it a good thing.)

Bad advice that keeps getting repeated over and over to every industry…

Please don’t feed me the line of bullshit that businesses need to “truly engage their followers if they wish to blah, blah, blah.” People do not become your raving fans after “Liking” you on Facebook. They are fans in real life first, then they might also “Like” you on Facebook. (In other words, Facebook has nothing to do with making someone a raving fan – this is now and always has been your job.)

I’ve personally witnessed companies spending thousands of dollars and dozens of man-hours every month to perfect their Facebook image or grow their alleged fan base, yet completely ignore their free listings in Google Places, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local (which drive much more traffic to retail businesses than virtually anything else online – and these are totally free).

What’s worse is when businesses do post something on Facebook it’s usually a message like: “Happy Friday, what are your weekend plans?” Of course, these get no response, though that’s no surprise. These types of Facebook posts by businesses – such as the Chevrolet Dealer who posted this one – are downright embarrassing, and the self-titled “Social Media Experts” who encourage this waste of time are incompetent or worse.

It’s actually a little sad, because these businesses just don’t know any better; they’re only doing what their social media consultant is telling them. (Like the dunderhead who recently wrote that car dealers should post “2-3 times per day” on Facebook! Was this person serious? Is there any consumer out there who wants to get 2-3 messages each day in their Facebook news feed from some car dealer? I don’t know about you, but this sounds a lot like SPAM to me; and I just cannot imagine anyone wanting to read the drivel that might be delivered via this over-posting.)

So, how do you know if you’re the 1 or one of the 999? Hint: If your brand or business wasn’t being discussed nostalgically on message boards or enthusiast websites prior to the launch of Facebook, then be ready to run lots of contests and giveaways (which, could easily be run via email or your own website with equal success), because the consuming public doesn’t want to socialize with you. You’re just not that interesting.

 

Thank You Delta: An Open Thank You Letter to Delta Airlines from a Regular, Long-Time Delta Customer

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Thank you Delta Airlines for all that you do for today’s airline passenger. Whether our trips are for business or just for vacation, we owe you a hearty “thank you” for making us feel so special.
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Specifically:
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Thank you to the Delta ticket counter clerks who immediately act annoyed when they have to answer another dumb customer question. (Don’t these people read? Can’t they see this is not the line for dumb questions? Why don’t they just use the kiosk instead of bothering me?) It’s because of you that Grandma starts every trip with an upset stomach and explosive diarrhea.
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Thank you to the Delta gate agents who never seem to be able to be where they are actually needed. It’s because of you that all of the passengers have more time to get to know each other’s unique smells while we wait at the gate for you to move the jet bridge a whopping ten feet. (I think I’ve developed a bladder infection from sitting for long periods when I have to pee.)
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines logistics team who ensure that if your plane arrives ten minutes early, they’ll keep your gate blocked for another twenty minutes just to ensure they are able to maintain the proper balance in the universe. It’s because of you that we are all learning to count better. (Hmm, I count twenty empty Delta gates, why don’t they just park the plane in one of those?)
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines baggage handlers who ensure that no matter how long your layover at a Delta hub, you and your bag will not both make your connecting flight. It’s because of you that I have learned to love wearing the same underwear two days in a row. (The trick, you see, is to turn them inside out on the second day.)
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Thank you to the Delta Sky Club attendants, clerks and bartenders for shutting your club 10 minutes early. Because of this, I realize that Delta employees are more like Wendy’s employees than someone I should trust with my life.
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines pilots who are allegedly qualified to fly a jet plane, but cannot seem to properly operate a microphone or enunciate clearly enough for anyone on the plane to hear what they are saying. It is because of you that “uhhhh crackle, scratch, crackle, crackle, scratch, crackle, uhhhhh, scratch, crackle, scratch” makes me wonder whether we are crashing or just passing over the Grand Canyon.
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines flight attendants who, like a Macy’s cosmetics department sales clerk, have a unique and misplaced sense of superiority over everyone in coach. You are nothing more than glorified barmaids, and if you were really any good at it, you’d be slinging drinks at the Applebee’s in Omaha – and making more money. It’s because of you that our young people unfortunately look up to women who are too dumb to operate a circa-1995 video player that plays the onboard safety message.
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines baggage office clerks who make certain that the customer knows via your exaggerated hand gestures and head bob that “it’s not my fault that your bags are lost.” In fact, you do such a wonderful job of pointing fingers that I often leave your counter wondering what I could have done better to ensure my bags were on my flight before takeoff. (Shame on me for being such a passive flyer – I should have taken a more active role in moving my checked baggage from flight-to-flight.) It’s because of you that so many Americans are self-medicating.
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines procurement officers who work so very hard to get the absolute lowest bid on everything Delta offers today’s traveler. I want to give a very special thank you to the person on this team who buys the Made in China roll-on antiperspirant for the toiletries bags you distribute to those of us who were dumb enough to trust Delta with our bags. It’s because of you that I now know that “antiperspirant” actually means “hellfire rash-inducing highly carcinogenic lotion-like near-liquid substance” in Chinese.
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Thank you to the Delta Airlines marketing department. I assume it was your team who decided to allow the Google/GoGo/Delta Free WiFi program for the Holidays this year. Nothing sparks Holiday Cheer more than 159 people trying to login to a WiFi service that is barely capable of handling nine. What a great and productive experience you have given me (a paying GoGo customer), and what a terrific first impression you are making on those GoGo novices on the plane who also cannot access anything while in the air. It’s because of you that so many of us have cut back our travel plans for next year.
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And a special thank you to anyone who answers a phone at Delta Airlines. I know this is an incredibly short list, but you do a great job of both blaming me and calling me a liar simultaneously… sorry to have troubled you at 3:00 AM when I am unable to sleep because I am wondering where my bag that you made me pay $25 to check is… go back to playing solitaire. It’s because of you that Americans are now demanding companies outsource more of their call centers to Bangladesh.
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Finally, to the entire Delta family who seems to think that I am, as the regular customer, there only for them and not the other way around, I thank you for your patience with me – I am learning and will work to become a better customer. One who gladly forks over thousands of dollars every month to you while getting nothing but grief in return.

Stop Managing Activities and Start Seeing Results

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Keep Everyone Busy So You Can Kill Creativity

In the current economic climate (one that we’ve dubbed The Great Necession), it seems that companies are so concerned about productivity that they’re forgetting about innovation and creativity.

Whether we’re all trying to cover our asses as managers or whether we truly believe that micromanagement and piling on the busy work is the key to survival during The Great Necession, we have become obsessed with ensuring everyone still employed is constantly busy.

Understandably, many workers are doing their job and that of their laid off former coworkers; though even this doesn’t explain what we’ve observed over the past several months in workplaces across America. Too often to be a coincidence, we’ve watched in disbelief as more and more managers unnecessarily micromanage the activities of their charges in an effort to magically drive more output.

We’ve become so concerned with keeping everyone busy that we don’t leave time for our employees to be creative or creatively solve problems.

Manage the Results, Not the Activities

Often because they don’t fully understand the goals, junior managers fall into the trap of managing or micromanaging the activities of their subordinates. When desperate, even seasoned leaders will sometimes scramble to drive productivity through the micromanagement of daily activities.

The Great Necession has created more than a little desperation in the workplace.

The key to reaching your team’s goals as leaders is to clearly identify the goals and then monitor and manage the output of those contributing to the achieving of these goals. When you try to manage the inputs (the activities) instead of the outputs (the results), you most often find you’re driving fast, though in the wrong direction. Additionally, you cannot hold your subordinates accountable for the results that the overly-managed activities attain.

When you tell someone not only what to do, but also how to do it, you own the results – good or bad.

We Need Creative Problem Solving to Solve Our Current Problems

Left to their own accord, people will always find ways to do it cheaper, faster, better and safer. If you’re micromanaging their activities, you leave them no time to improve your products or processes; and thus, no time to help pull your company through the tough times.

As leaders, it rests on us to guide our companies through this economy. Your people are counting on you to do just that. It’s time to lead again: Resist the temptation and stop managing the activities and just manage the results. It’s easier. Of course, do this only if you want creative solutions to your company’s problems.

Young Managers Working in a Small Business: What Can They Do To Get Respect From Below and Above?

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For Young Managers, it’s not Just About Gaining the Respect of Subordinates

One of the most common questions from our readers concerns how they as younger managers can lead older subordinates – all while maintaining respect and sanity. Where we felt we could help, we’ve provided these youthful leaders advice and guidance as recently as last month when we responded to a question posed by a reader named Sourabh from Mumbai, IN. He was curious how he could convince a firm he was interviewing with to hire him despite his age. Prior to that, we’ve explored possibilities for other young leaders in responses dealing with young business owners, leading grizzled older subordinates, and also how a young manager can keep from being run over. Recently, a new reader found our site and posed her own questions after exploring our advice about how a first time manager can gain respect:

Hi, I stumbled across this site as I was searching for some help. … I am not only the manager but the youngest technician at my company. … I work in a small family owned salon where everyone is on top of each other all the time. Here are my concerns that I am hoping you will be able to help me with:

As I mentioned, I am the manager of the salon but unfortunately I don’t get any respect from some of the older employees as well as the employees that are around my age (25). It seems that no matter what I ask them to do or how I say it, as soon as my back is turned I am a “bitch” etc. My requests usually go ignored until the very few times I have yelled at my employees. Which trust me is not many. I have worked for people that were demeaning and constantly yelling and my goal when getting this position was to be assertive but fair and never intimidating. It is getting to the point where if things don’t change I might snap.

I know I am young but I put in more paid and unpaid hours into the salon than any other employee. I work really hard to make us the thriving spa we are becoming and it frustrates me when people cannot reciprocate. I spend the majority of my time (when I am not with my own clients) ordering the supplies that the techs need, coming up with marketing ideas to make their books more solid, building our website, etc. But all I get back is arguments over why they have to do this special for the price I gave them when they want to charge more, or complaints when things they need aren’t ordered (they usually don’t tell me what they need I have to figure it out myself).


I am becoming resentful because I feel like I am constantly doing for them with no respect being given back to me. With the employees that are my age I am just blatantly ignored or told I am being a bitch. But when everyone wants something i.e. to leave early or come in late the next day all the sudden they are calling me “Miss Manager…”

How do I get the respect I not only desire but deserve?

My boss is way too nice to everyone. It really is out of control. I love her and consider her a great friend but at the same time my role as manager has been blurred by her as well. Sometimes I feel like I am not the manager just her personal assistant. She doesn’t want me to reprimand employees when it needs to happen.

How do I establish with her what my role as manager is?

I have asked her this question before with no real answer. I don’t think it’s fair for me to be telling the staff what to do but unable to say anything when things are not getting done. It would be one thing if she dealt with the issues but she is way too nice for that. I get upset because the employees take advantage of her and I don’t like watching that happen without being able to do anything about it.

Please help!!! – MM, USA

Ms. MM, may we call you M? Our apologies on the length of time it took to effort a response, but your questions were so specific and your situation so intriguing that we wanted to ensure we got this one right. (Not that we don’t try to answer all questions correctly, it’s just that you so completely described your issues that we felt compelled to reciprocate just as completely.)

We’ll tackle your issues and questions one at a time, and in the order you presented them…

I work in a small family owned salon where everyone is on top of each other all the time.

It’s always easier to manage large than it is to manage small. We often laugh when we hear about the tremendous “leadership” provided by this Fortune 500 CEO or that one – when you’re armed with a seemingly unlimited budget, surrounded by Yale and Harvard MBAs and staffed with more Administrative Assistants than Congress, you’re going to have very little trouble executing – provided, of course, that you have a brain, a plan and your ego in check.

Contrast this to a young manager trying to get the most from a group of high school graduates and having to do all the heavy lifting herself. It’s clearly easier to manage large and we feel your pain, MM.

It seems that no matter what I ask them to do or how I say it, as soon as my back is turned I am a “bitch” etc. My requests usually go ignored until the very few times I have yelled at my employees.

On the surface, it seems to us that there is no consequence for either insubordination or inaction by the employees. People yell when they are out of options, and if there were consequences at your workplace, you would certainly never have to yell.

Our advice here is two-fold. First, never yell again. When you lose your cool with someone you are telling the world that you are not in control and that you can be controlled by others. In your case, you are ceding your power to your employees and they are likely getting a big laugh at your expense. Second, it’s time to sit down with the owner and create your version of an operations manual. This manual need not be fancy, but it must detail the policies and procedures for the company, and especially the consequences for poor behavior. (Of course, no business rules are worthwhile if they’re not enforced.)

I work really hard to make us the thriving spa we are becoming and it frustrates me when people cannot reciprocate. I spend the majority of my time (when I am not with my own clients) ordering the supplies that the techs need, coming up with marketing ideas to make their books more solid, building our website, etc. But all I get back is arguments…

This piece of advice is probably going to seem odd, but it might be time to empower this team to make many of their own decisions. Where possible, ask the techs to carry some of the weight. For example, if you like to order supplies on Fridays, then create and distribute a simple Supply Order Form to everyone on Wednesday, and ask them to tell you what they need by Thursday night. Those who fail to order the proper quantities and run out could be docked the express shipping charges or the retail price difference required to get their supplies in on time.

For the marketing decisions, encourage all complainers to provide you with what they would like to see next month. Do this in a non-confrontational, sincere manner in front of everyone, and be sure to give serious thought to their ideas. If you choose to implement one of their marketing schemes, be sure to let everyone know before, during and after the promotion that the idea came from so-and-so by thanking them regularly. They will likely take ownership and do everything in their power to make sure it is a success.

But when everyone wants something i.e. to leave early or come in late the next day all the sudden they are calling me “Miss Manager…”

There’s a Latin term that applies to this situation, M: Quid pro quo. Literally, this means “something for something,” and in business it means “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Each time one of your charges is looking for a special favor, you have a golden opportunity to do some coaching.

If the employee is the loyal, hardworking sort, then you grant their favor (when possible) and you reinforce their good behavior by saying something like “I have no problem letting someone who accomplishes so much go home early now and then.”

When the person requesting the favor is someone who has made your life miserable, you should take time to explain some of your needs before deciding whether or not to grant their request. For example, you might say something like “I appreciate that you would like to arrive late tomorrow, though I think you’d agree that allowing special treatment to someone who rarely cleans up their own work station sends a bad signal to the rest of the team. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”

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How do I get the respect I not only desire but deserve?

This, M, might be the real question. Certainly, we feel that if you’re able to incorporate the advice we’ve provided so far, you will begin to build respect with your team. Of course, respect is a lot like love: The more you give, the more you get.

Make a pact with yourself to begin each day by respecting your team. This means listening to their ideas (especially the hair-brained ones), and soliciting their opinions about the company’s direction on issues that are important to them (even if you don’t care). As you begin to respect them, they will (eventually) begin to respect you.

While this is a great first step, the behavior of your team could very well be only a symptom of the real problem. From what we can gather from your comments, the underlying problem you face likely has more to do with your relationship with the owner than it does your relationship with your team.

The Real Question is How to Gain the Owner’s Respect

Let’s get some facts about someone who owns their own company on the table: Right or wrong, the owner is the boss. The goal of every company is to make money for the owner. If the owner is crazy and wants you to waste money, for example, you have two choices: Get another job or waste the money. It’s not passive aggressive behavior to give the owner what they want – even if it’s not in their best interest. This is not to say that you shouldn’t attempt to do what’s right; though in the end the owner is the owner and you are just an employee. If the owner wants to allow people to take advantage of her, that is her prerogative (and not your concern). Like the customer, the owner is not always right, but they are always the owner.

M, your issues may appear like they start and end with your subordinates, but in fact, they seem to be caused by the company owner. In our opinion, you are suffering from a lack of respect for your leadership from your boss; and this lack of respect transfers onto your fellow employees. Now, before you march into her office and demand some R-E-S-P-E-C-T, you need to understand that the owner’s behavior is consistent with someone who wants to please everyone. In her effort to please her employees, she is unwittingly minimizing your authority.

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How do I establish with her what my role as manager is?

While the owner certainly thinks you’re qualified, she has likely been continually undercutting you since the day you were promoted – and all of this undermining was occurring without her knowledge. She possibly has no idea what she’s doing, and that’s why we think it might be time to have a very serious, though friendly, meeting with her.

We suggest you seek the guidance of others before acting, though our advice is to sit down with the owner at an offsite location (to minimize distractions) and to ask her a few pointed questions. In a concerned, friendly tone, you may want to ask her:

  • Do you value me as a leader?
  • Do you believe I possess the necessary skills to manage the team?
  • Do you think I am capable of growing the business?
  • What are your expectations of my roles and responsibilities?
  • What are your goals for the business and how do you see my role in that?

Based on her answers to these questions, you should know where you stand. If the meeting is going well, you may want to finish with a simple statement about how much you love working for her, how much you respect her, but how you sometimes believe her leadership style is diminishing your effectiveness as a manager. Explain to her that in order for there to be rules, there must be consequences. Without consequences, or her backing, you will not have the respect of the employees.

Not surprisingly, once the owner begins to respect your leadership, so will the employees. Unfortunately, this reverse is also true (as you discover every day). On the bright side, if your boss chooses to keep the status quo, you can mimic her style and become “too nice” in an effort to win over your charges. Because it’s always easier to change your style from “strict” to “relaxed” than the other way around, you stand a good chance of still becoming a semi-effective leader even without your boss’ respect.