Thursday, July 19, 2007

If You Sell Bubbletea...

Too often many small businesses create loyalty cards to create, well "loyal" customers. This can be done in a variety of ways with a wide range of "strings" attached.

I currently visited my local Bubbletea shop "Sweat Dreams" and I noticed that you don't get a stamp on your "loyalty card" if you order a small size; stamps only apply to large drinks.

Nowhere is this "string" idea told or communicated to the customer. It's only after you make your purchase is the bad news told to you.

Loyalty is created when everyone has an equal opportunity to be treated unique (in this case free bubble tea after X amount of purchases). By creating a double standard or encouraging people to pay more for a size they don't want, you are effectively killing many opportunities for loyalty.

Keeping strings to a minimum or better yet - not hiding them from the customer is just plain good ethical marketing.

Bad ideas spread much faster than good ones.

How are you ensuring that the good ideas are spreading in your organization?

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Federal Elections

Political parties rarely (if ever) win because of their international agenda. Rather it's the domestic agenda that really brings the voters to mark an X beside your name.

Why is that you might ask?

Because space and time make it less tangible for the voter and the voter likes tangible items. They want to see things that they can see and touch without having to wait. This is why items like the GST cut are so popular, as the voter sees the immediate savings. Yes I know what your thinking GST cuts aren't the way to go when income taxes are still too high, but how many times do you file your taxes a year? Oh yeah, thats right, only once. How many times do you go buy items at the store with your disposable income? A lot more times than you file your taxes!

So whats a political party to do?

Especially since one needs to demonstrate leadership on the international stage in order to gain power. The answer: campaign about domestic issues, and less about international issues, ensuring a generalized plan for your international platform. Canadians will remember what you promised domestically, and less internationally.

Regardless of the savings and benefit, space and time matter. A LOT

If Your Conrad Black

First stop should be the prestigious Nordstrom to pick up some blush to replace all of the blood that has disappeared from his pale face.

This was an extraordinary case with some pundits claiming this as the trial of the century. It is interesting to note that the public at large was not hurt due to Mr. Black, but rather private shareholders. Yet he himself is facing a long prison term similar to other disgraced corporate figures that not only robbed the piggy bank but stole from mom and pop's pension.

I do not believe Conrad, received a fair trail. The whole notion that the prosecution gets the last word through a final rebuttal of the defense's closing statement, with the idea that they must sit 2-3 times further away from the jury, provides a strategic advantage to the prosecution. Patrick Fitzgerald's assertion that the prosecution deserves this due to the burden of proof being higher for the state, means that they forget that some one's liberty is at stake, and this trial is the result of their (the Government's) actions. Not being able (or willing) to follow the same rules as the defense is indicative of a weak prosecution case, and should raise a reasonable doubt in anyone's mind.

Understand that trial by juries are based on emotion and senses rather than on logic and rationale. This is exactly why the whole idea of corporate perks were constantly thrown on the table for the jury to engulf in. Perks that these low incomers will never ever in their lifetime enjoy, is a classic yield of resentment at its best.

No matter how hard one tries to be logical and rational, they will fail in that act, not because of their effort or intelligence, but due to the simple fact that they are.......(wait for it) a human being. If your a child sex offender your better off with a judge who must employ more logic and rational (otherwise appeals become more frequent) than a jury of mothers of father (who do not have to explain their rationale). In Black''s case the jurors present were not truly reflective of his peers as the social/income disparity was so great, I can't help but wonder if this had anything to do with his conviction.

With that said, this case came down to credibility. Many of the star witness (Radler and the Audit Committee) were completely discredited, with it coming down to who do you believe? The government who wants to bask in the limelight of fighting for the little guy (in this case the shareholders) or the pompous arrogant Black who had made his lifetime story based on cheating (selling exams at Upper Canada college) to deceitfulness (getting the old ladies to sign away their inheritances) to deviance (defying a court order) to another court judge ruling that Black's credibility is as good as the bully in the schoolyard.

It is interesting to note that when talking to any legal scholar or prominent lawyer on this case, there is no consensus of opinion. Just as many thought he would be found guilty, as innocent, and just as many thought Kipanis would walk free, instead of heading to the jail cell.

As you can see Conrad Black has come full circle - From getting expelled out of private school, to using other people's money to fund his empire, to becoming a media magnate, to revoking his Canadian citizenship. to the House of Lords, to his decline and criminal charges. He has led a colourful life that is nothing short of remarkable, and has led to his reputation being shredded into confetti.

It is interesting to note that he has held many anti-Canadian views and seen as sorts, as an American apologist whereby Canada should be absorbed into the U.S. Now he conveniently wants his Canadian Citizenship back and wants nothing to do with the U.S., and according to his lawyers wants to stay in Canada awaiting his sentencing hearing. It remains to be seen though as he is a British citizen if he will be allowed to serve his sentence there instead of in America. There is no doubt he will not be barred from Canadian Citizenship due his conviction. This is Poetic Justice at it's best.

I don't believe Black is done with his life, where he'll just go sit in some Jail cell and start knitting. He is known for his defiance and going against the grain of society and therefore we can expect to hear more from him in the future. Whether this be in new publishing's or in the appeal courts, he is truly the anti-thesis of boring.

Friday, July 13, 2007

On Firing Your Customers

Customers fall into two general camps: angels and devils. Angel customers are people who apologize for wasting the organization's time when they call in, or better yet don't complain. They pay their bills on time, and have nothing but good things to say about their provider.

Devils on the other hand look for any crass opportunity to seize upon. They will call up demanding credits, questionable refunds, and have no problem wasting the organization's time. They have an axe to grind and are looking out for any new potential victim, where exploit their unfair tactics.

Most people fall somewhere between these two extremes. Cause for concern becomes an issue when one moves from one end of the spectrum to the other (especially Angel to Devil), where one should evaluate getting rid of the "Devils".

Recently Sprint has announced the firing of a 1000 or so customers off their cell phone system, due to excessive inquiries and demands.

So whats the idea here?

I guess Spring thought they (the bad customers) were were costing more money than they were actually worth. Seth Godin's article on Sprints flawed logic is bang on, where the 1000 customers complaining too much is a symptom of an even bigger problem.

What companies need to be worried about is moving customers from being Angels to Devils due to their psychopathic/neglectful customer service.

The story that those 1000 "devil" customers had been telling about Sprint, all of a sudden just got that much bigger.