The Accountants and Lawyers are Running the Show

It is hard to fathom how many decisions in business are made based on what the accountants and lawyers dictate. I recently experienced yet another situation where a poor business decision was driven by an accounting or legal principle.

Two years ago we ordered 15 subscription licenses from salesforce.com, a CRM company. We had anticipated that the business was going to grow and that we would use those licenses. It became apparent that our business was not going to grow and that we would not use those licenses. After a year and a half of paying for 15 subscription licenses, while using less than five, I refused to continue to overpay. The idea of the subscription is that you pay for what you use. I had used salesforce.com in multiple other businesses and our businesses had generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to that company. Yet the answer I got when asking for relief was essentially "tough". I ordered 15, I would pay for 15.  As an accountant, I am familiar with the fact that revenue recognition precedes good customer relationships. As a former head of sales in a public company, I saw firsthand how the pressure of recognizing revenue came oftentimes at the expense of good business. I told salesforce.com I would no longer do business with them and they now had lost a customer for life because of their shortsightedness.

I really get tired of seeing commercials with all of the legal gibberish that basically means nothing. It is solely a CYA maneuver. How much money and effort are wasted in good customer decisions because of CYA accounting and legal stuff? My goodness, half of drug commercials is telling you all about the side effects and not about what it does for you. Does anybody ever read a software subscription license, let alone understand it? It seems to only get worse every year.  Our country could do so much better if we focused on customers and service and a little less on accounting and legal.  Spoken by a reformed accountant.

Apple Ecstasy

I am a proud owner of an iPhone.  I am amazed at this device.  It does everything in one device that previously would have required multiple devices.  I have my music, my book abstracts, my bible and commentaries, a GPS, home movies, etc., etc.  However, occasionally things go wrong and you have to make an appointment at the Genius Bar.  They Genius Bar is located at every Apple Store. The Genius Bar is the technical group that can fix your problem with your Apple product.

When you walk into an Apple store your confronted by all sorts of people. There are the runners, who make sure that you are guided to where you need to go but do not deviate from where you shouldn't go. There are the browsers who are always looking at the latest and greatest products in the Apple store. There are always people in the Apple Store and it always feels like it's an event when you go in. And that is intentional.  They want to make it feel like there is always an event going on in an Apple Store. I remember going to the annual radiological tradeshow in Chicago and GE putting all sorts of staffers around the booth to make it look like they were really busy and there really was an event going on. Same kind of thing in an Apple Store.

The folks in the Genius Bar are usually young and kind of Hip. That is got to be an awesome job for a young techie. Basically you get the play all day long. Most times the techies in the Genius Bar are able to solve the problem. But even if they can't you feel like you just came from an event and therefore did not waste your time.

When Technology Violates

I first heard this story on my WSJ This Morning Podcast.  Take a look!

Where was the mistakes made?

• The trucks were a classic case of cost cutting for technology sake.  Never let technology drive the answer in a vacuum. 
• Toledo decision makers did not listen to or observe their customers.  The one-size fits all cans did not fit the needs of the residents.  It cut down on the service and the elderly could not even manage the new cans.
• The city did not contemplate the residual costs associated with the program, i.e. the call center, the additional supervision, etc.
• There was no test marketing of the concept. No risk reduction therefore no fall back.
• No educational transition to residents.

All Clubbed Out

It seems like every institution wants you to join their frequent buyer club.  It is great marketing tool.  If they can suck you in to their system, they can keep plying you with offers that will continuously drive you to their store.  A few months back, I got introduced to the My Panera program.  So I now scan my little My Panera card every time I go in (which is frequent – remember this post?)  First few times you go in, you are greeted with “Mr. Quigg, you have a dollar off your coffee” or “Mr. Quigg, you have earned a free pastry this time”.  I certainly found myself using any excuse to go into Panera and use my newfound prestige. 

However, frequent buyer clubs have gone too far.  I was on my way home from work one evening this week and I knew I was on my own for dinner because Debsue was knitting that evening. I should have just gone home but I had a hankering for junk food (a too frequent occurrence) so after I pumped gas, I went into the gas convenient store and got a few slices of greasy pepperoni pizza.  The attendant asked me if I wanted a frequent pizza buyers card.  You can’t be serious, I asked.  If I get a frequent pizza buyer card from a BP gas store, either something is wrong with me or I need to seriously think about my life choices.  I mean this is a once in a lifetime experience – I may never buy pizza from a gas place twice in my life, let alone be a frequent connoisseur.  People pump gas, then put their hands on those things (including me). 

I maintain my selectivity on how much “clubbing” I am going to do.  I do have my dignity you know.