Skip to main content

Almost Right


Trying to think about customers as if they were family is a popular concept. Hugh McLeod asserts that if someone spoke to you like advertising did, you would "punch them in the face". Jim Logan disagrees. Jim maintains that customer service and advertising tells you what you want to hear, just like family. They are both almost right.

Advertising tells you what you want to hear, but they have yet to become a part of the family. Advertising is just some guy on a first date with your daughter. You have to pay attention as long as it is present in your life. Eventually, if it goes on long enough, you may even have to make a decision. Either way, you were not the one looking for it, but it may or may not solve a problem you may or may not have with a perspective with which you may or may not agree. Maybe by then, your daughter, and her entire family, is engaged.

A functional family will tell you the truth. From time to time, everyone has a family member who exuberantly supports you because she believes in you. Not because you are right, but because she has faith in you. With that exception, a family member should tell you the truth. If a family member tells you what you want to hear to appease you, they are doing you a disservice. The same goes for your customers. Be honest, be truthful, and they will be, too. And everyone lives happily ever after.

Easier said than done.


Popular posts from this blog

List Of Convenient Excuses To Avoid Change

1. "That will never work." 2. "That said, the labor laws make it difficult for us to do a lot of the suggestions you put out. And we do live in a lawsuit oriented society." 3. "Can you show me some research that demonstrates that this will work?" 4. "Well, if you had some real-world experience, then you would understand." 5. "I don't think our customers will go for that, and without them we'd never be able to afford to try this." 6. "It's fantastic, but the salesforce won't like it." 7. "The salesforce is willing to give it a try, but [insert major retailer/corporation/partner here] won't stock it." 8. "There are government regulations and this won't be permitted." 9. "Well, this might work for other people, but I think we'll stick with what we've got." 10. "Our team doesn't have the technical chops to do this." 11. "Maybe in the next b...
Read more

Recommended Reading

I support literacy (no revelation there, not that many are against it) and would like to share some good books with points of view about the world at large. The first in the series is... Dry by Augusten Burrows. A truly witty, and thus endearingly honest, memoir of an advertising guru's journey into and through sobriety, friendship, and mortality. It seems real enough to pass for autobiographical .
Read more

Mold For Your Fruit

Every so often, a trend pops out at you. It may even seem downright unavoidable. The train of thought runs you over before you have a chance to think about it. This week has revealed such a happening. Here are three slightly scary examples of the progressing passion for premier produce! Vegiforms are plastic molds inside of which fruits or vegetables are grown. As they grow, the fruits or vegetables are pressed against the mold and when they are removed, out comes an eggplant elf, or perhaps a cucumber clown. Disney , through its Imagination Farms division, is launching the Disney Garden brand of produce. More or less like any other fresh, Florida-grown consumables but with stickers of beloved Disney characters plastered all over. They quote a grandmother who believes that she will be able to have her granddaughter shiver with the same level of enthusiasm over the Disney-laced produce as the young girl does over hot chocolate and candy. Finally, there is the CBS partnership wi...
Read more