Stop the Stupid Stuff’ In Your Business

We live in a world of change. The shift is happening! Competition is coming from all over the world, which means many American businesses are struggling. Many decisions are made that go against good business sense as well as building customer loyalty. Marketing for most organizations is usually an exercise in figuring out what to do to get current or potential customers to spend more dollars. I suggest that instead of thinking about what to do, you figure out what to stop doing. In other words, stop doing "stupid things". Not doing stupid things means finding out what keeps customers from spending money with you and ensuring that action or reaction never happens again. Here is an example of what I call "stupid stuff". Some airlines now want to charge a fee to customers who want to speak to a live agent. This is stupid in two ways. First, they decided to penalize customers who want to continue to receive what they have always received - individual attention. Worse, they did it by saying they would charge more for this previously standard level of service. How many customers will come because of this decision? I know of at least one. There are subtler, but no less harmful, follies that businesses need to stop doing. Take the new Wheaties boxes for example. General Mills recently introduced Wheaties boxes featuring photos of US Olympic gold medalists. One was missing: Paul Hamm. Why? General Mills responded to my query: "Selecting a Wheaties champion has never been an easy task, especially when we have witnessed so many outstanding performances from so many championship athletes. But it's just not possible to honor every champion on a Wheaties box". So are they leaving out the first American to win an Olympic all-around championship in one of the sport's greatest comebacks? His return from a catastrophic fall to a near-perfect high-bar routine won almost universal praise, and most of us defined the word ``champion.'' But controversy ensued. As most of you know, a South Korean gymnast claimed that a scoring error cost him the gold and appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court recently ruled that Hamm can claim the gold medal to keep. Even though the medal was in question, it wasn't because of anything Hamm did or didn't do. Still, General Mills chose to do the "safe" thing. But by being safe and leaving Hamm out, Wheaties is alienating millions of customers who don't see him as controversial but as a hero, while losing customers. Now that's "stupid". So start quitting! Stop saying "No" and start using the word "Yes". Stop charging for services that most of us think are free. Find out what annoys, discourages, worries, or confuses your customers and stop it. Back-of-the-envelope planning will not get you there, you should now realize that it is essential to have a business plan; it can be the difference between success and that dreaded "f" word - failure! It's all about understanding the importance of planning ahead. Take the time to put your thoughts down on paper in a structured and logical way. It will pay dividends, both by getting you taken seriously by the bank and by securing the future of your business.