You’ll also find this post at The Pulse

Here’s that case study I promised.

It’s a medical clinic that has everything going for it.

Yet they can’t get a single full-time general practitioner (GP) doctor to join them.

They’ve run press ads till they’re blue in the face, with zero effect.

That’s why I won’t write them another one.

So what CAN they do?

To find out, we must play: Fortunately Unfortunately!

Fortunately

The clinic has smart management, modern facilities and enlightened practices (they don’t serve Valium in Pez dispensers).

Unfortunately

It’s in Coburg. And though this former working-class Melbourne suburb is rapidly evolving, distant GPs don’t know it.

Fortunately

The clinic has run several attractive, well-written and cripplingly expensive job ads in top national medical magazines.

Unfortunately

The ads always appear at the back of these mags, eclipsed by all the other ads from all the other clinics.

Worse, passive job seekers (GPs happy in their current role) don’t even bother with this section.

Fortunately

The clinic’s GPs keep 70% of everything they bill. This is high by industry standards. (The other 30% covers rent, equipment, consumables and so on.) All a GP need do is turn up and earn.

Unfortunately

The clinic bulk bills. While this makes health easier and cheaper for all, it carries massive stigma for ‘private’ GPs who don’t do it.

Fortunately

The clinic has low debt, loyal patients, growing revenue and big plans.

It’s perfectly positioned to expand in and beyond its current site.

Unfortunately

They can’t move a muscle without more staff.

GPs are rare, fussy and in HOT demand.

Happy GPs are impossible to dislodge.

Unhappy GPs can be more trouble than they’re worth.

What to do?

Here’s what I said at the briefing session:

‘First, do no (more) harm. Forget the ads.

Instead, get into the front of medical magazines.

How? By writing articles that editors and readers will love.

Demonstrate your expertise and passion.

Subtly build your brand.

Become an industry thought leader.

Instead of chasing GPs, show how your clinic is genuinely superior to others.

Eventually, GPs will come to you.

And it won’t cost you a cent.’

Second opinion

The team liked the cut of my jib; hence this post.

But what do YOU reckon?

Should the clinic:

• Keep flogging a dead horse?
• Ditch their grand vision and go private?
• Follow my advice.
• Follow your advice (describe).

The situation is critical.

BP is 260 over 12.

We’re losing them …

It’s a … CODE

YOU!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Where have all the comments gone?

We love hearing what you have to say, and stories you might have, so fear not, you’re still able to comment!  We’ve moved the party over to our new place, The Pulse.  Come and join the conversation on this post here.

True love at last?

Thank you for reading Part 1. (If you haven’t, here it is.)

So there I was, clutching my mouse mat with anticipation of my bank’s direct message (DM).

Sure enough, it came through, requesting my contact number.

I replied that, since all prior phone conversations had failed, I’d rather communicate by email.

My bank agreed, so I sent my email address.

Minutes later, my phone rang.

Cold Call

It was my bank:

Hi, Paul it’s Con* here. I understand you’d like to talk about your home loans?

Hi, Con. Did you just get referred to me by your Twitter colleague?

Yes. Now, how can I help you?

Did your Twitter colleague not tell you I wanted to do this via email?

It’s my preference to do it by phone, Paul. Now, before we start: this call may be recorded for training purposes …

Con, I don’t want to do this by phone.

No worries, Paul; what’s a good time to call you back?

I got off the phone and DMed my bank. Having since deleted our DMs in frustration. it went something like this:

Nice. I ask politely to be emailed and I get another phone call!

I’m so sorry! I specifically requested them not to call you.

I appreciate your efforts, and I realise big systems can thwart good intentions. But I feel I’m flogging a dead horse here.

I’m still really keen to help you.

Thank you, but never mind. It’s futile. I’ve wasted enough time on this exercise.

In a fit of pique, I then un-followed my bank, making it impossible for them to DM me. I scanned the public Twitter domain (where we’d met) to see if they’d try a shout out, but they didn’t.

Write Down

The next day, after writing Part 1 of this story, I realised my un-follow was churlish.

I was also possibly doing myself out of a (happy?) ending.

So I re-followed my bank. They were still following me, so my next DM got through (verbatim):

Me again. Now that I’ve written this up http://bit.ly/oJZEXh I realise I need to give you 1 more chance to help me via email …

… I’ll be writing Part 2 on Monday. How the story ends is up to you. Please, no more phone calls!

My bank DMed:

Hi Paul, I’ve escalated this & you’ll receive an email from our team tmrw as we’re still really keen to help

With my mouse mat now chewed to pulp, the email finally arrived:

Hi Paul,

I hope you are well.

Barry* from the Twitter team has asked if I can help you with your Home Loan enquiries.

Firstly, please allow me to apologise that a call was made to you despite your request for an email only. I assure you our intention was to provide you with a high level of service it was not to cause you any frustration.

To help me get the information you are after regarding interest rates can I ask that you explain what you are after in terms of your lending.

For example the Line of Credit is not actually a product offered by SomeBank* so we can not offer a comparison. However perhaps if we change it to variable rate loan we maybe able to offer something on the interest rate?

Just so you know I have already been in touch with your banker regarding your loans so we can see what we can do for you, he just wants a little background information so he can respond appropriately. Also we will communicate as much as possible via email however there maybe times where it is best to chat via the phone.

I look forward to your email and seeing what we can do for you.

Sheryl*

Specialised Case Manager

Special Treatment

I certainly felt like a specialised case. But would there be management? I emailed:

Hi, Sheryl.

Many thanks for your email.

Thanks also for contacting my banker. (Who is he, by the way, and where?)

This is my current situation:

LOC:               6.97%

HOME:           7.17%

Yet I’m seeing rates as low as 6.69% from several institutions.

I consider myself a stable and reliable client. (Please correct me if I’m wrong!)

A glance at my accounts will show my financial situation is steadily improving.

I’d like to forge a long-term partnership with you guys so that when I’m black in the black, you can handle my investments.

I’d therefore like my two rates to reflect what the market is offering.

I’d also like a break on my annual and monthly fees.

Most of all, I’d like to achieve a positive result without any more faffing around.

I’d like you to say what you can do, rather than what (and why) you can’t.

If you can’t do anything for me, that’s cool. Just say, ‘SORRY PAUL, NO CAN DO!’ and I’ll move on.

I’ve invested so much time trying to communicate with you guys, I’m very, very close to the point where it’s just not worth the effort.

In trying to save less than $2000 per year, we’re really not talking sheep stations.

I could’ve (should’ve!) earned that much in the time I’ve invested in this process.

I’m trying to be reasonable, Sheryl; but if you disagree, we should probably just call it quits.

I don’t want to waste your time too.

Best regards, thanks again and good luck!

P.

Sheryl emailed:

Hi Paul,

Thanks for a prompt reply.

I have included your banker Bert* into this email so you can both have some fruitful conversations about your loans.

Bert will be able to assist you and take a look at your profile and see what we can do.

Dont worry I will be here in the background to make sure you are taken care of.

Have a great weekend.

This was better. I felt like I’d made progress.

Maybe, just maybe, I would have a great weekend.

…

Then I heard from Bert.

<<<<<<    INTERMISSION 2!     >>>>>>

Egad! We’re still not done!

Will Bert save the day or sink the fleet?

Will professional passion trump passive aggression?

For the answers to these and other mind-snapping questions, don’t miss the (final?!) gripping episode of: A Fool & His Money, Part 3!

Meanwhile I warmly welcome your ideas, observations and stories.

 * Not his/her/it/their real names.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Where have all the comments gone?

We love hearing what you have to say, and stories you might have, so fear not, you’re still able to comment!  We’ve moved the party over to our new place, The Pulse.  Come and join the conversation on this post here.

You’ll also find this post at The Pulse

Beware the cheating heart.

I’ve been reading with increasing frequency that it’s a fabulous time to negotiate a better interest rate with your lender.

In a world first, Choice has gone one step further by grouping borrowers for a better deal.

Their target was 1000 people prepared to look at switching loans.

In the first three days, they clocked 10,000.

Very interesting.

Back Story

I’m one of those morons who plays by the rules and believes what people say.

Having exhausted traditional communication channels, I took up my bank’s offer to chat via online banking.

After several weeks and follow ups, I got three phone calls from three bank staff in one day.

They began by saying they were recording me for training purposes.

I replied that I was recording them for blogging purposes.

They then said that:

1. The lending market had indeed become more competitive.
2. I was a valuable customer that they wanted to keep.
3. To this end, they wanted to do the best they could for me.

I thanked them and said what I wanted: the same interest rate that their online subsidiary bank was offering, i.e. a 0.48% reduction that’d save me $2000 per year in interest.

They said that because their online subsidiary was run by IT staff – not banking staff – I wouldn’t get the same service.

I replied that, having enjoyed no service for many years, I wouldn’t miss it.

Then they said their subsidiary wasn’t for business owners like me.

I said that if they looked after me now, I’d stay with them and let them handle my investments in the future.

They said they’d get back to me.

…

They didn’t.

Gloves Off

Finally, I got fed up and tweeted:

My bank’s ‘Mortgage Retention Team’ isn’t even retenting my phone calls. Could be time for http://bit.ly/nzGKb8

Then I signed up and tweeted:

Right. I’m in. Who’s with me? http://www.choice.com.au/consumer-action/money/big-bank-switch/choice-big-bank-switch.aspx

Minutes later, my bank tweeted:

Hi Paul, saw your tweet – can I help from here? Pls follow so we can DM* & I’ll have our team follow up for you, thanks!

This was new. My bank must’ve had a keyword watching brief. I was impressed, but wary. Deciding to test their mettle, I tweeted:

Nice to hear from you! Back stories @ http://bit.ly/YN1z2 & http://bit.ly/aw6baO Still interested? Or am I a too-hard-basket case?

As we were chatting in the public domain, with feeds to my 16000 Twitter followers, I thought that’d be the end of it. But the bank replied:

Yes, I’m still interested & want to see how I can help – let’s DM & I’ll escalate to our team

I stood on the brink.

Phone calls had failed.

Online banking messages had failed.

Could social media be my salvation?

I had to find out.

So I followed^ my bank, enabling them to DM me.

And DM they did!

<<<<<<    INTERMISSION     >>>>>>

Exciting isn’t it?!

Have you had a word with your bank yet?

How’d you go?

If not, what’s stopping you?

Could your business not benefit from reduced interest payments?

Your comment will inform and perhaps even shape this narrative.

A bit like …

choose your own

debenture.

Don’t miss next week’s thrilling conclusion to: A Fool & His Money!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

*  DM = Send a direct message (i.e. one not visible to the public).

^  Became one of their Twitter followers, thus enabling them to DM me.

Where have all the comments gone?

We love hearing what you have to say, and stories you might have, so fear not, you’re still able to comment!  We’ve moved the party over to our new place, The Pulse.  Come and join the conversation on this post here.

You’ll also find this post at The Pulse

Say hello to my little friends.

We’ve spoken about children at work, and the effects of family illness.

How about critters?

What role (if any) do pets have in business?

Free Range

I figure there are three schools of thought:

1. Corporate environments in which the prospect of pets is laughable.
2. Home / small offices that consider critters de rigueur.
3. Places in between.

As usual, I expect to learn that I’ve merely … scratched the surface.

I’ll describe my situation, tell a few tales, then open the floor.

Winston and Sarah have mentioned pets in several comments.

I’d love to hear yours too.

Dog Days

Omaha and Graham (pictured) spend each day in or around Empire House.

Omaha curls at my feet for hours.

She’s wonderful company for a sole trader in a solitary trade.

Twitter is awash with pictures of cats lounging on keyboards and monitors.

These suggest many businesspeople keep close quarters with furry friends.

Walkies!

My dogs get me out of the house.

I’m forever tempted to put work deadlines ahead of my well-being.

Left to my own devices, I wouldn’t exercise nearly as much.

But when bright eyes and tapping paws implore you to take them to the sun, it’s hard to resist.

Stress Balls

I’ve read that pet owners live longer and have reduced cancer and heart disease risk.

The mere act of stroking fur is supposed to lower your heart rate and stress level.

If you have a bad interaction with a client or supplier, the warmth and unconditional understanding of a best friend can be very calming.

Pet Hates

It cuts both ways, though.

When clients visit, critters must vanish.

You can’t have them jumping and pawing.

And that visitor’s chair better be clean.

It’s bad enough when you go to a meeting covered in fur. (The old sticky roller’s a godsend here.)

Sending your clients back into the world similarly hirsute is even worse.

Corporate Animals

Some larger offices allow pets (and military mascots abound).

Responses range from lifting team morale to finding poo in the boardroom.

Some people can’t handle the distraction of animals at work.

And a cute puppy sure can stop an entire department in its tracks.

Babies have a similar impact, though they don’t tend to chew three-phase power cables.

Then, of course, there are allergies.

Despite the pitfalls, some big firms have a liberal attitude towards pets at work.

How about you?

Your Say

What do you think of this fuzzy frivolity?

• One meow, yes.
• Two meows, no.

Give us a sign,

lest we do this by

arf.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Money talks. Has it said anything to you lately?

Did you hear about the rather lucrative printer cartridge deal?

The highlight for me was the public servant who:

‘… bought enough black toner cartridges to supply the government department for 40 years — despite toner cartridges expiring after two years.’

As my taxes paid this person’s salary, I felt encouraged by her initiative and commitment.

Then I wondered if you’ve been stung by either end of the corruption cattle prod.

Tagged & Bagged

There are two sides to every story. And difficult times tend to throw these into high relief.

On one side, we have flawed humans with the power to make purchasing decisions.

On the other, hungry companies desperate to make a deal.

If a wad of loot were to find its way into a brown paper bag, and that bag were to find its way into a pocket, and the owner of that pocket were to award a lucrative contract, who would be the wiser?

This is a new area for me.

Whenever I’ve been desperate for business, I’ve been way too desperate to contribute to anyone’s slush fund.

When I’ve been in positions of power, the most I ever got was a bag of lollies from a printing firm.

Guilty!

Actually, now that I think about it, those lollies worked a treat.

They were red, like raspberries, but in the shape of a K.

Even better, they had a hard, chewy consistency (like the long-discontinued, sadly missed battleship lollies of my youth).

The flavour was intense.

The company was …

… it’s coming to me …

Kwik Kopy!

Yes! That’s right: that’s what the K was for!

A little bag of red jelly Ks came with each Kwik Kopy print order delivered.

It was a mere handful, but the effect was profound.

Enough, even, to make a man forget his aversion to phonetic spelling.

Whenever these arrived in the design studio, we fell upon them like orphan zombies.

After a few sugar hits, I started hassling the Production Manager to use Kwik Kopy

all

the

time.

Mea Culpa

And so I stand before you, a corrupt and broken citizen.

Will you flay my flesh or sympathise with my human failings?

Maybe you have even more shocking tales to tell.

Don’t be shy; there’s a lot of it about.

To get you thinking, I’ve provided some interrogation questions (sorted in decreasing likelihood of you ignoring them).

Confess!

Have you (or anyone in your business) ever:

• Taken a bribe?
• Offered one?
• Seen one change hands?
• Been beaten in a pitch because of one?
• Suspected as much?
• Been tempted to ‘grease the rails’ in your favour?

For the record, I once considered bribing my ‘builder’ to do what I’d paid him to.

But since he already had all our money (plus a lot more that didn’t belong to us) I realised the effect would be negligible.

It’s now down to you.

Think carefully.

And tell all!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Introducing The Pulse!

No-one goes through their entire life with the same hairstyle – and neither do we here at the Small Business Owner blog.  Thanks to you, this blog has been such an incredible success that it’s getting a fabulous new makeover!

The team at MYOB has loved bringing you the latest thoughts from the wordsmith de jour, Paul Hassing – so much so, that we’ve cleared some space on our website and custom built a brand new platform!

It’s called The Pulse, and we’re very excited to introduce it to you.  It’s launching tomorrow night, but we thought as loyal Small Business Owner fans, we’d give you the first sneak peek (glamour shot above).

It’s going to be a hub of news and social media – think of it as your one-stop-shop to get your finger on ‘the pulse’ (excuse the pun) of everything business owners are keen to know about.  We’ll have a section for business owners, one for accountants, and also some space so you can get insights, tips and views from our team, as well as a sneak peek into life in the MYOB offices.

We’ll also have plenty of new authors to introduce to you.  We’re positive you’ll like them as much as Paul.

But what does this mean for Paul and his delightfully entertaining posts?

Absolutely nothing!  Paul will continue to provide the Tuesday and Thursday posts you know and love, and, like always, he’ll be around to chat and respond to your comments.

For now, we’ll also be leaving the Small Business Owner blog live, so you can revisit all your favourite posts whenever you like.

We like to think of it like moving house.  We’ll miss the place that’s been our home for the last few years, but we’re pretty excited about moving into brand new digs!

So now it’s time to pack those boxes.

We’ve spent plenty of time tossing around ideas about the best way to transition to The Pulse.  Until we realized that the best part of the Small Business Owner blog is all of your amazing insights, knowledge and experiences.  So who better to help us?!

While we’ll keep Paul’s pieces here for a few more weeks, we’ll also be posting them on The Pulse.  Eventually, we’ll move across there permanently.  We’ll let you know well in advance before that happens, and make sure to post plenty of links here at the Small Business Owner blog so you can find us.

So, without further adieu, we open the floor to you all.

Have you ever made the move to a new blog or website?

How did you do it?  What worked?  What didn’t?

How would you think the blog should move into its new digs at The Pulse?

Emma Mulquiney | Online Editor MYOB

All this hit my letter box in just two days!

I must get a proper NO JUNK MAIL sign.

Each time my home-made one falls off, I have a Brazil moment.

Someone, somewhere, must benefit from this bumf.

But who?!

• Client companies?
• Ad agencies?
• Graphic designers?
• Printers?
• Paper mills?
• Plantation foresters?
• Walkers?
• Dogs?
• Customers?
• Australia Post?

Certainly not me. How about you?

Do you like receiving unsolicited print advertising?

Is (or was) it part of your business marketing mix?

Captive Audience

Keep Australia Beautiful and Eco Voice want us to read catalogues online

A fine idea. So far, they have … six.

Either it’s early days, or we really like ads in our letter box.

I’ve heard older people look forward to them as bona fide reading materials.

Perhaps the appeal is more widespread.

Perhaps I’m missing the point.

Here’s Australia Post’s take, with a handy link to Do Not Mail.

I wish they cared as much about their rubber bands.

My Do Not Fax registration ran out recently, but that’s another story.

Sign of the Times

With regard to stickers, I could move to Willougby where they’re giving ‘em away.

Maybe NO JUNK MAIL is too terse.

Perhaps I should go with the softer No Advertising Material Please.

I wonder if it makes a difference.

Boxed in

In one of my lean years, I tried a casual brochure delivery job.

By faithfully obeying NO JUNK MAIL signs, I had many brochures left over.

The distribution firm:

• Accused me of not doing my job.
• Ordered me to ignore the signs.
• Threatened to do spot checks in my territory.

When I later found great bundles of fliers dumped in vacant lots, I realised why I wasn’t trusted.

I also saw other ‘walkers’ in action. (Never any kids, though; unlike decades past.)

Some posted so carelessly, the merest zephyr strew their stuff across the street.

Not a good look for the firms who’d paid to feature.

I wrote to several, flagging their wasted budgets.

A couple replied, but without enthusiasm.

Here & Now

As our world hurtles to ruin, I feel the need to query unsolicited print advertising once more.

Therefore, do you:

• Make it?
• Get it?
• Use it?
• Love it?
• Hate it?

We’re at a crossroads.

Show us your papers!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

What’s the magic word?

We’ve seen how business strap lines can become part of mainstream culture.

How about words?

Hoover, Xerox and Google all went from brand names to generic English terms.

Can we give our brands a similar boost?

Word Up

In almost every book he writes, Seth Godin either invents or takes control of another term, from permission marketing to purple cow to linchpin.

These terms have helped cement his place as a global thought leader.

Should we, as businesspeople, do likewise?

Liferal

I’ve been trying to get liferal in the dictionary for years.

It wasn’t doing much, until it featured on national radio this month.

The ABC kindly agreed to add an Empire link and suddenly I’m getting more traffic from here than anywhere else.

Having the nation’s broadcaster pointing at my site should boost its search engine ranking.

Will this translate into business? Probably not immediately or directly.

But it should add to my long term momentum.

Swagger

Our Mike Boyle is also on a word quest.

As a sales specialist, he’s been trying to find (or create) the perfect word to encapsulate the quality of a great salesperson.

Here’s what Mike says about his term, swagger:

Sales people aren’t born; they’re trained. High performance sales comes from developing through four stages:

1. Build a sales PROCESS.
2. Conduct ACTIVITY around that process.
3. From your wins and good losses build SWAGGER.
4. Through refinement create sales EFFECTIVENESS and efficiency.

Of these, swagger is the key enabler of rock-star sales people.

We’ve racked our brains to find a different word, because swagger doesn’t quite cut it.

Poor sales people are arrogant and pushy. Great sales people have a certain rare vibe/force/thing about them that makes them stand out. A calm urgency, coolness with persuasion, confidence with empathy and directness with rapport.

These behaviours, seemingly at odds, perfectly describe swagger. The trouble is, swagger can also mean pompous.

So I’ve also toyed with sales essence, but it’s still not right.

If your readers have a better word, I’d love to hear it!

Say the Word

The best I can come up with is elan (energy, style and enthusiasm).

Mike doesn’t think this beats swagger. He’s still searching.

If he succeeds, the world will know him as the bloke who invented the magic word.

Can you suggest a better term than swagger, sales essence or elan?

Failing that, do you have a special word you’d like to promote?

If not, what’s your favourite made-up (or appropriated) word and who owns it?

What good has it done them?

This forum is open,

sesame!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

Blink and you may miss it.

Here’s a business tip I learnt the hard way:

If you get a gig, job, order, project, piece of work or commission, do it NOW.

If you don’t, it may not be there tomorrow.

For several reasons.

Unkind Cut

A large IT firm gave me 100 recruitment ads to critique.

I toiled for much of Easter, getting 50 done.

Then I rewarded myself with a couple of days off.

When my client returned to work, he found his budget slashed by overseas corporate masters.

He was forced to cancel the project.

He paid me for what I’d done, which was half of what I could’ve done, had I pressed on.

As this happened when I was just starting out, I felt the revenue loss keenly.

Mind Altering

I was asked to source radio jingles for an automotive firm.

I offered the job to Adam, who quoted $3000.

The client approved the quote and Adam pulled several all-nighters to write, perform and record some rippers in double-quick time.

But before I could send them to the client, she abruptly changed her mind and tried to cancel the project.

Fortunately, I still had her email approval, so we had her cold.

Had Adam waited a few days, he’d have missed out on a lucrative gig.

Off Balance

Of course, this hot-iron-striking advice flies in the face of all our warm fuzzies about taking care of ourselves in business.

We’ve had wonderful suggestions about negotiating realistic deadlines, operating within our limits, maintaining work-life balance and so on.

But as GFC II threatens, I wonder if we can afford to dawdle on such shifting sands.

Vexed issues are best handled by the fine minds that inhabit this space.

And so I put it to you.

Your View

When you get a piece of business, do you:

a)    Luxuriate in the prospect and do it as, and when, you see fit.

b)    Seize it as if it were your last meal on earth and devour it on the spot.

c)    Attend to it fairly smartly, but without unseemly haste.

d)    Handle it some other way (please describe).

?

The clock’s ticking.

Let’s get to work!

…

No?

…

How about later?

…

…

Never mind.

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire

To thrive in business, look beyond your game.

We can reasonably describe business as a game.
There are certainly winners and losers.
Gaming is an important analogy.
These days, it’s not enough to merely play the game.
Because chances are, your customers are playing the metagame.

What’s the Metagame?
The metagame comprises all out-of-game elements that affect in-game decisions.
You’re playing the metagame if:

• Having learnt from past poker nights that I’m a bluffer, you ‘see’ me more often.
• Having read that tanks are popular with wargamers, you proactively build anti-tank guns.

So what’s this got to do with business?

Creamed
I needed sour cream.
Out of sympathy, I went to the lady grocer being crushed by the new kid on our block.
She had cream, but it was a day past use-by.
I asked what became of post-use-by food.
She said she threw it away.
Given use-by dates’ error margin, I considered this a waste and a missed recycling opportunity.
So I asked if, since the cream had zero value to her, I could have it.
She said I could, if I paid for it.
Here the game ended, and the metagame began.

Game On
The grocer’s reply was understandable in the context of her business.
But not in the context of looming competitors and pedantic greenies (the metagame).
She alienated me by:

• Offering to sell a technically worthless item.
• Preferring to trash food rather than generate goodwill with a regular customer.

From wanting to support her, I couldn’t wait to cross the street to her rival.

Not Just Me
This thing scales.
When big retailers ran full-page ads demanding GST for online shopping, they ignored the metagame.
Instead of convincing government, they alienated their customers and drew even more attention to online shopping.
Tiny, seemingly insignificant decisions can lose you customers for life.
I grant that I’m a twitchy case. But in these tricky times, I don’t think any of us can relax in the comfort of our long-cherished (yet possibly quite perilous) perceptions.

The Tribe Speaks
What elements (if any) comprise your metagame?
Do your customers play it?
Do you?
Have you ever ditched a supplier (or lost a client) due to something way out of left field?
Tell us about it.
We love hearing your thoughts and stories.

Survivors ready!

…

GO!

Paul Hassing, Founder & Senior Writer, The Feisty Empire