Streamyx

I keep on the lookout for ideas and stories to share with you and I find that there is no limit to material about bad management, poor customer service, inferior products, out of control government, and schools at all levels that are no longer teaching, etc. This probably does not come as a surprise to you.

For example, I could tell you the story of how regional supermarket chain Giant Food Stores bought out the local family owned Clemens Market chain here in the Philadelphia region and then proceeded to turn it into the antithesis of customer service by getting rid of most of the Clemens's employees and hiring young, inexperienced kids and allowing them to treat their customers with indifference and disrespect.

A few weeks ago I was standing in the new Giant checkout line one evening and I was being waited on by an elderly lady who must have been a holdover from the Clemens family. She was delightful and made the experience of checking out groceries fun. However, the fun came to an end when we both overheard some teenage employees and their visiting friends gathered in the next lane using the "F" word over and over. She apologized to me and said "you won't believe what I hear out of their mouths." I asked her where the manager was located. She whispered to me that one of the teenagers was her new manager. I haven't been back since.

In a larger tableau, I find it hard to feel badly for financial services company CEO's who are forced to take the fall for their companies losing billions of dollars when, for example, Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal walked away with a package of over $160 million after being "held accountable" by the board. That's on top of the $70 million he earned by being the "boss." Just think what he might have been given if he hadn't been "held accountable." It boggles the mind!

Here in the Commonwealth of PA, the PA Department of Agriculture decided that the residents are too stupid to make their own shopping decisions. Come January 1st, there will be no more labels on dairy products stating that they come from cows that HAVE NOT been treated with an artificial growth hormone that is illegal in many countries. You really have to think about this a minute. Right now I can look at milk in the dairy case and see a label letting me know that no artificial hormones were used in the milk production. I don't know about you but I frankly don't want artificial growth hormones in my milk, cheese, etc. and I think 99 percent of the states residents would probably agree with me.

The hormone in question, rGBH, is manufactured by Monsanto Company, the folks who thrive on making bioengineered crops. Monsanto has spent more than a decade trying to convince federal and state authorities that there is no difference in milk from cows that are treated with their hormone and those that are not. They finally found someone foolish enough (or with his own agenda) to listen to them in Pennsylvania agriculture secretary Dennis Wolff. Wolff has made the decision that the labels "confuse the consumer since it seems to imply a safe, nonsafe dimension." The New York Times stated that Mr. Wolff was unable to come up with even one consumer in the entire state who had complained about being confused.

Wolff did say he made the decision after hearing complaints from farmers who were forced to stop using the growth hormone because dairies would not accept their milk. His final argument and justification is that there is no test to determine a difference between milk from cows that have been treated with bovine growth hormones and those that have not. But, as the Times pointed out, the same could be said about organic, or farm fresh, or even milk from Pennsylvania. The fact is that this decision was made because one more government official is willing to bet that "we the people" are too lazy or too indifferent to do something about it. One more inept government official is selling out the safety and desires of the public and nobody is marching on Harrisburg demanding the removal of Mr. Wolff and the rollback of this asinine decision.

You know, you really can't make this stuff up! As I was writing this in my third floor home office, my two dogs that were sleeping beside me jumped up and tore downstairs barking. That usually means that someone has rung the doorbell and because I'm going deaf in one ear, I can't hear it. When they didn't stop barking I went to investigate and upon opening the door I saw the receding backs of two Verizon salespeople headed up my street. I knew they were the "ringers." Now I enjoy salespeople; I've always considered that I am one. And, I've told the Verizon salespeople just why I'm not buying what they are selling.

Verizon spent all last year installing FIOS in my neighborhood and now they are in engaging in a battle to switch everyone's Internet, television, and phone service to FIOS. And, they intend to keep knocking on my door, sending me letters and phoning my house until I surrender. I don't have anything against FIOS. It may be wonderful. But, I was an early adopter of Verizon DSL and I paid for it with lost business, money, time and more aggravation than I intend to put up with again. I had DSL for months and it worked only intermittently and only after spending hours on the phone with support until one day I was finally told that I never should have been allowed to be a customer as my home was too far away from some kind of station and the signal was too low to work. Did I get an apology for all of my wasted time and lost business? Did I get an apology this summer after I found their FIOS crew breaking the branches of one of my trees? Did I get an apology after another FIOS crew burned the trunk of another tree and fixed it by putting some black goop on the open wound? What do you think? How soon do you think I'll be switching to Verizon FIOS? Verizon just doesn't get it!

Let me ask you a question; do you want to do something about these kinds of examples? Or are you willing to continue to accept bad management, companies who promise you one thing and deliver another, poor and non-existent customer service and your investments sliding downhill while Wall Street wizards and executives are compensated at a level beyond insane? Are you willing to continue letting government at every level spend our money at the direction of lobbyists and special interests while ignoring the majority of us whose pockets are being picked?

Here's an idea. Stop spending your money with companies that practice bad management and service. Stop spending money with companies who make profits off the back of outsourced labor while watching our own dollar and standard of living plummet. Pick up the phone or find their website and write a letter to the CEO and tell him why you are no longer going to buy from their company. Write to the board of directors if it is a public company and tell them why you're taking your money elsewhere. If enough letters and phone calls hit the desks of the people in charge, either change will happen or, if not, you can have the pleasure of watching the company do its death spiral.

Get the addresses and emails of your federal, state and local politicians and tell them where you stand on the issues. Let them know you're tired of putting up with pork barrel politics, crooked politicians and pay-to-play business as usual. Vote!

Every time you are met with shabby customer service at your local establishments, ask for the owner and let him or her know how you feel. Let them know they just lost a customer and that you plan on telling at least a dozen more people about your experience.

Write letters to the editor; scream from the rooftop and let everyone know that from this day forward you are going to stop being a victim. And, while you're at it, if you haven't already read it, go pick up a copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged - and read it. You'll learn more about John Galt.

I think it's time we start being selfish and stop putting up with people who steal our hard earned dollars with their shabby products, services and lies. I also believe it's time we start holding our politicians, educators, and government accountable and let them know there is no blank check. We want to see value for our taxes before we give them any more money. It's time to stop acting like victims and to take action.

But, maybe that's just me. What do you think?

2007 Bob Poole - All Rights Reserved
Poole Consulting Group
The Sales & Marketing Guru?br> 31 Bryant Drive
Perkasie, PA 18944
215-258-3405 - office
215-258-3406 - fax
http://www.PooleConsultingGroup.com

Creator of "Listen First - Sell Later"?Marketing & Sales Programs
Founding Member of the International Center for Professional Speaking of The National Speakers Association