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| First, a warning and an apology. This is a rant. You would think, wouldnโt you, that as businesses struggle to cope with, survive and emerge from, a global economic crisis that they might get better at the fundamentals? You would think, wouldnโt you, that when the number of unemployed reach the levels that they have in the past couple of years, that the increase in choice available to employers might result in a better quality of human resource? You would think, wouldnโt you, that as we move further into the 21st Century and the concept of business racks up more and more experience as each year goes by, that businesses might finally grasp the simple reality that there is only one place their money comes from? Well, if you did think any or all of those things you would be mistaken. Wrong. Wide of the mark. The reality is this. With a few notable exceptions, business has not got any better at the fundamentals in at least a generation. With a few notable exceptions, the overall quality of human resource in business is poor. With a few notable exceptions, there appears to be very little evidence to suggest that businesses either understand that there is only one place their money comes from or that, when and if they do, that they orientate their very existence towards that source. I am tired of (in no particular order): โข Finding the experience of purchasing products and services so bloody difficult, irritating, or unsatisfying.ย โข Having to deal with nincompoops who seem to struggle to know their own name or what day it is, let alone what it is that they ought to know in order to fulfil their role for their employer and for me, their customer (remember โ the only place their money comes from!). โข Increasingly poor quality design and manufacturing. It seems it is now accepted practice for manufactured products to be regarded as disposable within a very short period of time. โข Increasingly dreadful standards of support, back up and after sales service. โข Loud, aggressive, mind bogglingly awful marketing communications campaigns that promise the earth and deliver not a fraction of that promise. โข Governments that donโt have the faintest idea of the true concept of business and what is required to nurture, support and reward (or at least incentivise) successful business performance. โข Banks who have completely lost track of their role as โenablersโ of business and continue, apace, to do all they can to exploit the markets which they are supposed to serve. โข Businesses who fail to recruit, train, nurture and support, teams of fabulous people who are committed to doing fabulous jobs for which they will be appropriately recognised and rewarded. โข Marketing buffoons who have become obsessed with social media (a new panoply of marketing โhowsโ) whilst demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of the marketing concept itself (the marketing โwhatโ). โข โBeaniesโ who have driven costs down to a bare minimum (and sometimes beyond) without any understanding of the need to drive sales up and how to achieve that. I could go on. But I wonโt, because you, dear reader, deserve better than a grumpy old fart whinging on and on.ย My point? Business success is not a complex concept. The role of marketing in contributing to business success is not a complex concept either. Someone wants something and someone else is willing and able to provide it. The cost of providing it is a dollar. The cost of acquiring it is two dollars. The difference is a dollar. Thatโs called Profit. |
ย Thatโs it. No MBA required.ย |
