“Maybe it’s NOT the economy, stupid.”
| Free MP3:
The Economy, The Political System and People who Get Things Done This is a slice of a casual conversation I had in my office on Thursday afternoon with one of my Roundtable members. No promos, just straight talk about where we’re at online and in this crazy economy:
(29 Minutes, Right click and select “Save Link As…” to download MP3)
|
On April 15 my wife contacted our accountant to make sure he’d remembered to file an extension for our taxes.
Three days later she got an email back from him that said, “Yes, I did file the extension, and of course I went home at 6pm on April 15.”
An accountant who goes home at 6pm on tax day?
Are you kidding me?
That sounds like a punch line to some kind of stupid joke. But I kid you not, a real accountant actually said that.
I fired that accountant and hired a new one.
2 weeks ago, the new accountant and I were looking for professional help on a very specific, specialized problem. We searched the Internet, we asked for referrals, placed a ton of phone calls.
-The people who called us back were over-enthusiastic sales people, not people with actual knowledge and expertise. They all said they could help us but there were no guarantees and we didn’t believe their promises.
-Most everyone else did not call us back at all.
There we are with money in hand, and nobody’s even returning our phone calls.
And you know what?
This is NORMAL.
In boom times, you can’t even get the over-enthusiastic, non-expert sales people to call you back!
In a bust, the sales people finally start calling you back.
And even in a bust, the experts who can deliver results are still too busy to call you back.
In fact, the experts who can deliver results are even MORE busy when it’s a bust. Because nobody wants to roll the dice on somebody who doesn’t have proven expertise.
My “consulting call-in days” are still booked 2-4 weeks in advance. This has not changed one bit. Yes, we have to push harder to get sales to happen. But people who NEED results still show up and buy the slots.
The new accountant – the one who works past 6pm on April 15 – sent me a link to a killer article in INC Magazine:
http://incmagazine.coverleaf.com/incmagazine/200905/?pg=39
The article talks about Circuit City, who just went out of business. The CEO blamed it on the economy, but the writer points out that some time ago they had replaced all their intelligent sales people with minimum wage stand-ins.
When YOU went to Circuit City, did they have the items you really wanted in stock?
Were the people behind the counter knowledgeable product experts or were they just sales drones?
When a business focuses on cost instead of value, it’s a sitting duck for a recession.
IF YOU CAN ANSWER THE PHONE AND DELIVER THE GOODS while other people take coffee breaks and merely pretend to deliver the goods, you will do just fine.
Despite the bad economy and the fact that some people are desperate for work, I bet every single person reading this has an “apathy, incompetence and lousy service” story from some time in the last 2 weeks. You’re welcome to tell me your own story below in the blog comments.
ALSO:
On this page I have also posted a recording of a conversation that took place last Thursday afternoon in my office after a 2-day 4-man intensive. I was talking to a Roundtable member who’s in the plastics manufacturing business and the question came up:
“What about the economy, and where’s all this going, anyway?”
I think you’ll enjoy eavesdropping on this conversation. It’s a blunt look at the political situation, the level of competence in the world, and people who Get Things Done.
Download the MP3 (Righ click and select “Save Link As…”) or listen to it here:
Perry Marshall
About the Author
Entrepreneur Magazine says: "Perry Marshall is the #1 author and world's most-quoted consultant on Google Advertising. He has helped over 100,000 advertisers save literally billions of dollars in Adwords stupidity tax."
He is referenced across the Internet and by The Washington Post, USA Today, and the Chicago Tribune.
Last 5 Posts by Perry
Bookmark, Share, and Receive Updates...
or email.
Great observations – here’s a Home Depot customer service(?) story:
You’d think that in a ‘recession’ – where everyone is clawing for sales – customer service would be outstanding. Silly me to think that way.
I dropped by Home Depot on a Saturday morning. The place was NOT crowded or even reasonably busy (scary for them). I proceeded to look for a plumbing part. Not 25 feet away stood 4 HD employees chatting (2 were older men who you’d think know better) one was sitting on his duff on a stool. I was in clear view of this customer service team and was standing there in the aisle looking at product for at least 7 minutes. No one offered to help. No one said hello. No one noticed the lone customer, cash in hand itching to spend, who might possibly need some personal assistance.
Finally, I walked over and asked where I could find a part. The guy on his duff told me which aisle to look and approximately where to look. Shocker that he did not walk me over to the place to find the product, but just sat there. I came back to this group of slackers once more to inquire about another part as well.
It never seemed to occur to them that I pay their salary.
This type of behavior has happened the 2 more times I have visited HD. I have noticed the same lazy, apathetic behavior in restaurants and other retail centers as well.
This economy is ‘thinning the herd’ of weak business practices. Its affect will be a benefit to the customer in the long run – as businesses that truly ‘deliver’ will remain.
Perry-
Trained as in accountant, and having done tax planning for over 7 years I have a different opinion on leaving at 6 p.m. on April 15.
We have clients with net worths in the 10M+ “hood”.
I write that because when dealing with high net worth individuals, usually tax planning is a year round process. There is major push near 12/31, then 3/15(for s-corps), then 4/15 (LLC’s and 1040′s), and extented returns are due 9/15 (gov changed 1065 filing date) & 10/15.
So, perhaps, your accountant had managed his book of clients.
For example, could you imagine me calling client X at 6p.m. on 4/15 saying you need to pay in 1M in taxes by 11:59 p.m.?
The client would kill me!!! And then he’d wish he could do it again!
So, we have to give our clients a lot of lead time because no matter how rich you are, 1M ain’t hiding under the mattress (unless ur mafia, LOL…but seriously!)
My vibe though is that your accountant doesn’t have a lot of those clients, and this perticaular issue isn’t relavent in your situation.
I’d also imagine that as your business has increased, you probably out grew your accoutant.
BTW, attention Accountants, there’s a huge market and need for accountant with expertise in internet sales. It brings a host of issues that most cpas don’t have experience in. I’d pursue the niche, but don’t like accounting work.
Anyway, just wanted to stick up for some of the accountants that read this post.
That being said, I get your point!
And, I love the message of the whole article. It ain’t the ecomony. It’s bad decision making!
Adam
In the last two weeks:
- A very popular lighting shop in Chicago that couldn’t get me a simple price quote on a $1000 order in 12 days after repeated emails, calls and personal visits.
- A call to a competing lighting store was answered by someone who said in a crass tone, “I’M GONNA HAVE TO CALL YOU BACK.” A call never came.
[Order was eventually placed with an unknown company on the web for about 50% less]
- A landscaper who provided perfect service for us last summer no longer trims, weeds making parts of our yard looking like a jungle. Calls to the company begging them to charge us more if they need to just to get the work done go unanswered.
That was just the last two weeks. I could go on and on. Makes me want to start all sorts of new retail & service businesses because I know I could become the expert leader, charge more and have happier customers.
My story comes from Lowe’s:
I was in the lawn and garden department looking for fertilizer. There were two employees in the department.
I ask one of them, “Do you have larger bags of this fertilizer somewhere in the store?” She reluctantly answered, “No. I not aware of any.”
Just about 100ft away on the other side of the lawn and garden area were many varieties and sizes of fertilizer. She hadn’t bothered to peruse the area she was working in.
Even more tragic, she did not attempt to look. They almost missed a $63 sale. Maybe “almost missed” is good enough. We shall see in months and years to come.
Hi Perry
I love this post and pretty much get something fresh, original and intuitive out of all your emails
However I don’t understand why you fired the accountant for going home at 6.pm. If he hadn’t filed your extention I could understand it.
Is the logic along the lines of if he can go home at 6.pm he can’t have that many customers so can’t be that good?
Alex,
There were way more problems than that. Like the fact that it took him 6 months to finish our tax returns. The 6pm thing was just the simplest way to describe a whole rats nest of problems stemming from a lackadaisical attitude about everything.
Perry
Pure Gold, good one Perry. Prefer MP3′s to the telesemenars as they’re easier to get access to from the UK. Not to mention the time issue!
I had a phone conversation with a UK government agency recently that left me the most furious I have *ever* been after a phone call.
Even recalling the detail of it makes me so angry I don’t want to describe it here.
I was calling a helpline so I could actually *fire* these incompetents.
Their system is so badly populated by adequate procedures, empathic staff, and cultural “couldn’t care less” that even though they are giving us child support income, we want them off our case – forever.
The guy who answered my call took me through a security check, told me I had failed it, and hung up on me. He seemed to enjoy the process. And they claim to record calls (I sure hope so).
I consoled myself with two thoughts (1) next time I call – they’re fired (2) in the downturn there are 10′s of thousands of government job cuts planned over the next few years – “Jim” is going to be among them …
I could add tons of stories, but let’s cut to the chase. I have spent almost 3 years in China for business, and people laugh when I say this century will belong to them, not to America. Actually, if America waked up, I don’t believe this to be the case. But will people wake up?
While in China, I had to do a lot of sourcing from the States. Even though I was the customer, I was the one ready to spend money, I had to act like a salesman just to get the attention of most of these 6-figure salary sales reps. I know there are some very hard workers, but the vast majority just sit back and enjoy the perks, too lazy to seek out new business.
Meanwhile, in China, I have sales reps all over me – calling regularly and bending over backwards for business. They are hungry.
The reason I am so pessimistic is the trend. In China, they are trending the right way. In America, the trend is to expect more and give less. There is an entitlement mentality. Even a good friend of mine in Japan refused to meet a new customer because their office was on top of a hill while the parking was at the bottom of the hill. He said, “I don’t do hills.”
Unfortunately, it looks as though most Americans are going to mortgage the future so they can pretend that things are just fine a little longer.
People won’t wake up until things are really bad. Then, who knows how they’ll react – probably trade restrictions or something equally counter-productive.
You get right to the point. The customer is looking for our help and if we fail to provide it, they will look elsewhere. The company I am affilliated with provides state of the art lubricants as their product but it is their interest in the customer that will carry them forward as it has in the past. We must never forget, to get paid for what we do requires us to provide value to our customer.
I used to be in the car biz. I was a finance director which means I talked to banks about funding loans for people to buy a new car with. In 2003 or 04 I had a talk with a co-worker and we saw this coming. We told everyone we could. No one paid the least bit of attention.
Fact is, the people that were doing what they should have been doing all along are not in a recession. It is times like these that separates the chafe from the meat. (How many cliches can I fit in one sentence?) There are some businesses, yes even Chrysler dealers that only had to put on a little extra steam to keep their heads above water, because, they steam all the time.
It could be that CPA that went home at 6 on the 15th did so because he wasn’t behind, because he didn’t leave it all for the last day. In any case, must be nice not to NEED to work until midnight on the 15th. (of course, if he wasn’t behind, I guess he wouldn’t have had to file an extension for you, huh?)
~Mark
Great article Perry and your right. Jeesh, I wish you wasn’t but you hit it on the nail.
I had $1,000 in cash. Ready to buy. Ready! I am a marketer and I was searching help with created a professional DVD.
I’ve asked other marketer’s online, who had such a software but none replied to my call, my email.
So I couldn’t wait and walk into this large shop which has over 100 staff just visible. Each one was busy. And only because I was out with my wife. Usually I buy most of what I want online..
Each staff were stacking. Each one was printing or doing something. I suddenly see one of desks empty with a woman.
I ask her, “I am looking for a DVd authoring tool.”
“You what? I don’t think we have any.”
I see a guy and think he may know. So I walk to him, one of staff and ask and made it simple..
“Hi, could you help me, I’m looking for..
“Sorry mate,” he replies, “I’m BUSY!”
I see a third person, I go to him and he looks like a manager, with label on and yep..a manager.
“Excuse me mate, I….”
“Sorry, I’m busy. Maybe wait until one of the staff is…not busy to help you.”
I just gave up and walked to some of their shelves and saw..
Lots of DVD software but couldn’t find someone to ask to help, which is best for what I wanted. Second I thought to myself..
“Why should I spend money on company, shop, that doesn’t give a damn about customers anyway..”
So..I didn’t. They can take a friggin hike. They not having my money.
I left this big shop and went into a small shop and they were friendly, they helped me, AND, when I went home, the next day they called and said..
“Hi Adam, my name is______. I hope you don’t mind me calling you but you bought a DVD authoring tool from our shop. I just called to see if you need any help and the steps are ok to follow.”
Ever since…I went to this small shop and I am excited they will have a website sorted very soon too. They are growing, they have experts behind their shop, all staff training, even the one on the phone!
What happened to that big massive, busy staff shop I first went to?
It closed down.
No guessing why.
What a timely post.
Let’s talk about the fact that we are attempting to work with 2 corporations. We have a serious client that wants to sign multi-million dollar contracts for goods. We know he’s good for it, because he has spent that kind of money with us before.
We can barely get a callback from American and European manufacturers. I wish that the client would take Chinese products, as the Americans are too busy coming up with reasons that they can’t sell the product to close the sale.
A show of hands here for people who would like a multi-million dollar contract with a 15%-20% net profit? Yet, I have been laughed at, and have to do multiple follow-up calls with customer service(I don’t even get the courtesy of being assigned a sales representative.)
I can get a price quoted from the Chinese in under an hour. Americans need only blame their lack of initiative if they go under in this market.
In the city where I live, Schaefer’s TV & Appliance has been a mainstay since 1948. They hire and keep competent and likeable employees, and they also advertise aggressively in town.
Best Buy has the size and volume, but Schaefer’s has the human touch.
Two years ago Schaefer’s bought a location right across the street from Best Buy. A ballsy move, to say the least.
When I wanted to buy an HDTV, I headed over to Best Buy to compare the wall-ful of TVs and screens there. Found one in particular that I especially liked.
So I walked across the street, found the same model at Schaefer’s, and bought it from them. The salesperson made me feel comfortable. And smart. And appreciated. And not the least bit rushed … despite the fact that the place was packed (!) with customers that particular day.
They may not be big, but Schaefer’s is doing great business, even as the 900-pound gorilla sits right across the street. They’ve been here for 61 years, and they’re not going anywhere.
Here’s to the human touch!
Perry,
5 minutes ago I called your office to sign up for –and to prepay for an upcoming Perry Marshall eCourse.
Knowing that you are one of the most successful companies in your business, I was expecting that there will be a full blown company on the other side.
Instead, I got an answering machine saying, “leave a message.”
Then I happened to see this post on your blog. How ironic.
You really need to apply **this** post to your own business. Really.
Mark
PS: I agree with Adam (above) about firing your accountant. Unless there are things you are not telling in your post, you have probably made a mistake in firing your accountant. If someone is on top of his game, and that someone leaves at 6pm, what seems to be the problem?
Mark,
We do not as a general rule take phone calls.
Amazon doesn’t take phone calls at all.
We do however respond to support ticket requests and we do return the calls that are made to us – which is the point of the post. Did you leave a message?
The accountant problem I told you about was barely the tip of the iceberg. Taking 6 months to finish a tax return would be just one example.
Perry
Perry, that was fast.
As for the accountant issue, I kind of figured there would be more to it than the 6pm exit.
I did leave a message, and as a past-and-future customer, I hereby decree that this general rule be placed under the same category as smoking indoors. Same fine. Same punishment: As in Fire Marshall punishing Perry Marshall.
Just because it is a rule, doesn’t mean it is right. Your company is the flagship in its business, you need to do more than this.
And by the way, Amazon does answer phone calls.
Thanks again.
Mark
Mark,
Stop using my blog as a place to gripe.
Perry
@ Mark-
thx for referencing my comment!
I just want to clarify and emphasis what I already wrote:
I wrote====>
“My vibe though is that your accountant doesn’t have a lot of those clients, and this perticaular issue isn’t relavent in your situation.”
Meaning, I could already tell that Perry’s issue wasn’t the same as the one I wanted to point out.
My point is that in some cases, like high profile tax practices, all the work better be done by April 6 p.m.
In Perry’s case though, I could sense that his accountant wasn’t that kind of a tax preparer. Plus, I could tell there were pre-exsisiting problems…
I mean, Perry is a fair guy. For him to fire somebody, there’s probably a bit more to it.
Whenever I’ve been fired (yep, I’ve learn the hard way!), usually its from a lot of little mistakes that finally reaches a tipping point.
You don’t fire your accountant without cause.
The switching cost (time/money/emotional) is really high.
adam
@ Mark
I little more insight…I hope I’m right, and if it, I’m sure Perry will let us know!
My sense is that Perry’s ex-accountant wasn’t a CPA.
Why?
Because Perry used the word “accountant”.
In the world of taxes, usually, clients reffer to their tax guy as “their CPA” or my “Tax Butcher”, or “My fall guy”.
Never “accountant”.
And using Perry’s teachings of keywords and meanings, a “CPA” and an “Accountant” aren’t the same.
Even if Perry’s ex-accountant was a CPA, you could tell he didn’t respect him by calling him “an accountant”
For example, if I say imagine… you being really really sick. So you see a doctor. And after his treatment, you felt great!
Did you “picture” an M.D. or a Chiropractor?
And how does that little story relate….
In most cases, you can’t have a high dollar tax practice without being a CPA. The trust isn’t there. There is no credibility.
It’s the difference between going to see an M.D. vs. a Chiropractor.
I’m probably an outlier here. I’m not a CPA (by choice!), and I still get high dollar clients. I just happen to hate that world.
I’m trying soooo hard to leave that world behind.
And with Perry’s writings, teachings, and inspiration…hopefully the mention of 4/15 won’t give me the chills!
Adam
@Adam: He was a CPA. To non-financial guys like me, those two words mean the same thing. It took him 6 months of prodding to finish our tax returns. Categorized a bunch of stuff wrong. Never stayed on top of us to give him what he needed to get things filed – which means we had to be on top of him. Not what I wanted from a CPA.
@ Perry-
hmmmm….I’ve been chewing on your last comment to me. Trying really hard to separate all the ingredients of comment.
To me, a CPA and an accountant are completely different things. Meaning, a CPA can be an account, while an accountant CAN’T be a CPA.
Being on the inside of the industry, I see the differences.
An outsider sees something else…
Just like most outsiders of the culinary world wouldn’t know the differences between be a “chef”, “soux chef”, “executive chef”, “line cook”, “pasty chef”.
Which got me thinking about how important language is, and how certain keywords mean different things to different people based on their emotional experience and knowledge.
So in other words, when in comes to writing google ads, a lot of care/love/research needs to be paid to what a searcher is going to “get” when they read your 140 characters, and what each keyword means to different segments.
To make this relavent, your post on fathers day caught a little heat because of a certain word that has *vastly* different meanings, contexts to different people.
My take away is:
*figure out your audience’s knowledge of your industry, and ideally ask them what they think certain keywords mean to them,
*write google ads that take into account their knowledge and experience.
Empathy.
Damn…its hard!
Yeah Adam, it’s pretty subtle. Inside your profession the diff between accountant and CPA is blindingly obvious. Outside, not so much.
Sort of like when I tell people what I do for a living (like a couple of bankers who were over here today) and they didn’t know the difference between the free listings on Google and the paid ones.
We’re all neanderthals at something.
So yeah you’re right on – it’s hard but that’s why people who figure this out get paid the big bucks.
Perry
PS – love your website. Great storytelling.
I totally agree with you, Mr Marshall. As a “graphics design and marketing” business owner, I would get absolutely behind if I answered every call or SMS that comes in.
My job isn’t to answer phones; and I won’t pay someone else to deal with my customers until absolutely necessary. If I pay them… customers costs go up.
I’m working on the pilot for a brand new “never produced before” publication right now; so it was crucial that I put my foot down about the phone calls – without being rude.
In my voice message:
I appreciate your calling me; however, I’m working hard to fill customer orders at this time. I will return your call sometime between __ and ___. Please leave your name, phone number twice, and a detailed message for the nature of this call so I can be prepared. No details…no callback… Thank you.
I make it a 2-way street. I remain in control of my business and my time; and I require the customer to give me the same respect I give to all my customers.
Because of the nature of my business; it’s crucial I interact with my clients. Interruptions can lead to client loss; and that can lead to no business.
It works…my clients have told me so.
I wanted to add: I also take out time for my “Marketing Education” Hour every day. Mr. Marshall’s email won my time for today.. Thank you.
I’ve been shopping for a car. When I go to a dealership, I see if they get my contact information in order to put my in their hopper system for follow up. Few do. Yesterday, I walked into a Toyota dealer in Ramsey, NJ. Lots of sales people around, although they did seem to be occupied with customers.
Not one person greeted me. I looked at a few cars in the showroom, and walked out.
Robert,
I had the same thing happen 7 years ago when I bought a van.
I called the place to find out a very specific detail after seeing the van online. They said they’d call me back and never did. I was READY TO BUY so I went there myself. Yes the van had the extra seat I wanted. I said I’d be back.
I went and got a cashier’s check written and came back. Couldn’t find the sales person.
Went into the sales manager’s office and put a check in his hand and said, “This is my offer.”
He sold me the van.
I wrote him a letter telling him what a hotbed of apathy the place was.
Never heard back.
“Wake up, America!” said a headline on, if my recall is right, Newsweek magazine. This was many years ago, long before the worldwide web. Those three words stand true today if not more so.
Here’s another example: Went to the only Tea Party in Amarillo Tx (population 200,000) Only about 1,000 people showed up; and many came from towns 100 miles away.