In a world where change is the norm, all businesspeople, irrespective of their business type, or the position they hold in a business, can easily lose their job, reputation, money and perhaps even liberty.
Businesspeople lose out because they didn’t consider the effect of their actions on their suppliers, customers and the general public. You only have to review your favourite media source, the movies or documentaries (and yes, you do see many stories of change from the entertainment industry), to see the examples of aggrieved people who sought change.
There have been many examples of arrogance from those businesspeople and their businesses which thought they were immune from the consequences of their actions and thinking. As a consequence, in the past year, we have seen a number of businesses which are no longer operating or have had to seek additional favours and finance to survive.
All business owners, directors, managers, or employees, are facing threats and issues which were never anticipated in “yesterday’s ordinary course of business” environment. For example, the influence of day traders on the share markets by people who have decided to take on the hedge funds, major sharebrokers and professional traders. The established players are now most concerned on how to minimize the damage caused by the day traders.
Following are a number of the examples of the problems we all face today.
We often forget here in Australia; the big 4 banks created a sizable competitor because they started closing bank branches in country towns. Today, these same banks and their direct competitors, are being challenged by other service providers because they no longer offer a full range of services to their customers.
Cryptocurrencies came into being because people wanted privacy in their financial transactions, or to avoid paying bank fees, or for criminal enterprises, or avoid government and legislative controls, etc.
Directors are no longer a sacrosanct group. If they do something wrong, it will soon be on social media where they face immediate public ridicule and/or investigations by regulators.
Just recently we have seen senior executives arrested on bribery charges, sent to jail, or blacklisted for previous sexual allegations, or for showing a lack of personal contrition for allowing poor cultures to exist in their organisations, etc.
CEOs, CFOs, COO’s and other senior managers are only safe as long as they make no mistakes, or they have strong patron. If they are the cause of poor organisational culture, rip off their customers, use dodgy suppliers, or deny climate change etc., they are in trouble.
Customers who believe they can buy on credit and not pay their debts, soon find they are blacklisted, sued, or denied the cheapest form of credit. In some marketplaces, customers may not get any credit, as previously, the majority of the customers in that marketplace refused to pay their debts.
Unions which exhibit bad social behaviour or sexist attitudes, or are not willing to support employers in times of recession, are soon discredited by both workers and employers.
If employees take the short-term view and are unwilling to return to work for their former businesses because they earn more money via government support, maybe in for long-term pain. They may soon find out their former business has closed down, or new employees have taken their jobs, or they are blacklisted from their industry.
Employees today, irrespective of where they are in the business, are also responsible for the image of their business. For instance, sloppy work in the warehouse shows the customer that the supplier’s employees do not care about the quality of their work. The same also goes for those in sales or accounts which do not quickly reply to customer requests for information or help with complaints.
Customer service is so critical today. Therefore, every poor interaction is a potential image, marketing, or social disaster just waiting to be advertised. Too many businesspeople forget, social media today is also “anti-social media”.
Regretfully however, too many businesses today still show no signs of understanding that the recession is here, or will be in evident in the near future. In a recession, a good reputation, quality employees and customer service, are essential components in survival.
Those businesses who forget a good reputation is so essential, and their zombie cousins, also need to understand they are a target for the people who are no longer are prepared to tolerate their bad behaviour. Today, the people who have the desire to make your life a misery, have so many tools available to hurt and destroy you. As a consequence, directors, managers and business owners need to be aware and operate in a manner so as not to become victims of the people who have the means to hurt them.
Want to know more, contact Kim at kim@creditmatters.com.au, or telephone (03) 9886 6707, A/H (03) 9802 0608, mobile 0411 649 261, or have a look at what we offer via our website at www.creditmatters.com.au
