I outlined this memo in late 2015, when I first read about the first point below and when I heard on the radio about the second point. Within days the first point was all over all types of the media.
- Starbucks unveiled their new holiday cups, which are plain red with their logo. No snowflakes or any other seasonal designs. Some Christian groups got their panties in a bind and claimed Starbucks hates Christmas so let’s boycott them. Even though Starbucks cups never had Christmas designs, only winter designs. (At my local store the barista said it’s been a non-issue.)
- Football fans in Seattle and some other cities started an online petition to get Fox to not have their number one announcing team do their team’s games.
In addition, just look at modern day politics. Most people don’t want to listen to, debate with, or consider ideas even a tad bit opposing to their own. We’ve now had four terms of Presidents about whom the reports are their staff filters all information so our leader only sees what they want to see.
What does this mean for you and me and our businesses? People who are employees, customers, vendors, and service providers to all of us drove the situations mentioned above. They’re touchier than ever. It’s a, “my way or the highway” kind of attitude, over everything.
In my talk, “Networking to Increase Sales and Profits” I say don’t be an ideologue when you meet somebody. Keep polarizing and sensitive issues out of the discussion. If the other party chooses to broach those subjects, then it’s your decision on whether or not to do business with them. We could waste a lot of time trying to please everybody on every little thing. It’s good to fire customers, switch vendors, or get rid of disruptive employees. More often than not the result is more positive than we ever thought.
“Better to busy than to be busy worrying.” Angela Lansbury