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Top of Mind Thursday Memo Archive
Top of Mind Thursday – June 29, 2023
Last weekend, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries, appeared to be turning on Vladimir Putin, his friend and benefactor, in an armed march to Moscow.
Until, all of the sudden, he called off the effort and turned around. Government reports said he was seeking refuge in nearby Belarus. In a flash, Prigozhin went from being a close buddy of Putin to an enemy of the state to an outsider allowed to leave the country.
In the meantime, Sergey Surovikin, head of the Russian Air Force and a confidante of Prigozhin, appears to have been removed from his post and is being interrogated. Or, according to other reports, all is well and he is not being detained–that’s all fake news.
Neither man has been seen or heard from since Saturday. Putin is known not to tolerate dissent whatsoever, so it would not be surprising to hear that one or both of these missing men accidentally “fell” from a tall balcony, or developed a “sudden illness” that caused their untimely deaths.
Meanwhile, the world wonders what on earth is going on in Russia, how much power Putin really has now, and how well safeguarded is that country’s large nuclear arsenal.
Wow. What a mess. It makes us appreciate living in countries where the rule of law is not bent to the whims of a tyrant, and there are checks and balances on what moves leaders and military forces are able to make.
That’s not to say democracy is perfect. But as Winston Churchill so aptly said, “Democracy is the worst form of government–except for all the others that have been tried.”
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – June 22, 2023: Lost and Found
This afternoon, it was reported that the missing submersible vessel with five people aboard had met a catastrophic end on the ocean floor, near the wreck of the Titanic that was the target of their trip.
While it’s terribly sad that five people lost their lives, there was no lack of effort expended to try to find and rescue them. Both Canada and the US sent rescue crews, and many private ships outfitted with the latest technology were deployed as well.
Contrast that to another incident this week in the Mediterranean. A $175 million superyacht rescued over 100 migrants from the wreck of a fishing trawler that sank while the Greek Coast Guard sat back and watched. In addition to those rescued, over 650 people are estimated to have drowned in that accident.
We can’t weigh the value of one life against another. Still, the disregard for human life experienced in the Greek incident is appalling. And the difference between the two seafaring mishaps is stark.
The occupants of the Titan submersible were wealthy people who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the adventure of a lifetime. They ignored the calls from those who warned the vessel wasn’t well-tested, and pointed out that safety was not given serious consideration.
The people lost off the coast of Greece were Pakistani, Syrian, Palestinian, and Egyptian refugees–escaping bad conditions to try and build a better life somewhere else. Would the Greek Navy have stepped in if the billionaire’s yacht was in trouble? Most likely. Did they step in here? Absolutely not.
When rich people do dangerous things, the world attempts to rescue them from their mistakes. When poor people attempt a dangerous sea crossing because they feel they have no other choice, it was the government that needed to be rescued from their poor judgment by a billionaire.
In this week’s tragic losses, perhaps we can learn to find our sense of humanity and do better in the future. If not, we are truly lost as well.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – June 15, 2023: Do Your Damn Job
It happened again this week.
At least once a day, someone else told me about a simple customer service issue they tried to resolve that became unnecessarily complex and drawn-out–and I experienced this myself, too.
None of these were unique situations. It’s likely a similar situation happens to this company dozens of times a day–if not more. Yet, in each case, the company representative was unable or unwilling to do what was needed to help, which should be exactly what they were hired to do!
Meanwhile, we’re living in an uncertain economic environment. There are layoff and cutbacks. Wouldn’t it make sense for companies to take some kind of proactive action to keep the customers they have satisfied?
Why does this happen? In some cases, customer service has been relegated to a series of prompts on a computer. If your situation fits their script, you’re in luck. Otherwise, the rep can’t or won’t think outside of the box. In others, it seems apparent that the company really can’t be bothered to help you. If you leave, someone new will take your place.
In my case, I was trying to dispute a credit card charge. The supervisor at the credit card company told me I needed to have proof I received a credit to dispute the charge. But if I had the credit, I wouldn’t be having the dispute now, would I? She repeated the same thing several times, louder and slower, until I told her I heard and understood everything she had already said, I just didn’t believe the argument made any sense. Then she hung up on me.
There’s much consternation today about how generative AI might disrupt our lives, eliminate jobs, and drastically change the way we do business. Yet, given the current state of affairs, it’s hard to see how an AI bot could make things much worse. At least generative AI tools learn–which doesn’t seem to be the case with today’s tone-deaf human reps.
How is your business doing in this area? Here’s a novel idea. Try calling your own customer support line with a problem and see what happens. Then you can see where you have to step in and get people to do their damn jobs.
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com
Top of Mind Thursday – June 8, 2023: The Right Spark
My gas grill picked an inopportune time to stop working.
With summer fast approaching, this is the time of year when BBQs are the preferred way to cook dinner. Over the last couple of months, it’s been getting harder and harder to get the grill to light. Then, a few weeks ago, it just stopped lighting at all–even though it has plenty of propane gas and everything else seems to be working fine.
The big question was whether or not I should try to get this repaired–or would I spend more money on parts and labor than it was worth. Maybe I should just get a new one at one of the many seasonal sales.
Before doing that, I wanted someone knowledgeable to look at it. Perhaps this was something that wouldn’t be too hard to fix. So I asked the contractor who’s doing some repairs to my house to take a quick look.
That he did–and it was definitely quick. After no more than 30 seconds, he asked me if I had any spare AA batteries. Sure. But what did that have to do with the gas grill?
Turns out the igniter is powered by a AA battery. He swapped that out and voila! The grill lights perfectly. A battery! Who would have guessed? Not me!
How often do we look at something that’s not working and make assumptions that the whole system is faulty? Too often, we jump to the conclusion that we’d be better off starting from scratch instead of letting the people who understand what’s going on tell us what’s really wrong.
Sometimes, all you need is a little something to create a spark.
S’mores, anyone?
Check out our marketing leadership podcasts and the video trailer for my book, Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters.
.
Let us help your business rise to the top.
linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com