Strategic Support

If something can go wrong it will

How competent are your business partners?

Of necessity you have to deal with suppliers, contractors, employees and customers. How competent are they all?

A thesis written by post graduates at Stanford University, California noted that "incompetent people are unaware of their incompetency and unable to spot incompetency in others". It's a big problem, as the Royal Mail and The Post Office are now finding out. Low levels of competency are all around us hence the humorous maxim "if a job's worth doing it's worth doing twice". In a fast-paced, more complex, world it goes unnoticed until disaster strikes. Have you noticed how many companies simply build in the assumption that their staff and co-contractors are likely to lack competency. Complaint departments are set up to gloss over mistakes rather than to note the issue and set about putting things right.

Carrying out my duties for my clients I come across a significant number of their suppliers who lack competency. At the very least it is inconvenient and time consuming always having to correct their mistakes. It can also be damaging to profitability and downright dangerous if allowed to go unchecked.

Like everyone, I make the occasional mistake . . . but I make sure it doesn't happen twice. If I work with you, first, I can guarantee the absolute minimum of errors and, secondly, as I note problems within your company, suppliers, sub-contractors or customers I will highlight them and work with you to fix the issue before it saddles you with unforeseen new liabilities and loss of profits.

Biggest companies are spying on you

Meta's subscriptions offer “an unfair and misleading choice”

The European Consumer Organisation accuses Facebook and Instagram of carrying out a “massive” and “illegal” operation of collecting data from hundreds of millions of users.

The group claims that Meta runs complex algorithms to ascertain or calculate details of personal information on its users — such as their sexual orientation, emotional state and even their susceptibility to addiction. Users are not given the chance to opt out of such data aggregation.

The organisation claims Meta uses the surveillance-based ads system to track consumers online and gather vast amounts of personal data.

 

There are now a number of companies offering services for online team collaboration, Google Workspace being probably the most well-known. How many of these deliberately or accidentally collect user data and then permit it to be misused? This is why I use my own system when communicating with clients and clients' customers.

Why bother employing people?

The Guardian newspaper 06 April 20204

"Employees will have the legal right from Saturday to request flexible working from their first day in a new job.

Previously, it applied only when someone had worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more. Peter Cheese, the chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said the new right could benefit millions of workers. The conciliation service Acas published a new statutory code of practice on requests for flexible working alongside guidance.

Research by campaign group Pregnant Then Screwed found that mothers were twice as likely as fathers to ask for flexible working after parental leave."

 

If the law now says you must provide employees with paid holidays, sick leave, parental leave, plus be allowed to work from home, plus be allowed to work the hours that they want, what is the point of employing staff when it is now easier to outsource the whole thing and be assured of work being done when you want it and not when your employees choose to do it?

Poor customer support kills business

EPSON - 29 March 2024

Yesterday I purchased a new scanner printer. My Canon printer is playing up and, as my very first printer purchased more than 20 years ago was an Epson — and it was excellent — I decided to try them again. I planned to buy it from Amazon but each time I went back to look at it the price on their website it increased. I often buy things from Amazon because they are so damned efficient but I really don't like their price trickery and so sometimes I deliberately buy from other companies that are not so devious. I don't suppose they notice that I sometimes boycott them on principle.

Back to the Epson printer, model WF-2935DWF: as is the case in modern times instructions were almost non-existent. This is because it's too much trouble writing them in so many languages. I watched the set up video and followed the instructions. So far so good. Then the video ended. Meanwhile the screen on the machine offered two choices: auto setup to mobile phone and wi-fi, or 'Manual'.

I'm running a business and everyone I know who tries to do so on a so-called smartphone seems to be in cloud of confusion. Not unreasonably I wanted the printer to connect to my desktop PC.

I was fairly sure I had purchased a printer that would connect via USB. Now I was having my doubts. At first I couldn't actually see a USB socket on the machine. Using a torch I found the black-on-black secret socket on the back and plugged in.

Symbols appeared on my PC screen. I clicked one but nothing seemed to happen so I did so again. Because the software offered no user real-time feedback I was unaware I was downloading some connection software twice.

Numerous icons appeared in the programmes (now called 'Apps') menu. For a couple of hours I worked through what these might do. Mostly they did not do anything useful. My opinion of my new printer/scanner is that it is rubbish. Whoever now designs the software is more concerned that the machine should automatically upload images to Dropbox and other cloud services. They have forgotten that the principal purpose of a printer is to print on as many sizes and types of paper as possible.

Out of curiosity I took a look at the Epson page on Trustpilot. I was shocked to see that nearly all the customer comments gave the minimum one star with scathing reviews of all the company's products and the Epson Support in particular.

Allowing for the misguided infatuation with cloud uploads Epson printers are probably not that bad. So what's going wrong? I decided to check the Canon printer reviews on Trustpilot. Same result. A typical comment was "AN ABSOLUTE DISGRACE ......... I tried for EIGHT HOURS to get my new Canon printer installed. Their customer service is a joke. One link takes you to another and another and another until you land up where you started. Nothing is of any help whatsoever".

Last year I purchased a Samsung phone and had exactly the same issue with so-called Support. The consequences of these experiences are (a) I will never purchase another Samsung or Epson device and (b) I am wary of ever spending too much money on electrical or IT devices because if they do not function properly you are on your own. I only purchase devices that, if push comes to shove, I can simply throw in the bin and try again with another company.

This is what happens when customer support is taken for granted. Entire industries sacrifice the option to sell high value items and all that is left is a race to who can offer the lowest price.

 

 

Has Google peaked?

Google support - 02 February 2024

I have a client, a sole trader, for whom I manage his Google Local account. Last year, after the usual difficulty always associated with Google, I registered his company with the Google Local advertising system.

This year I attempted to bring two more clients on to Google Local. One was a limited liability company of long standing. I had the usual registration issue because Google support staff are unable to read and understand UK Public Liability insurance documents properly. With the second company, a sole trader, the automated system kept sending back the same message "resend documents". After the fifth rejection I rang Google "customer support". It transpired that the issue was not with the documents at all. Google Local has decided to stop dealing with sole traders. Naturally, I said this was unreasonable. The response from the chap on the other end of the line was "we can choose not to deal with whoever we want. If you get refused admission to a bar there is nothing you can do about it".

There are now many signs that Google's grasp is considerably more restricted than its reach. They still have ambitions to be master of the virtual universe but that entity is now so huge that there are signs that even the mighty Google is losing its grip.

As any supermarket business will tell you, if you leave a chink in the market, someone will squeeze through it. And eventually the new guy on the block will grow to become a major competitor. If Google is now turning away advertising business (and it is) it will not be too long before some other enterprise finds a way of taking advantage, especially now that Google (and Apple) are under increasing scrutiny from the regulators.