It’s perfectly fine to partner with other companies as a way to offer additional services to your own clients.
But when you do it in a way that puts your clients at a disadvantage, you’re playing with fire (which as we all know, is something you’re not supposed to do).
End your week with a smile – watch this two-minute video of yours truly, as I share a specific example of what I mean.
Click below to watch…
{ 45 comments… read them below or add one }
Your shirt is great, but it looks better on you than it would me. Thanks for the video!
Is it because I’m so unreasonably muscular?
And thanks. BTW, I referenced you just the other day when talking to a client about someone who combined an interest (dogs) with a serious business as a way to differentiate themselves. So belated touche’s to you!
Great point, well-said, so true! Thanks Michael
Thanks Kelsey!
That wasn’t exactly the reason (being unreasonably muscular) I had in mind, but we can go with it. Thanks for the reference — Grace and I appreciate it very much!
I watched the entire video but could not hear you. I wear headphones and have all the settings on my computer (audio) turned up to max volume. I also have the YouTube setting turned all the way up. I still can’t hear you.
Can you adjust the max volume before you post a video?
Oh, I did hear one thing. After the half-way mark, you said, “And the point is,…..” but that was all I could hear.
thanks for helping out.
Hi Laurie!
I wish I had a better answer but I’m not sure how to fix. The only way to get that mic closer to my mouth is to clip it to my lip (not attractive) and there are no audio settings on the recording end. It’s not super loud on my end but very easy to hear, particularly with head phones. Might you have a techie friend who could adjust something on your end?
Michael
The audio was a bit soft on my end even with the volume sliders turned all the way up, but once I turned up the volume on my speakers I was able to hear you just fine. I was able to hear you over my laptop without my external speakers, but the audio was admittedly not as loud as many videos on Youtube.
Another great video, Michael.
Thanks Claudine! I appreciate your low standards.
Thanks for the great tips, Michael. You got me thinking about how much MY bank charges for checks, and to be careful about those offers from supposedly “friendly” partners. I like your fresh outlook and your shirt, too.
My pleasure, Elizabeth. You know I hate to brag, but i made the shirt myself (with much guidance from my son, Evan)!
Great post, as always, Michael.
I love that you continue to stress that making money is okay, but not at the expense of the other guy. Business owners will be SO MUCH more successful when they discover that the focus should be to help, not to exploit the customer.
Sooner or later, our true motives become as conspicuous as your shirt.
“Do unto others . . . “
Thanks Tim. I too enjoy the fact that rather than being a tradeoff, an approach that helps other people is actually profitable!
Michael
(Nice shirt segue too!)
Good advice, Michael. The subtext could be “don’t get greedy.”
And the shirt? Didn’t I see you on an infomercial selling timeshares?
I agree, Glen. Greedy is tempting but usually not so good.
And I thought those infomercial guys dressed a lot better than I (now I’m feeling pretty good)!
Hey there- I too could not hear the video, but when I went to pause the video, I noticed the volumn bar on the video itself. It was set at zero– problem solved, no techie required.
Great point on the video and I do love the shirt. Looks just like the one I made in 1972!
Thanks Sandy, that’s a good tip on the volume. I didn’t think to point that out!
And let me just go on record here, given all the shirt chit chat, that you can’t not feel good when wearing a tie-dye shirt on a sunny day!
Took two minutes to watch your video after a long Blue Penguin hiatus and was reminded what a bright, insightful and humorous guy you are. If you would only let your wife pick out your wardrobe, you’d be an even bigger small business advice superstar!
And now I remember why I like you so much, David! Thanks for watching and commenting (and you’re right about the need to get Linda involved).
I, too, had tech problems which previous times of stress prove to be pilot error. It was strangely comforting to see other “pilots” having similar woe. I’ll try all their successful tricks and see if this pilot can make things fly.
I did it! Just click the volume feature and it holds instead of closing. Push the large Play button and voila, Michael Katz spoke right up with his message. Even for non-workers it had value for me reminding me how important it is to pay attention to what site I’ve been sent.
Fantastic. So glad it worked for you, Marian.
Grrrr. I just got new personal checks! And I even knew to look elsewhere for my business checks.
I know you were using this as a demonstration for me as a business owner, not a check customer.
Thanks for reinforcing my empathy for my customers.
My pleasure, Leigh. And sorry to hear about the checks – I’ve been happy with Vistaprint on things I ordered. The customer service can be a bit hit or miss, but the output has always been top notch for me!
Nice work Michael! I have sung your praises far and wide in the last two weeks, to a constant contact regional director, colleagues in the business world and a fabulous balloon twister from Brooklyn, who graduated BU LAW also (yes, I am serious, and he is a professional entertainer, and NOT a clown!).
So now, will you take off that Ladies Night Apron and send it down here!!!! Thank you.
Thanks Diane! I’m getting pretty attached to those aprons though. OK, I will – and a special surprise in there to make up for the delay.
A great message Michael….but why are you still using checks (cheques) with all the new electronic methods of making payments available these days. All the best…Doug
A good point Doug! But some things still are easier that way – filling up the school lunch account for the kids; paying the person who watches our dog when we go away; blah, blah, blah. One day it will all be electronic I’m sure!
(We’re not as far down the curve as you Aussie’s I suspect!)
Actually, the subtext of the story is that the bank really doesn’t want you as a customer… which explains why they don’t care if the checks are overpriced. Your point, however, is still true – if you want your customers you shouldn’t try to screw them out of every possible nickel.
Indeed, you should leave your customers with, as they say in New Orleans, a “lagniappe” a little something extra (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagniappe) like the 13th bakery item in the baker’s dozen.
Michael,
I couldn’t hear your voice either. Here’s how you fix it. (I had the same problem on one of my videos and it took me FOREVER to figure it out.)
Go your Mac settings and click the “Sound” icon. Then click the “Output” tab. Make sure the output volume is maxed out (meaning, slide the little button over to the right.) Viola.
Dianna
And for those poor souls among us who aren’t wise enough to have a Mac?
I use my iphone and go straight to YouTube, so as far as I can tell, no output volume option. But … I thinking of changing platforms (using my flipcam) which hopefully will solve this (maybe).
Thanks, I will keep you posted!
PS — Love the video and the shirt and the tip for where to get checks. I pay huge dollars for business checks.
I recently reordered checks and thought they were expensive too but did it anyhow. I figured, I wouldn’t just order the minimum but double it so I would save on shipping. To my surprise, I was charge the full shipping on the double order since they ship each batch of checks separately. Grrr…I filled out the survey form from the bank and they reimbursed my shipping. Nice gesture! However, I’m glad to know where I can get inexpensive checks now.
Thanks for the reminder on choosing your vendors wisely.
Ouch! The good news, I think, is that there seem to be more and more options every day, making it harder for those who insist on keeping their own customers in the dark from doing so!
Michael: So what else is your bank suggesting to you that is costing you five times more than necessary? I know this is not your main point but when we connect our clients to other companies we have to be careful that the referral is not setting us up to lose clients as a result. I wonder how many of the banks customers have quietly gone away to somewhere else because of this type of offer. In Canada where we only have a choice of a very few banks (5 big national banks dominate the industry) the reported churn rate is about 25% as people become frustrated with exactly this kind of handling.
Thanks for pointing out an important caution when we deal with our clients.
That’s a great question, Lee. Your comment reminded me that I wrote about that very same bank last year, regarding a different practice of theirs, also disguised as a benefit to their customers!:
http://bluepenguindevelopment.com/2011/03/bank-job/
Michael
Another Canuck here. Thanks Michael for another great video.
My answer to banks (or other multinational corporations who make money their #1 priority) is to not support them. The local Credit Union has always done me well.
Hello Sharon! Now that is perhaps the best suggestion of them all.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Michael
I agree. In fact, the bank might have been able to negotiate a discount (rather than a pluscount?) for their customers. On the other hand, it’s possible that the companies that deal directly with banks take advantage of the banks’ desire to make things simple for their customers. By the way, I pay $13.41 for 150 checks. Thanks for the tip on buying checks separately!
Now imagine if your doctor tried to find you the best deal in lab work!
Ah, there’s the healthcare rub… very few people choose their medical service suppliers (from doctors on down) based on the lowest bid ;^)
Good points Ellen and Bruce! And I’m even more cynical when it comes to my bank – I’ve got to believe they (the bank) gets a kick back from the printing company!
I know. That’s one reason why the free market doesn’t work well with medical care. But why a doctor could choose to help to keep costs down. After all, Michael’s point if that as a business person, we can try to help our customers.
Hi Ellen/Michael – not to hijack this thread to get into medical costs, but…. Note that it is not unheard of for physicians to own/invest in local labs. Leaving cynicism behind and getting back to my point about low cost providers… If a lab test comes back wrong, and the physician selected the lab based on cost, well, you can imagine the resulting todo.
Actually, as a guess, I would be surprised if lab charges varied significantly from lab to lab. I wonder if that’s true.
My husband’s employer makes us use a specific lab because it’s cheaper, so I don’t think they’re all the same.
To get back to the bank, I would bring it to their attention. If it’s a big bank, you won’t get anywhere (which is why I like credit unions), but if it’s small and local, you might (although I’m betting against it) get an honest answer about whether they get a kickback and at least you can register your displeasure and tell them the price you got.