Blank Space

Love's a game, wanna play?

Most customer relationships start nicely with your traditional "nice to meet you" routine and promises of showing them incredible things. But when the magic and newness are gone, and there are madness and sin in the air, and they realize you were the mistake, you can tell from the look on the face they no longer want to play, and you have lost at the game of love.

Game Over Without Communication

When and how are the questions most companies ask, but few businesses take what the customers say to heart. The marketing, sales, and operations departments go off on different tangents and rarely share data. The lack of collaboration in this process will eat through profits without a return on investment and further alienates the customer. If only companies realize many answers to problems are available through customer feedback and are right in front of their faces. The failure to communicate within the organization and having no central knowledge base leaves blurred lines and even more blank spaces for all stakeholders. Many organizations' significant problems are related to continuous data mismanagement, repeated poor collaboration, and failed data integrity. Those problems can be game over for your business.

New Money and the Ugly Truth Behind Hit Putting lipstick on a pig does not change the fact that it is still a pig. Re-branding a low customer retention company without putting in a customer relationship management tool and digital strategy will not change it from being a dying company. Rebranding is excellent, as keeping it fresh is always wise, but it is pointless without core logic. A suit and tie are all nice, but re-branding doesn't solve your problem if you do not address what made them think you were a mistake in the first place. Customers can read you like a magazine, and it is not funny because the rumors will fly, and they will tell everyone when and how you failed short. So even if you manage to fake it for a weekend or two as a profitable guy business, your lousy guy business reputation will follow and will still go down in flames.

Many companies have this happen, and even with lots of funding, many mistakes are made. The short time high is not worth the flames, and it will leave you breathless but not in the right way. Your business was young, and you were reckless and took things way too far in the wrong direction, and it left a nasty scar, but it's not too late. Some companies will tell you that it is insane and you should start from a blank space, but why walk away into pretty lies? Why not fix the issues and address the problem head-on? It seems simple, but it rarely happens in companies. Customers have empathy and will appreciate your growth from your mistakes and that you reached out to them and asked for grace. The right solution can make the tables turn. And you can love the game and rewrite your name with pride. For more information on how to better prepare your business, contact us at info@tasksuite.com.

By Charl Naude, TaskSuite