Tag Archives: communications

Budgeting Communications a Must for 2009

This year has been a horrible year. Budgets are getting slashed and many franchisors are conserving as much cash as possible for 2009. However, the double edge sword of the matter is that CEOs are pushing their franchise sales teams to generate more qualified leads and close more qualified deals. The problem is that without creative measures, leads will not magically come in all by themselves.

Creativity will be a huge trend in lead generation campaigns in 2009. But creativity comes at an expense.

I know it’s time to conserve cash, but if these creative measures can produce steady leads and your top notch team can close the deals, then isn’t it better to spend in a horrible economy? Won’t spending help your brands not only survive but thrive ahead of the competition?

If you haven’t invested in a communications team to drive leads in 2009, you should. In fact, you must. If your brand falls behind the curve, the competition will take over and when things go from horrible to great, your brand will be too far behind the competition in relevancy.

Tipping: Is it becoming too much

No matter what your job is or your financial status, you know the economy sucks. We are all slightly nervous by the stock market continuing to tumble and our super power country no longer running the world, but limping. Pennies are no longer tossed to the ground, rather stacked up in our retro piggy banks. So, with all that in mind, why are businesses still obnoxiously pushing tipping?

Servers at a restaurant, I get. They are accustomed to getting a little thank you for offering a friendly smile. A limo driver, same thing. A delivery guy, sure. But now it’s being taken a little deeper.

This morning, I decided to venture to the new Dunkin’ Donuts, formerly known as a PJ’s Coffee. Friendly service greeted me at the drive thru. Friendly service greeted me at the window. But, what I found slightly ridiculous was a DD cup taped to the window that said TIPS in black writing.

Now, trendy coffee shops, I get. But a DD? Sure there is friendly service, but I am not sitting down, I am on the go, and the interaction is limited. I will tip if I am given an experience, but at a drive thru?

Let me step into the employee’s shoes. Same situation, crappy economy, why not try to make an extra buck without doing anything for it? I get it. I understand it. I just don’t like it.

What I found even more interesting was that the cup was taped directly below a superior customer service sign. We are going to tell you we are great and then will expect you to pay us for providing you with customer service.

WRONG.

What are your experiences with tipping? Did this DD go too far? I am interested in hearing your thoughts.