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How Would You Like a Business to Behave?
professorhojo asks: "These days on the 'net, it seems like a company can go from being regarded as a Good Citizen to Evildoer in a matter of hours (witness Yahoo!'s willingness to time and time again reinterpret their own privacy policy as it suits them and their advertisers). I am at the helm of a new software company and I want us to stand apart from the rest with rock solid ethics, and policies that put the user first, that won't change or waver at the behest of advertising money. What I want to know from you is simple:what are the essential things a company has to promise and stick to? More importantly, what things have companies done, which have made you do a double-take and totally reconsider doing business with them? Why am I asking this? Well, I believe that in the future, the ethics of a company will greatly impact on their bottom line. What's good for our customers is good for us, and customers will be drawn to us BECAUSE of it." It sounds good, but reality has a tendency of getting in the way of good ethics. What suggestions would you make to keep difficult choices from compromising the ethics you would like your company to embody?
"Don't be evil."
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However, the founder of the Computer Game Developers' Conference, Chris Crawford, wanted to CGDC to be a non-profit organization. But their treasurer wanted a for-profit corporation, he convinced the other members of the board that this was the way to go. Eventually the board members kicked Crawford out, took his stock and sold the conference for $3 million, giving Crawford only a small piece of what the others got.
I had second thoughts when I read this in the book "Chris Crawford on Game Design." All it takes is the other people in your company to decide your ethical ways of doing things are compromising profit. If this happens your screwed.
But by all means don't let something like this stop you from trying, I'm sure there are ways to prevent take overs, I just don't know what they are.
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What I want in a company is a good product that has a niche. Not just a code monkeys college product turned commercial (not that that is always bad... think samba).
Provide a good product that does something your competitors dont do or dont do well.
Document it and make it idiot proof and then back it up!
Good luck, good ethics will help you alot. Keep to your goals.
Boredom's not a burden anyone should bear.
Well, two things come to mind instantly.
First, register your software's copyright, and include a full and complete copy of the source, sufficiently well-commented that once the copyright expires, people will be able to make reasonable use of it. (not to mention learn from it whilst still copyrighted)
Second, don't use adhesive use contracts e.g. EULAs. There's nothing wrong with just outright selling software instead of making dubious claims of licensing it, and it doesn't leave you unprotected to do so. The last book you bought at Amazon didn't have a EULA -- why should your software?
-- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
One of the most important commodity you'll have to maintain is trust. This is not simply not changing your policies repeatedly; it is a combination of factors:
Privacy
Your customer's data is important information. Almost every type of company imaginable now takes andvantage of it, and shares it with others. This includes, but is not limited to: banks, phone, cable, utility and insurance companies, subscription-based services, etc. It's scary just how many companies will "opt you in" to their marketing schemes, some of which they no longer control once it leaves the company.
It is important that you protect your customer's data, both from fraud and industrial espianage... as well as from your own company. It's pretty straightforward: Think about what your company will do with the data, then ask yourself if you would trust your own personal information to your own company. If the answer is no, you might want to make some policy changes.
Customer Service
The United States is an interesting place. Customer service seems to be a far greater deal than it is elsewhere, according to all of my international friends and relatives. Because of this, your customer-facing employees can win you evangelist customers, or sink your company just with words over the phone. Here's a couple of tips:
Communication
Your actual policies aren't all that important. You will discover which ones will work, and which ones won't, based on customer response. But you must stick with those policies. From a customer perspective, what you tell them you will do is your policy. If you break your policy for a customer, you'd better be damn sure that they know that they shouldn't expect it in the future. It's even safer to not break your policies at all... but that is sometimes necessary to appease a disgruntled customer. But also bear in mind that this customer might not be in the right. If this is the case, it's not necessarily y
There are people out there in business who aren't complete sleazeballs, who understand that spamming (either via email or fax) is not an ethical way to grow a business, that 'human resources' means more than just hiring and firing. Find them and hire them. Listen to them, and let their ethical lead create an honest workplace.
While we're at it, resist the lure of VC funds for as long as you can. VCs are (almost-universally) ethically-suspect, not-very-smart people who have too much money and lots of friends at the golf course. As soon as they get a hook into your company, the rot will set in - even if it's only you having to BS them at board meetings.
Just be yourself. I'll figure out for myself an appropriate level of trust and respect. I mean, I don't really understand your question. What people want is usually pretty obvious. It's also impossible to give everyone everything they want and remain in business. Figuring out the balance between those two is what management is there to do. It's not something you can sum up in a neat formula.
When your company is down on its luck, it's easy to say things like, "oh, our customers would really love to hear about all of these great offers we have for them," as opposed to, "let's not spam these people who trusted us not to inundate them with crap."
It's probably a fair guess that most companies don't start making ethically questionable decisions like the above example unless they would otherwise go out of business. What you really need to ask yourself is whether or not you are prepared to let your company go under rather than letting go of your ethical standards. It's not an easy question to answer.
--One more thing:
o DON'T force your employees to work >8.5 hours a day. Hire enough people to spread the work around.
o If anyone has to work over 8.5 hours, PAY OVERTIME.
o And remember to hire *good* middle management who will actually stick up for, and defend, their employees - NOT mistreat them.
o Promote from within wherever possible, and give good raises if someone has to go from hourly to salary.
o DON'T take advantage of salaried workers. The tendency is to overwork them. Make sure all their hard work is appreciated.
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== WolfriderV6 == I'm willing to admit that *I just might* be wrong... Are you??
The #1 thing that pisses me off about many companies is their disregard for the customer when they discontinue products. One month they are hyping the product as the optimal solution to your problems, the next month, they kill the product, drop support for it, remove all references to the product from their web site, and pretend it never existed.
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Furthermore, the big disappointment will be the customers themselves. As you strive to ship a quality product for a fair price, they will beat you up wanting more, for less before it's done. Or as a friend said, "they want God in a box for free"
I wish you well. You will live in exciting times.
"Eve of Destruction", it's not just for old hippies anymore...
There are some businesses who say, obeying the law and keeping people safe is all business ethics should be about.
To me, though, great businesses are all about truth. They know the truth of their own capabilities, the truth of what their customers need, the truth of what works and what doesn't, and without bullshitting anyone, they just get on and do the business.
That's not to say you dont have marketers or lawyers or accountants: you need these in modern business. But as soon as you have marketers and lawyers battling over just how much to lie to the public, and accountants doing "creative accounting", you might as well shut up shop.
"Well, put a stake in my heart and drag me into sunlight."
That's a huge one for me - I just did overtime for the last 4 weeks while we were running one of the courses the charity I work for runs.
I'm not getting paid for it, just some extra time off over christmas - however I'm more than happy to do it because all through the time I've been thanked for doing the work, and generally enjoyed myself.
Another big one is to make sure your employees are happy doing what they're doing - and more importantly, if they're *not* happy, listen to that fact, and try to let them do more of what they do enjoy.
Speaking as one who has been in business for some time, I'd say if you think being ethical is going to help you get ahead in business you are engaging in wishful thinking.
What is right is not always expedient.
What is expedient is not always what is right.
Honesty starts with yourself: exactly how much are you willing to compromise on your beliefs? Which ones are really important?
If the answer to the first is zero and the second is all of them, then you either are purer than virtually anyone else in business or you haven't really figured out where you want to draw the line. If you don't decide in advance then you'll probably end up letting circumstances draw the line for you.
In the end, the main check is this: what would be the result if the thing I am about to do were made public? In a sense, ethical behavior can help reduce certain downsides from recklessly unethical behavior. On the other hand, in extreme circumstances, if expedience is your only guide then you will take the Faustian bargain: either your company continues with tainted ethics, or it dies and the people workig for it are let go. This is hard because, selfishness aside, people depend on you and if you are sensitive you will feel this as a moral obligation, and you will have a hard time teasing out what is purely selfish and what you are doing for your people.
Integrity is the one ethical virtue which is a true business asset.
Integrity in the business sense is when your deeds reflect your words. This can be a competitive advantage. But it's harder, because it means knowing when (and how) to say no.
But in the end, the full spectrum of ethics doesn't do much for your business. You must choose the ethical way because it is what you believe in, because of your self-regard, the desire to preserve your own character.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
I would take issue to the oft-quoted (even in this discussion) statement "The customer is always right".
.0001 point microfont on the bottom says "by cashing this check you agree to join this plan that is going to cost you and arm, leg, and the gonad of your choice, for a cost orders of magnitude greater than this check is worth."
The customer is not always right. However, the customer always thinks he is right.
If you blindly follow your customer's whims you will end up with a car designed by Homer Simpson that nobody wants.
If you LISTEN to your customers, and then THINK about what they said, however, you will end up with a product that they will want to buy.
However, the tricky bit is dealing with a customer that you disagree with - you must show tact in how you blow them off.
Case in point: I used to be a regular customer of the Super8 motel chain when I travelled. I would stay there preferentially to other chains. (you may note the use of the past tense in those statements).
One day I received one of those "fake check" mails from them - what looks like a real check, but in
Those sorts of things piss me off. I found the name of the CEO of the company, and sent him a nice letter explaining that I felt such advertising was unacceptable, and that while I was sure that they didn't really MEAN to do that, they should look into the company that they hired to do this and re-evaluate their position.
In short, I gave them every possible out to use to say "OOPS! Sorry!". I was NOT accusitory in the letter.
I seriously injured my jaw on the floor upon reading their response. It wasn't a polite-but-bland "YourConcernsAreImportantToUsThankYou" form response. It was not a "You are right, the responsible individuals have been sacked" reponse.
It was a "Shut up! You Suck! We aren't doing anything wrong! This is NOT misleading! IS NOT! NEENER NEENER NEENER! We are making money doing this, HOW DARE YOU CRITICIZE US!" response.
Needless to say, they lost my business, and I take every opportunity to pass this story along to others.
In summary - listen to your customers - they may not always BE right, but they always THINK they are right. If you don't THINK they are right, then DON'T just blow them off.
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Yes it is, but a really ethical company is ethical EVEN if it costs them money... The problem is that a lot of companies who were previously ethical, were ethical, as long as they made money through a Dam's water entrance.
And now that they struggle to survive, they eject the Ethics, while the regular citizens expect the ethics to sink them, or at least, that the Ethics is so important to company culture, that they are willing to die with it.
The parent is 100% correct in defining communication as one of the things your customers will notice. I've discovered that the timing of communication is even more important than the content, and can make or break certain aspects of your business.
The most pertinent advice I can give is this: never let your inboxes turn into blackholes. Nothing will ruin your reputation faster than slacking on email. I've had to do this on occasion (there are only 3 of us in my company, and when we're all very busy with a project, email tends to take a back burner). Believe me when I say that neglecting your business email will take its toll slowly but suddenly: you don't notice there's a problem for a couple of days, then 10 people email you telling you they want a refund, and by that time, you've alienated those people and lost potential business from their friends.
During business hours, every single email that comes into your company should be replied to within 1 hour, tops. Notice I'm not saying that every support request should be resolved within an hour, that's ridiculously optimistic. I'm just saying that that everything should get a response within an hour. You'll be amazed at how well this works towards placating existing customers, and impressing potential ones.
Don't use autoresponders or form letters. Even if you don't have time to deal with the issue right now, even if you won't be able to get around to it until tomorrow, take 30 seconds and type a brief personal reply to let them know you received their message and will be getting back to them ASAP.
Most of the time people contact your company, it will be because they want to clarify something before making a purchase, or they want help with something they've already purchased. If you make them wait for a response, even for a day, I've found that one of two things will often happen:
1) If it's a potential customer, they'll give up on you and seek a competing product/service. They won't be afraid to tell you, either; when you email them 36 hours later they'll reply "Sorry, I didn't hear back so I went with $COMPETITOR_X."
2) If it's an existing customer, they become much more likely to dispute any amount you've billed them. I have had customers demand refunds because I took a day to reply to their support request. We don't offer or guarantee any sort of response time, but once they've sent in a support request and waited a few hours, they're going to get antsy.
"Hi Bob, I got your email and I'm looking into this issue. I'll get back to you with a resolution either tonight or tomorrow. Thanks!" is a lot better than 24 hours of silence. The customer knows you got the message, knows you're aware of the issue, and knows it may be awhile before you take care of it. While he or she might have hoped for a faster resolution, that one little email might prevent a chargeback, or it might keep a potential customer from going to the competition.
Reply to everything the moment you see it, whether you have time to handle it then or not. Your customers will appreciate it.
Good luck to you!