Sat Feb 27, 2021 10:10 am
I have no direct experience running a small business but I have studied, taught, consulted, and generally understand internal business culture. And when SOM made the major move of consolidating its entire online operation under one roof way back when, I said uh-oh, Long Neck, we have a problem. Immediately (to borrow from Winston Churchill), a big iron curtain descended between the company and its customer base. It came down quickly and hard. SOM let it be known they were in charge, not the customers; they would tolerate no nonsense from their customers; that basically the customer would speak only when spoken to. My perception was that the major issue, from their perspective, was not expansion, improvement, or even profitability. The issue was control. No talk-back. No complaints. No dissent. Don't bother us with your nonsense. I don't visit these board much anymore but it sounds like nothing has changed in this regard.
I didn't and still don't understand where this comes from. But when that is the attitude you project to your customer base, you are on a downward flight path.
