Lessons from the Special Election
So Democrat Martha Coakley lost a U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts Tuesday. Republican Scott Brown won, and supporters of health care reform saw their veto-proof Senate disappear.
But it would be a mistake to attribute Coakley’s loss to her support of health care reform. And businesses should pay particular attention.
Brown would have won even if health care reform did not hang in the balance. The reason? Americans remain angry about the bank bailout. They’re enraged at what they perceive as excessive profits and bonuses and extravagant executive compensation – with their bailout dollars.
They stopped opening their 401(k) statements months ago. So they don’t know that stocks and mutual funds have rebounded. But what they do believe is that very little has changed in the way banks and most large corporations operate.
For businesses, the message is pretty simple: your customers are angry. They believe you should be regulated more heavily, especially if your business is financial services. They despise your CEO. And they don’t trust that you’re in business to help them; they think you’re in business to take advantage of them and serve yourselves.
Most of their attitude is driven by weariness of a prolonged economic downturn. Consumers don’t mind if companies are making healthy profits, as long as they are doing fine financially. And they don’t believe they are.
So for businesses, the lessons are: Displays of empathy. Frugality. Sound values. And, as always, the Golden Rule: treat customers the way you’d like to be treated.
Comments
Well said ... and excellent advice for any business ... especially those operating in the regulatory cross-fire.
Leave a Comment