What worries you more – runaway business or runaway government?
A person could be forgiven for head-scratching after reading the results of a survey by Gallup in late January. When asked, "What worries you more, too much regulation of business by government or not enough regulation of business by government?," 57% said too much regulation and 37% said not enough.
What's going on here? All the recent polls show trust in corporations at or near historic lows. According to Gallup's survey about six months ago, only 22% expressed trust in banks and only 16% said they trusted big business.
Okay. So it's fairly safe to say that Americans are skeptical that businesses have their best interests at heart. But here's where the Obama Administration and Congress may be going off track: citizens don't believe that the answer is in regulating and legislating businesses into doing the right thing.
And by the way, according to Gallup, there is a dramatic split in how Republicans and Democrats view this. More than 8 in 10 Republicans are against more government regulation, compared to about one in three Democrats who are against more regulation.
The takeaway for businesses? Do more to show your commitment to your customers. Don't misread that. The takeaway is not to SELL more to customers. It's to do more to show your commitment to your customers. Better service. Better explanations of your policies. When something goes wrong, do your level best to fix it. Be in touch, even when you're not trying to get more business.
It's all about being a step ahead of the needs and desires of customers.
Do we need more regulation of banks? You bet. That system rewards risky behavior - at the expense of Main Street investors. But being a step ahead of your customers will be viewed far more favorably by most Americans than more government regulation.
Comments
Where the numbers appear to show a contradiction, I see the expression of a cultural trait: Americans prefer to extend trust, but insist that trust be repaid.
In effect, the people in those polls are in favor of giving corporations enough rope to hang themselves -- which is a mixed blessing, and an implicit challenge.
I think this simply shows that many people are skeptical about the motives of ALL institutions, public or private, governmental or corporate. In particular, they are concerned about the moral drag-down and temptations that leaders of large entities encounter. Democrats are just generally more optimistic (rightly or wrongly, depending on the issue!) about the capability of government to alter behavior. The ability in today's world to communicate more rapidly (and to mis-communicate with greater influence) only exacerbates the issue but also creates a heightened need and opportunity for effective, honorable, ethical, and straightforward public relations.
@Jim, if all I had to lose by offering big business greater trust was their products I would be all too happy. But, as seen by the recent economic meltdown, giving corporations too much rope is the best way to hang us all.
This is like the time when the fishing industry in New England fished the North Atlantic dry. Then, when the government suggested regulation they pulled the most amazing pirouette and said they can "regulate themselves." Obviously not.
What is most amazing to me is that even in the middle of a financial disaster caused partially by the banking industry, we have even less faith in our government than in the people that helped us get in the trouble we are in.
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