It was right after the 2016 election cycle and people on both sides of the political spectrum were divided like never before. I advised Business people to stay out of the fray. Because, everyone has their own opinions, and some you will not agree with. But for the most part, if you are a business you will do business with anyone who wants to pay you or buy your products. (Within reason of course, not speaking of hate groups or the like)
So now, I am bringing up the same topic again. We just had the most contentious Supreme Court hearings ever. Once again both sides are so divided. So again I am giving the same advice. In terms of your business website and social media accounts, stay out of politics.(Unless of course you are a political adviser, or commentator makes a living off of politics)
Succeeding in many businesses today means having a broad appeal. You want to take in as much business as possible. Can you imagine if Amazon before they would allow you to purchase asked what your political views were? Of course they wouldn’t, and this of course is a silly example. At the same time, the point is valid, get business from everyone you can, and maximize your profits. This of course is simple economics, but it is something that can be affected by something as simple as a post which many of your potential customers/clients find offensive. The last thing your business needs is to be boycotted.
Personally, I even advised clients to stay out of the fray on their personal social media accounts. The reason is simple, a lot of times you get referrals and recommendations from friends & contacts on social media. Now if you alienate people, you are probably eliminating half your referral sources, at least among your friends and contacts.
Social media has allowed people to spread their views far and wide. It Is one of the truly great things about being an American with free-speech. But that isn’t what this post is about. I am taking a look strictly from a business standpoint. So yes, while you’ll certainly have a right to let your feelings be known, as a small business it certainly isn’t advisable and not a great marketing strategy.
When you are in a service business like managing websites, it is inevitable that once in a while you will lose a client. We understand this, and are proud at our retention rate which is in the very high 90% range. The thing people should remember is to be very careful when starting with a new provider, as the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. But then you get there and the grass is burned out and looks like crap.
I recently had this happen. I had a client for a while and built them a custom site which was built 100% to the specifications of their designer. Fast forward a couple years and they left, unhappy with of all things the design (which came from them). Their other complaint had to do with the content. Funny, the content came directly from their marketing people. So the two reasons they left had nothing whatsoever to do with us.
Now, in their defense they were probably told by some quick talking salesman that he could achieve everything they didn’t like about their old website. Sure enough, I checked it out and not only did they not fulfill any of the things they thought were missing from our site, the site was built with a cheap e-commerce product and lousy looking theme. They basically went from the e-commerce pinnacle used by Nike and other world-class companies to the cheapo e-commerce platform chosen by Joe’s Hemp Jewelry Stand. No one in the world could possibly look at this website and say “wow that’s much better”.
So they went from a custom designed very cool site to quite frankly something that makes you want to quickly go elsewhere.
Now, I am a big enough developer to realize that there are times where somebody builds a better site than I may have. It has happened once or twice. LOL. I also have to say, there are times where personality wise you just don’t click with someone. And they will find any excuse to go elsewhere. My approach is to just wish them the best, and send them on their way. Nine out of 10 times they will come back as they realize not only is the site inferior, the service they are receiving doesn’t come close to matching what we gave them. We answer every support ticket on the same day. No one else in the industry comes close. This people find out very quickly when they’re waiting two weeks on a minor text change.
Bottom line: When you are thinking of leaving, make sure the company you are going to provide you with an ARL. This is an approved requirements list that they need to approve and deliver on. So they don’t come back and say “oh we can’t do that”. “Oh, that’s extra”. “Sorry that will take another three months”. Etc. etc.
Your Thoughts? Let me know your thoughts on the subject. Either fill out the comment form below, or contact us.
