My lousy business model

Bryan Spondre keeps calling me out as a Grumpy Blogger – and it seems I am even up for an award.

It’s true, and what’s worse is that I tend to rail on the businesses that I work with – who would want to be my bank, for example?

However it also seems that some businesses are actually reading this stuff and trying to avoid being the next target. Good for them, and good on people like @hades who are helping them along.

While I may write out of frustration, I write mainly because I want to help companies get better. It’s a great feeling when companies like Kiwibank demonstrate that they are listening, and even greater if a blog post and everyone’s comments catalyze positive change within a business.

Bernard Hickey sees the point:

In Kiwibank’s case, as with some others, I followed up the post with a (free) meeting. I’ve received calls from various senior folks from other companies over the years as well, and had accelerated customer service from a few. Who knows what goes on behind the scenes – many corporates are unable to respond given their internal constraints.

However my strategy of highlighting poor businesses experiences isn’t the best way to attract paying clients. I think nzKoz put it best when he responded to my tweet about BNZ above: