- Be curious
- Play - Laugh - Fall - Be yourself - Cry - Your CEO never ever have lunch with staff other than the senior managers.
- Your CEO never ever ask brilliantly stupid questions. - Your CEO never ever admit he does not know something, anything. - Your CEO never ever drop you an email. - Your CEO never ever joke about himself/herself. - Your CEO never ever apologize. - Your CEO never ever listen. - Your CEO never ever make any mistake. - Your CEO never ever talk with you. My sister has been going to her company's headquarter recently for some project work.
As all of us know, most (if not all) CEOs have their offices located in the headquarters. Out of curiosity, I asked her if she has ever seen her CEO in person. This may sounds stupid, but if you're located at a back end office, a branch or overseas, you've probably only seen your CEO on TV, newspapers and magazines. She said she saw her CEO last week. To which I asked, "Did he take the same lift as you all?" She replied, "Yes. He wears suit to work." Did I just ask another stupid question? Well, I know of a CEO who takes a private lift to his office. And what does it mean? He'll be able to save time and reach his office faster instead of waiting, and possibly fighting for the lift with the rest of the people working in the same building. Call it a privilege. After all, not all CEOs have the luxury of a private lift. But isn't the CEO missing out on something more important? What if he's in the same lift as his company's staff? Could he make an effort to chat with them? To make a connection to find out more about what's happening on the ground. I remembered when I was working for a big organization previously. I had to go to the headquarter for meeting and happened to take the same lift as my CEO. Of course I recognize him. He had gone out for a break to grab a cup of Starbuck coffee. I couldn't remember if I had my staff pass hanging on my neck that let him knows I'm a staff. But since we're going to the same floor (there's only two of us), it's easy to make a guess. I could either be a staff or a guest. Perhaps he was too tired to talk, or in deep thought or just wanted a few seconds of peace in the lift, he kept quiet in the lift. Anyway, it's not his job to entertain me. On the other hand, I was expecting him to start a conversation with me. To ask how are we coping. To ask what I liked about working for the company. But seeing that he was in a world of his own, I did not initiate a chat with him too. Is it an opportunity lost? Wasn't he interested to find out how his staff are coping with the launch? What are the teething problems the ground was facing every day? And even if I were a guest, what was my opinion of working with the company? What about you? Singapore's Department of Statistics just published the following figures for April 2014:
Sales of watches and jewellery, recreational goods, apparel and footwear, department stores, medical goods and toiletries fell between 1.5 per cent and 10.9 percent over the same period last year. On the other hand, sales of telecommunications equipment and computers, motor vehicles, optical goods and books, furniture and household equipment and F&B increased between 2.1 per cent and 5.7 per cent in the same time period. There was a drop of between 0.3 per cent and 1.3 per cent for food caterers and other eating places, such as cafes and canteens. Fast food outlets saw an increase of 2.1 per cent in receipts. Are you going to turn your cafe into a fast food restaurant? Are you going to sell computer in addition to apparels? Last sunday, I passed by the supermarket on my way to the wet market. It was relatively quiet and I thought I must be too early. On the way back, I stopped by the supermarket to grab some groceries. The supermarket was just as quiet. Not the usual scene that you will see on a Sunday morning. There's no sight of housewives, elderly and families with their children in tow. Only two cashier counters were opened and there were only 3 to 4 customers queuing. Gone are the snacking queue that extend to the shelves aisle. It's the same scene when I went to a hypermarket in a shopping mall. On monday, as I was taking the lift down from a carpark, the lady in the lift turned and asked me, "Do you think it's strange today? Usually I couldn't find an empty lot on this level at this hour. But today, there's so many." She thought that there's something going on or happened. I turned to her and said confidently, "It's the school holiday." Not sure when it started, going overseas for tour has become a ritual for many families in Singapore. Well, although there are still people who do not travel overseas because their kids are preparing for exams (higher schools) or personal or work commitment, it's still not difficult to sense that. The buses and trains are less crowded. The queues at supermarkets and restaurants are shorter. And you see many more of your friends and relatives checking in at the airport. In business, there are ups and downs. Some months your business is better and some months a little worse. If you are in the retail business, how you like public holidays. With an extra off day from work, people have the time and opportunity to go out and spend money. But when a public holiday falls right before or after the weekend, people are taking short trips overseas, all thanks to the influx of budget airlines. In fact, it has become so much cheaper to spend a whole day in Johor Bahru, which is just a few kilometers away from Singapore-Malaysia causeway than having a meal in a restaurant here. Even public holidays that fall in the middle of the week is no longer any issue to travel overseas. My neighbor just came back from 12-days trip to Korea. She came back with a full luggage of clothes, more than enough to last her one year. And guess what? Each piece costs only $5. Trendy and good quality. And with the Kpop craze still going strong, its fashion is going to continue influence. She proudly proclaims, "Paris Baguette is so much cheaper in Korea." I know for sure she'll never patronize the outlet here. Well, you might argue that not everybody can afford to fly overseas for shopping. After all, things aren't that cheap after you factor in the airfare and accommodation. You can argue that people need to eat. Maybe that's the reason why so many new start-ups are in the F&B industry. That is very true. I'm sure there are consumers who rationalize it this way too. I used to think likewise. However, you can't deny that there are many people who are, like my neighbor, holding back. And with things getting more expensive, people are holding on to their purse string real tight. But the fun of traveling is something that cannot be matched. The culture, scenery, people, food and weather. This is already her third overseas trip this year. And she has one coming up in July, going to Bangkok. People are going overseas to spend their money. They are going to retail store to check out the things before buying them online. What are you going to do to keep your business afloat? |
AuthorOutrageous Marketing Archives
May 2020
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