Pop Stars and Idols

I’ve taken a little time out recently to watch Idols, the TV search for one highly talented pop singer vs. Coca Cola Popstars and its not dissimilar quest, but for a pop group. I’m saddened by the crass behaviour of the Idols judges.

It’s an anomaly that the Idols competition has a panel of judges featuring just one singer – Mara Louw. The conflict among the judges regarding whether contestants are or are not harmonizing with each other, is a good indicator of the need for a restructure. As the participant elimination rounds have progressed, so has the ego of Gareth Cliff, erstwhile Radio 702 talk show host and present newbie disc jockey with 5FM.

Randall Abrahams however, is my biggest shock. Coming from a ‘previously disadvantaged group’ himself, I assume he’s in touch with low self esteem on the part of many youngsters from those communities. Yet he and his fellow judges seem quite comfortable with taking the last vestiges of aspiration, hope, self-worth and respect that these kids may have, and crushing them with a size ten Wellie into the Idols logo on the floor. If these judges seek to emulate the infamous Simon Cowell, forget it. They lack the finesse, the linguistic ability and they constitute poor TV viewing.

There’s an old Eastern teaching which urges: ‘Tell the truth in the way that commits least injury.’ Mocking a Cape Flats teenager’s choice in shoes or dress before she or he even gets to sing, is unnecessary and cruel. Gareth Cliff brought a whole new low to insight and idiom when he opined to one victim, “If tomato sauce could sing, that’s what it would sound like.” Huh? I’ve always known Cliff had ‘a mouth’ but I admired his quick intelligence. However, watching his present immature behaviour indicates a clear need for him to beef up his social, emotional sensitivity and people skills. If there’s a special hell designed for people who crush the spirits of other humans, Cliff and his Idols cohorts have condos reserved in their names.

In total contrast, are the Coca Cola Popstars judges. Faced with equally mind-numbing lack of talent and the inability to recognize it, by some wannabees they craft tact, compassion and honesty into an art form. Kofi Annan would be proud of them. Nobody is turned away with a curt, humiliating sting in the tail sound-bite. Nobody is advised to ‘stick to long distance running – the further the better’ or told ‘you know you have no talent.’ The process is so different, and more effective as a result. In contrast to the totally stodgy and humourless Idols boot-camp regimen, there’s spontaneity, laughter and a spirit of appropriate competitiveness in Coca Cola Popstars.

Sitting through mediocre performances is exhausting. But if the people auditioning are giving it their best shot – however awful it may be on the day – they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. The Idols judges wouldn’t survive one day in a commercial enterprise if their salaries were dependent solely on their people skills.

Some indefatigable Coca Cola Popstars contestants have dogged several regional sing-offs in a determined effort to better their previous failed attempts. I think the abused Idols ‘rejects’ are more likely owed counseling or post traumatic stress disorder therapy.

The Coca Cola Popstars judges sing along with some of the kids. They boogie when someone has particularly good rhythm; they assist when someone blanks out on a word, a line or the musical key. They are warm, worthy and lovely people. They are role models for how we should give performance feedback to others. Honestly, yet couched in thoughtful, non-destructive language. The Idols judges simply validate Ralph Waldo Emerson’s dictum that ‘Taking to pieces, is the trade of those who cannot construct.’

When we’re in the position of having an impact on the self-worth of other people – in particular young people – we have a reciprocal moral obligation to exercise that power with great caution. When we behave like verbal thugs, we’re showcasing our own lack of talent for dealing appropriately and maturely with others. Rather than taking a bow, the Idols judges should hang their heads in shame. An old Hindi saying cautions that if you give a glass of water to the man taking a cow to slaughter, you become a participant in the slaughter. So if I were an Idols sponsor, I’d demand a say over who the judges are next time around, or I’d spend my promotions budget elsewhere.

Throwing away your reputation

A reputation is something acquired, rather than worked toward, over a long period of time. The brand name or ‘equity’ associated with that reputation can be worth a fortune. Or, once tainted, it can become your greatest liability. Reputation is a delicate bloom. The public are short on good memories and big on retention of one slip-up. So it begs the question – why would you, without careful thought and assurance of quality control, relinquish your business’ reputation into the hands of someone else? Too many businesses today are doing just that.

I’ve been a subscriber to Financial Mail (FM) longer than I can remember. My week just wasn’t complete without it. Courtesy of the relentless inefficiency of the Post Office, I often had to read my FM several days late. But read it I did. This year, I didn’t receive a notification for renewal of subscription. It just stopped arriving. After a series of attempts to renew, endless waits to get through to the subscription call centre, unreturned calls and the like, I gave up. Then something interesting happened. After two weeks, I found my addiction to FM waning. I could actually get through the week without it. Business Report, FM’s stablemate Business Day and Moneyweb proved more than adequate to keep me thoroughly briefed on business news. So I was weaned, involuntarily and through someone’s inefficiency, from a career-long subscription and addiction to FM. It was rendered obsolete courtesy of a badly managed subscription renewal service.  About a week later, I received two printed notices in my mailbox inviting me to subscribe to FM.

I haven’t used this space to take a gratuitous swipe at the FM. But the experience reminded me afresh of the danger of leaving some aspect of your business in the hands of someone, or people, who seem not to care. Indian, Jewish, Chinese and many other communities have historically used family members in their businesses, because they understand the need for ‘ownership’ and an appropriately vested interest. When it’s your money going out the door through wasteful phone calls or unnecessarily discarded packaging material, you tend to notice. When it isn’t, we’re not as inclined to care. It’s to this issue that business, with its falling service standards and ‘don’t-care’ unfocussed employees, needs to pay attention.

I recently had to deal with Capital Alliance on behalf of my elderly godmother. Their call centre employees and indeed even the manager of the call centre didn’t understand the scope and authority conferred on me by a general power of attorney, as opposed to a special power of attorney. Nearly fourteen days of frustration culminating in a call to their MD’s office, was required to educate them. Their letter of apology indicates that they now understand how a power of attorney functions. But the experience with their call centre was deeply annoying.

Many companies have call centres or switchboard operators who answer the phone as if through a wad of Kleenex. To this day, I wouldn’t know the name of several of them if it were up to the operators.

For business, this means giving very careful thought to outsourcing facets of your organization that have a direct impact on your customers, clients or suppliers. The behaviour of the outsourced operation becomes what business legend Jan Carlzon (of SAS airlines fame) dubbed, ‘A moment of truth.’ Carlzon emphasized that it doesn’t matter how that encounter with your organization occurs, or through whom it occurs – it has implications for your reputation and your customer retention.

The customer is not interested in your infrastructure problems or your outside supplier issues. They’re doing business with you when someone answers ‘your’ phones. Example: I’ve just had a quality assurance call from the UK. The incompetence of the British call centre functionary who called me to check on my Hewlett Packard South Africa service centre experience, was mind numbing. She was incapable of working ‘off-script’ – a common call centre problem. As a result, any information HP get on my experience, will be useless.

If you’re going to outsource – whether through a call centre or not – make sure you remain the brand custodian. It’s you who’s invested the time, money and energy in building your brand equity and reputation. Why on earth would you want to abdicate responsibility and leave that precious asset in the hands of some socially unsophisticated yobbo who doesn’t give a fig about your business? You might as well just throw it away yourself. Think about it.