Internet scam occurrences increase along with the explosion of e-commerce

Recently, I had blogged about the upsides of e-commerce. The technology explosion would see the shutting down of malls and common places where transactions and in-person demands take place. Ironically, I had come across an article in The Globe and Mail suggesting the not-so-easy transition into a wholly virtual business world. As e-commerce becomes increasingly popular, many are quick to exploit the fairly new business opportunity to scam unsuspecting customers. Not being the first to do so, Tony Wilson, suspected that he had been a target of a scam that disguised itself as the well-known Canadian brand, Canada Goose. While home-shoppers constantly have to remain alert for increasingly frequent scams online, this might be one of the remaining issues that keep physical shops and shopping centres in business. As for businesses that provide online shopping apart from in-store shopping, the implications of going virtual require thorough planning on operations. These businesses might consider allocating part of their expenses on strong internet security in order for their website to be verifiable by customers. Attention to imposters on the web must be paid thoroughly, especially for businesses that do not already have a website of their own.

The Globe and Mail article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/sb-growth/day-to-day/my-christmas-goose-dont-get-scammed-like-i-did/article16088567/

Undoubtedly, the agreement between BC Hydro and opposing stakeholders regarding the construction of the site C dam will not reach a consensus any time soon. As the Globe and Mail article has mentioned, it will take convincing argument backed up with just as convincing data to assure the First Nations and many environmentalists that the construction of Site C will leave a sufficient amount of natural land in tact for wildlife to continue to thrive. Part of what makes this project so difficult to execute is the subjectivity of the issues. Concerns range from basic “to build or not?” questions, to “how far into nature can we build?” The good news is that, contrary to popular belief, the First Nations people of Canada are not an unreasonable community. It is a fact that with differing cultures, differing values and opinions will arise. However, it is important to remember that the First Nations are, also, Canadians. And if they are anything like most of us, they are community that is non-static, a community that is willing to progress and advance with the rest of the world. Since the industrial revolution, the slowing down in technology (as the First Nations people of Canada carefully consider BC Hydro’s proposal) might, in fact, be a challenge to research an even more sustainable approach to energy.

Globe and Mail article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/first-nations-challenge-to-site-c-approval-could-make-dam-a-test-case/article21121456/

“What is the difference between an evangelist and a salesperson?”

In Guy Kawasaki’s article, “The Art Evangelism“, much light was shed upon my perception and what I understood of successful marketing. It is to no doubt that successful marketing produces successful companies, and in many companies, in the form of salespeople. But what exactly is the difference between evangelists and salespeople? As Kawasaki points out, “A salesperson has his or her own best interests at heart: commission, making quota, closing the deal. An evangelist has the other person’s best interests at heart: “Try this because it will help you.”

A concept like this is too often skipped over by even the top companies in the world, insisting that the sole job of the employees designated to promote marketing is to shut the briefcase, seal the deal, and be rewarded accordingly. From my own  experience, dealing with pushy salespeople in retail stores, car dealers, real estate, and many other departments that revolve around a single transaction, have too often created the opposite effect — a guarantee that I will not buy what you’re selling. A tip to all companies that hope to succeed — in order to reduce the adverse effects of sadly, badly-executed marketing, the root of the problem must be tackled, that is, convert salespeople into evangelists. Hire people who really care about the customer’s pains, and people who can genuinely relate to them. It cannot be emphasized further that these are the people who are key to the direct success of the business. By providing deep insight into the pains of unique and quirky customers, businesses can pinpoint exactly what is needed to be provided. From there on, the next step would be to focus on the companies’ flexibility to accommodate to each individuals’ demands.

Getting up close and personal with a kangaroo!

Fences, cages, and glass barriers — typical components built into my schema of a zoo. And not a bad concept it was until (very often) the animals would simply turn away and retreat into hiding. Not to mention, the incredibly large spaces of the enclosed areas, just enough for excited zoo-goers to squint their eyes and make out the little animal in the corner.

After coming across Featherdale Wildlife Park, a hands-on zoo mentioned in Elaine Au’s blog, I could not wait to do some research of my own. From an animal-lover’s perspective, it is certainly most appealing to come across a zoo that permits interactions with the wildlife. While I am curious to find out how Featherdale has established a way to deter potential issues that may arise from removing barriers between customers and animals, I think this is a fantastic way for the zoo to separate itself from the competition. While it is fairly ordinary for zoos, globally, to have some sort of distance and feeding restriction, as Elaine mentioned, a common value for customers is simply not being fulfilled — the want to get up close and personal to these creatures. Unfortunately, to many zoos and similar organizations, the risk of having one radical customer putting the wildlife at harm is enough to decline the general public such a value proposition. However, if Featherdale Wilfelife Park is able to sustain a unique value proposition that many zoos fear to provide, it will be able to retain it’s competitive edge and change the way many of us view a “zoo” to be.

Elaine’s Blog: http://blogs.ubc.ca/auyikningelaine/
BBC article: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29369091
Featherdale Wildelife Park Website (Image taken from here): http://www.featherdale.com.au/