I’m the best Tipper On Earth

Originally uploaded by Jason DeRusha

I pay at the counter at my favorite lunch place. Most people do not tip even when they sit and at this little dive. I’ve noticed that when people pay with a credit card, they always tip well. And when they pay in cash, they seldom tip.

When they pay with a credit card, the receipt is printed with a blank line for the tip. And when they pay in cash, there’s obviously no such line.

It’s the expectation of leaving a tip—or the fear of insult surrounding leave the tip line blank, which causes many people to tip when paying with a credit card but not when paying cash.

I would love to see how asking customers paying in cash, “do you want to leave a tip?” would affect how many of them do. So, do you want to leave a comment?

P.S. I am currently at blog group deciding whether to delete this post or explain it further. The point I want to emphasize is the “do you want fries like that phenomena” that when people are asked directly they tip. This restaurant is a little take out place, I appreciate their service and acknowledge it often with gratuity.

work, buy, consume, die (boomerang card)

Originally uploaded by BdR76

I work with 40+ sales reps from both local and national media companies every month placing digital media buys for clients. Most sales reps fail to close a deal or earn a repeat order not because of their digital knowledge or skills, but rather shortcomings in their service.

Here are a few common mistakes:
1. Treating an agency’s smaller and larger clients differently. The size of the client does not always correlate to their budget on a particular campaign.
2. Renegotiating rates during a media buy rather than scheduling a time during the planning process to discuss.
3. Failing to provide added value—or offering no incentive to clients who continue to renew orders.
4. Failing to offer ideas and suggestions to enhance the campaign.
5. Selling out of inventory without informing the agency ahead of time.
6. Only talking or emailing the agency when they are placing a buy—this will guarantee a strictly transactional relationship.
7. Failing to inform the agency about changes to the media website and its essential stats (uniques, TOS, impressions, new content and sponsorable assets)
8. Failing to provide the agency with a wrap up report
9. Complaining…about the size of a buy; the fact that a competitor received the same buy; the urgency with which a buy needs to be executed
10. Forgetting reoccurring advertisers in favor of short-term profitable opportunities
11. Mistaking when the agency is looking for an idea versus when an agency has an idea and is searching the right digital venues to execute it.
12. Failing to hit deadlines. This is both when the campaign goes live and when the campaign has concluded.
13. Failing to deliver all the media that the agency booked—and informing the agency after the campaign has ended.

Here are a few ideas from my reading that I found intriguing this week:”Forty percent of all mothers in the U.S., believe it or not, are on Myspace. Twelve percent of all internet minutes are spent on Myspace. Forty-five percent of all users on Myspace are over the age 35,” Chris Dewolfe, CEO of Myspace in Business Week, 6/2/08.

“Life conspires to beat the rebel out of you,” Bogusky says, dropping one of those lines that could be either authentic on-the-fly wisdom or something he once saw on a T-Shirt. “I was at a meeting at Nike recently with a bunch of senior people, and that’s just the thought that went through my head. For everyone at the table I could see how life was trying to beat it out of us.” Alex Bogusky quoted in Fast Company, June 2008.