Life's bucket lists are made to be emptied
by Jan Quintrall, President/CEO, BBB
jquintrall@spokane.bbb.orgfor the Spokesman Review, 3/06/11
Each piece of pottery, painting or kitchen utensil she collected had a story. So did the special golf shirt or the shoes that carried him through a successful career. Now, looking at all this in their beautiful home was not so easy. How do you take a lifetime of “stuff” and narrow it down so it all fits in the one-bedroom, assisted living apartment? Which things can you part with and which feel just as connected as an arm or a leg?
We are helping my parents pack to move from Prescott, Arizona back to Denver. Like so many of my generation, our parents now need us in ways nobody ever instructed us about. Oh, sure, friends have all been through this move and have wise suggestions, but it isn’t until you sit in that closet, helping sort through your parents’ lives, do you really understand just how hard this must be for them to leave what they thought would be home forever. What strikes me most is the anticipation and hope attached to so many objects. The projects they thought they’d get around to. The items they used to use and can’t deal with any longer. The general narrowing of life. The reminders of places, activities, friends, and entertaining that represent the past just underscore the shrinking of the present and the future. And that exercise reminds me of all my friends who talk about their bucket lists.
That movie created conversations, and now it seems everyone has a bucket list. I know my Dad and his wife did, but it is too late to execute on many of those items, so they have become lost hopes. A friend of mine recently found out, in a casual conversation, that his wife has a bucket list and he has taken on the task of making as many of those items happen as he has control over. These examples are the two extremes—One of fulfillment and another of regret. So, what are you doing with your bucket list? Is it a holding tank or a launch pad?
Having a bucket list is really just a cute way of setting goals that you want to achieve before you are too old or too dead to reach them. So why do so many just have the list and never plan steps to make anything happen? Could it be that in some cases a bucket list is merely a dream sequence? That is fine, if you know that’s what you have created. But listening to Dad and his wife talk about the things they wanted and thought they would do with that hint of regret makes me wonder just how much we truly want to reach the goals in our bucket lists.
In our businesses we too can get so busy working each day that we miss sight of what we want to achieve, like our bucket lists. Unless we have a clear set of steps and a plan to reach the profit, stability, success or other achievements that we want, we will only get there by chance, and that kind of road map is marked with regrets. How did we end up here so quickly without getting to where we really wanted to go? How did it get to be March already?
What often keeps that bucket list in life or business from launching is waiting for things to be right—the economy, the staff, the kids reaching a specific age, financial goals, time constraints, getting caught up in day-to-day life and never shaking up the rut, etc. Sometimes you just need to get a bit uncomfortable and make things happen. Yes, take a risk and just do it. Start small and you will find comfort in the achievement. What we most regret are the chances we did not take and the choices we did not make. When you look back as you leave your desk or this life, how do you want to feel? Are you doing things now to make that moment all you want it to be?
What do Standards Really Mean?
by Jan Quintrall, President/CEO, BBB jquintrall@spokane.bbb.org
for the Spokesman Review, 3/20/11
You are sitting at home at your computer at 2 a.m., surfing the internet looking for the perfect bunny slippers. You see all sorts of sleep- inducing footwear and you order the $69.96 pink plush slippers GUARANTEED to put you back to sleep in minutes! But, they don’t work!
In the last several months the BBB has turned down more applications for BBB Accreditation than I ever remember. Nope, you cannot simply write us a check and then instantly have the ability to display that 100 year old, well-trusted Torch Logo on your door, your website or your proposals. But that has come as a surprise to a number of businesses lately.
Here is how it all works: When a company applies for BBB accreditation, we vet them by measuring the applicant’s practices against the BBB Principals of Trust:
Start With Trust
• Establish and maintain a positive track record in the marketplace.
Advertise Honestly
• Adhere to established standards of advertising and selling.
Tell the Truth
• Reveal all related conditions or exceptions regarding products or services offered.
Be Transparent
• Openly identify the nature, location, and ownership of the business, and clearly disclose all policies, guarantees and procedures that bear on a customer’s decision to buy.
Honor Promises
• Abide by all written and verbal agreements.
Be Responsive
• Address marketplace disputes quickly, respectfully, and reasonably.
Safeguard Privacy
• Protect any data collected against mishandling and fraud, collect personal information only as needed, and respect the preferences of consumers regarding the use of their information.
Embody Integrity
• Approach all business dealings, marketplace transactions and commitments with integrity.
If BBB staff feels the company does not live up to these standards, the application is declined, their money is returned and the applicant is told they can appeal the decision to a committee of our Board of Directors known as the Standards Committee. They listen to staff concerns and the company rebuttal and make the final decision. In February we held five hearings to appeal denied Accreditations.
The biggest problem we are seeing is firms who way over-promise results. Especially of concern are claims of health benefits and energy-saving offers. We ask companies to substantiate the claims they make on their websites, in promotional material and in sales pitches. It is really quite alarming how many can’t come close to showing us actual proof of the things they say! But that is part of the reality in today’s marketplace. The internet has changed so much about how we conduct research, buy products and find services. And for some odd reason, when people see things on the internet or on TV they have this false sense of security that if it is being said, someone has checked it and it must be true. I wonder where that comes from. Anonymous statements, endorsements and fake links to “government” approval are often taken as gospel, with no basis in fact.
So, the BBB has been busy lately taking a hard look at what a company says to the general public. And that is the essence of Starting with Trust! A company’s advertising is the first contact they have with a potential customer. So why would you start off with claims you cannot back up or offers you know you can’t deliver? Well, to get them in the door. But what a short-sighted business plan! The internet also spreads bad news quicker than wildfire.
• As a buyer, do more research If the offer feels a bit too good to be true, it might be. I mean really, if there were a device that would save you 45% on your utility bill each month, wouldn’t we all know about it? And if Vitamin O really were the fountain of youth, all of our health care providers would be shouting the benefits from the rooftops.
• As a business, take the BBB Standards of Trust and measure your website claims and sales pitches against the list. Many companies live by these standards: In fact they developed them. If you have a nagging feeling you might be falling short in one or more areas, ask your customers.
The BBB does not report application denials, but we do publish and distribute any Accreditation Revocations that take place, and there have been several lately. They are available at bbb.org. Just log on, enter your zip code and you’ll be taken to your local BBB site. Then enter the News Center and read all the latest marketplace warnings. Educate yourself. Start with Trust.
President’s Message Archives
>January
>February
>March
>April
>May
>June
>July
>August
>September
>October
>November
>December