This is a short transcript of a conversation between Kenny Chapman and Larry about how technology is changing small-business operations, marketing, and customer relationships. Larry argues technology is both helpful (e.g., marketing tools) and harmful—eroding face-to-face relations and enabling hyperbolic advertising—while urging honesty and integrity in business communication.
For a minute. So in our space where I coach, train and own an employment heating air conditioning company, many of you will see that the technology is really impacting how H vac contractor comes into your company, how they invoice, how they present sales options, different things. Like it's happening in all the industries from Uber to Airbnb to anything. Right. How are you seeing that technology impact, like company culture, say, which I believe culture is an important thing. But do you see technology interrupting that? The client interaction, the communication? What are you seeing from your perspective with technology?
Boy, I tell you what, the pendulum swings both ways on technology. It's either the best thing that's happened to us can really help us do business in a better way, or it's absolutely corrupting our relationships with the customer. And my biggest issue with technology is a negative issue. In fact, I got a lot of negative issues. There are lots of positives. We all see that. I mean, like you mentioned them, all the marketing people. You can shoot video. I don't care what you do. If you run a dry cleaner, you ought to be shooting video of how you run your dry cleaners and what kind of value you bring to the marketplace. So it's great from a marketing tool, but there are a lot of downsides. The downsides is that it does cost us our client, customer relations. We forget how to do business face to face with people. We can't be as appreciative with technology as you and I can. Sitting here and reaching out saying, man, I really appreciate you doing this here. You did that to me just before we went on. That means a lot to me. You can't do that with an email. You can't do it with a text or a tweet. You can't do it in any of that way. But here's the biggest problem with technology. The Internet allows for hyperbole. And most businesses advertise with hyperbole.
Okay, let me stop. Hang on. We're the blue collar success group. What does hyperbole mean?
Hyperbole means it's an over exaggeration.
Okay, there we go.
You are not the best at what you do. Don't say you are. There's a lot of great people out there in your field. Right? Right now you might really be the one. No, I'm not talking about you specifically, but I'm talking about people who claim to be the only. The best.
Yeah.
Use all these terms and we see it every time you look up somebody's website or secret.
I love the secret one.
But when you start to look at everybody. What sets you apart. It's not your use of adjectives that sets you apart. And too many people in their advertising, especially their online advertising, they use the big words and then they don't back it up. I mean, you go on and you can't tell whether a guy's been in business a week or 10 years based on the adjectives they use to describe their business. There's a real downside to that. And that goes back to that authenticity thing.
That's right.
You can't tell whether people are telling the truth. And that is rooted in integrity. That's why I say you run your life and your business based on integrity. And that means that you've got to be telling the truth. It's okay to say I'm new at this, which means I'm going to work harder, which means I'm going to do whatever it takes because I really need you to like what I do and who I am and to tell others about it. Why wouldn't you just say, I'm new at it? And because of that, here are the benefits to you. Right. Isn't that much more honest and authentic.
And instead, we go into all these relationships with basic assumption that people aren't going to tell us the truth. And technology makes it easier for them to almost hide behind that act. Back in the day, if you were brand new, you were brand new and people kind of knew it. Now it's like, yeah, you can kind.
Of create some brick and mortar stores. You can tell where they're at.
Exactly.
And with the Internet, you can't, because you don't have that same sort of thing going for you where you can see it one day and not see it the next. There you go.
Absolutely. So thank you. We got a lot of people jumping on and.
