Master Of The Obvious
First, a little housekeeping if you will; you will notice
that I have changed my Twitter account. You can now follow me at @vegastrades
and I will be commenting as “vegas trader”. So, why the switch?
For some unknown reason, my other account was suspended; no
reason given and numerous emails into Twitter’s phantom support have produced,
after 24 hours, absolutely nothing in terms of a response. I had sent out 5 tweets,
and when I sent out a re-tweet from someone else, I got my account suspended.
So, the idiots at Twitter leave me no choice; I created a
new account rather than wait around for the clueless staff to someday get
around to my problem and then fix it.
This whole ordeal got me to thinking why businesses,
governments, and yes even traders fail at what they do; they ignore reality and
instead focus on fantasy.
If a business model is sound, a business will often still fail
because they eventually cut corners, and one of the first is customer service.
Back many years ago, I had an uncle who owned and operated a family steak house
in the town I grew up. He was paranoid about customer satisfaction; he visited
EVERY single table and talked with EVERY single customer to make sure their
meal was to their delight. It didn’t matter if he knew them for 20 years and
they came 3 times a week; he still took the time. If he even for a second
thought something was wrong, or you weren’t satisfied, you got free drinks or
even a free meal for the whole table.
Sure, some people exploited this, and he knew it, but he
knew what other people in the restaurant biz intuitively fear; people say the
meal was “fine” and then leave and tell everybody they know what a dump the
place was and the food was terrible. He could lose customers and not even know
it or be able to control or respond to what others say. His paranoia was the
secret to his success.
Governments promote fantasy almost every single day, yet the
reality can be summarized effectively with one word: Greece. What a bottomless pit of
mind numbing kleptocrats stamping forms and playing pretend. I have visions of
the staff and crew of the Titanic arranging the deck chairs and putting out
fresh towels in first class as the ship keels over and sinks.
Traders fall prey to this lack of
customer service as well. How many of you view your own account as that of a
business? How many give your account the attention it deserves through proper
risk management? Or instead, do you make “stupid trades” [definition = large
losses] in the fantasy of “it will come back”.
“Yea, sure it will; just like your old girlfriend from high school.
Just a sec please.”
The common thread that destroys
each is that there is no fire in the belly to do the right thing.
None. Doing the right thing is tough; it requires discipline and a desire for
an outcome that is greater than just the desire for profit. People who are
successful put other people first and instinctively know that by focusing on
there needs, they will profit.
Just the other day, a high school
girl running track in the State championship in Ohio was running the 3200 meters, when
nearing the finish line another girl collapsed in front of her. At that time
she was in 15th place and the girl that collapsed was in 14th
place. She stopped and helped the other girl up and assisted her to the finish
line making sure the other girl finished ahead of her. She has become a You
Tube viral sensation. Here is the link for the whole story:
If this girl ran a business, and I
needed any product she was selling, I would definitely give her a shot at my
business, even if her products were slightly higher in price. Why? Because
I know what kind of person she is and what she stands for; I value
that.
As for Twitter, Greece,
and the consistently large losers who trade; you got a lot to learn.
Have a good day everyone.
-vegas
