You're not the customer

I worked in healthcare and what I learned is that "who is the customer is blurred". There is a love triangle: Provider, Payor and Patient- The Provider (example- Your doctor, hospital, etc.); the Payor (usually the government or your insurance agency); and the Patient (that's you). Given that there is ample supply of patients, you can see that you are not really important to this equation. If you decided not to take advantage of the healthcare system, there are plenty of others ready to take your place.

I've had YAHOO! as my home page for more than 5 years. I have a YAHOO! mail account. I use their portal personalization services on MY.YAHOO!. They do a great job.

Recently, I've changed to GOOGLE as my home page and personal "port of entry" on the Information Highway. They didn't require me to change my 5 year old email address so conversion was easy.

I thought I would let YAHOO! know that they lost a customer. After searching in vain for how to contact them (I even went to Investor Relations), I gave up. I wanted to tell them I switched to GOOGLE and why. I left their site frustrated.

Anyway, I went back to GOOGLE to tell them they got a new customer and why. Guess What? Same problem.... no place to tell them they increased their market share with me as their new customer. No place to complain either.

Do you know why? Because I am not a provider nor a payor. In the internet world, I am simply the patient. Had I decided not to log on and simply die of information deprivation- no one would have cared. No one. No company. No Government. No Non-profit institution.

Here is what I learned... You've heard people say there is "no free lunch". Or, perhaps you've heard people say that "If we give it away, the value is zero".

I have another thought for... If it's given to you for free... you're not important. Sure if I give you something tangible (like a physical sample of something), I must think you are important. Like Pharma companies giving drug samples to doctors or supermarkets giving food samples to shoppers.

But in the information world, if you get something for free, it's because you are not important.

The Downside of Hope

Did you ever consider the linkage between "need" and "hope". If you have everything you need, is there anything to hope for?

I would like peace, justice and freedom in the world. This is a want not a need for me. So some of my hopes are "wants" not "needs". I have been perfectly happy in my little world without world peace, justice and freedom because I already enjoy these things. The point is that "needs" are different than "wants".

So, if you are needy and you can't satisfy your needs you must rely on hope.

If I give you hope then you have given me power. If I am to retain that power I must ensure that you are both hopeful and needy. The minute your needs begin to get satisfied your dependence on hope for that need diminishes. And with it, my power.

I heard two things on TV recently. In the first, a commentator asked a person, "Why did you vote for this guy- he hasn't done anything to really help you". The person on the street answered, "Yes but he gives me hope". Wow. Hope is cheap; you can give that away all day.

This led me to recall the second sound bite... "keep hope alive". What a great slogan. It makes you feel good and makes money for the author. It is hard work to keep people both hopeful and needy for an extended period of time. But if I can come up with a rallying cry that causes you to keep yourself hopeful and needy-- I've got it made.

So, I am hoping that you have read this and will send it others. If I can instill some hope in you that the next posting will be even better; maybe I can make some money through Google Sponsored Links.