“Asher …,” Sarah said. “I need your help.”

Sarah had recently been involved in a simple auto accident. Sarah was sharing the road with another driver who turned in to a parking lot, cutting her off … causing a minor accident to occur. A couple of thousand dollars later, both cars were repaired. No injuries. But who’s fault would it be? Did the other driver make an unsafe turn? Or was Sarah traveling too fast?

The adjuster decided it was Sarah’s fault.

Sarah and I spent nearly an hour on the phone reviewing the details of the accident. Her conversations with the adjuster had been unfruitful thus far, and she felt she was at the end of her rope. She provide some photos of the scene, which led me to believe we had some ground to argue the initial determination by the adjuster. Interceding for my client, I hopped on the phone and reviewed everything with the adjuster … but he wasn’t buying my argument.

He told me that the photos I sent him weren’t from the right angle. They didn’t show the right information. He didn’t see our point. Argh. Did this mean I’m going to have to go out and take more photos? Or worse yet, would I have to deliver the news to my client that he wasn’t buding? To make matters worse, he sent me a photo that seemed to seal our fate. His photo was of the intersection where the accident took place, but it was from a bad angle making it look like it was Sarah’s fault. The photo was from Google Street View.

Wait a minute. Google Street View? What a great idea! If you haven’t used or heard about Google Street View, check out this clip for some basic info.

Within seconds, I was on Google Street View surveying the accident scene with new digital eyes. Five minutes later, I had the evidence I needed to prove my case, and a quick exchange with the adjuster resulted in a new, more fair decision. The accident was ruled a 50/50 … leaving my client’s record perfectly keep-your-insurance-rates-low clean!

The next week, I received a Thank You Note with an iTunes gift card from Sarah thanking me for the work I put in keeping her record clean. Woot! Yay for Google Street View!

A post over at LJ Urban prompted me to write an entry that I’ve been thinking about for quite a while now. The issue at hand for this entry? … The value of genuine honesty, transparency, and integrity in business.

And as I type this, I’m realizing that this entry is going to be far too long. So I’ll make this Part 1.

Part 1 - Asher defines ‘SALES’

It’s fair to say that all of us purchase goods and services from people we trust. Nobody would deny that all things being equal, we will buy from the guy who gives us good information, fulfills his promises, and appears trustworthy.

But there’s a problem with the statement above. The fact is that in the real business world, its a rare day indeed when ‘all things are equal’ in any given purchasing decision. From apples and paper and cell phones … to home buying and insurance and legal advice… there is a dizzying amount of factors that weight in to a purchasing decision.
“On the one hand, these apples look great and are cheap. On the other hand, the pestesides and fuel used to get them to my store may be destroying the planet. Maybe I’ll buy these more expensive organic apples.” …
“Yes, this house out in BoonDocks, CA is huge and pretty and new and cheap. But on the other hand, its an hour away from my friends and family and and I’ll lose twenty days of my life every year just in commute time. Ouch.” …
And then finally, a purchasing decision that is very near and dear to my heart,
“As long as I pay this Auto Insurance renewal by Tuesday, my insurance stays in force as it has for years with my carrier who doesn’t know me from Adam. On the other hand, I can use Asher and take his advice on my policy which will net me 5x the coverage I have now for about $100 more per year and have my accounts handled through his office.”

The reality is that we are all content to stick with the first option, the familiar path … until we are convinced that there is better value to be found elsewhere. And this is where SALES comes in. Vendors of all types, myself included, use every method they can think of to convince you that their product is worthy of your dollars … we try to convince you that our product is value-able. We want you to value our product enough to stop buying our competitors products, and buy ours. And there isn’t anything wrong with that. At least there shouldn’t be.

But the moment the possibility of profit comes in to play, so does its ugly siamese twin of selfishness … and the sales process is morphed in to what we all know it as today. Salespeople reject decency and honesty in favor of large commissions … and consumers are forced to approach every transaction with their guard up for fear of being manipulative, lied to, and worse.

But some of us are sick of that. I mean … aren’t you? … Shouldn’t you be?

More on the subject in Part 2.

So, last week I finally got around to Googling this idea of mine about the half popped kernals.
http://www.popnots.com/
Darn. Beaten to the punch. Haven’t seen them in the stores (perhaps for good reason?). But might have to order a bag or two just to try ‘em out.

And then today while driving in the car I thought, “What if I made a put together a website where you could submit your own photo, and it would be checked against a database of other user submitted photos … to find your twin(s) across the globe! How cool would that be!”. And so tonight I go back to Googling and find:
http://ilooklikeyou.com
Drat.

Google! Why do you do this to me? Must all my dreams be squashed so quickly?!

Hugh Hefner’s breakup with a Playboy bunny beats out all articles related to our economy. And a piece on Saturday Night Life comes way before anything on either the Russian or Arab conflicts.

I mean, … really?
With whats happening in our world right now, THOSE are the most popular articles?

Wow.

http://www.cnn.com/mostpopular/

But, before she left, I grabbed our son Samuel and headed outside for our third bike riding lesson in the past three weeks. The previous sessions were no more than five minutes long. He has yet to demonstrate a strong inclination towards athletics, so its always a bit of an effort with this sort of stuff.

Today, on the first try … he rode alone.

Wow. My heart just about popped out of my chest with pride as he soared with uncertainty down the street. Today, October 7th 2008 will be forever defined as the day I taught my son how to ride his bike.

Check out the story at the LJUrban blog here.

I’m reminded of a conversation I had a while back with a family member, a paralegal in a prestigious law firm here in Sacramento. A year or two ago, she told me, “Asher, you have to understand. When the economy goes south, our office gets noticeably busier. The more desperate people get, the more angry they get, … and the more angry they get, the more they blame others for their problems. More blame equals more lawsuits.” A sad comment on humanity, … but it totally makes sense.

Think about it. Suppose you caused an accident today that left the injured party needing to be rehabilitated and retrained for a new career. Are the chances better or worse than before for him to find a new place of employment after the accident? Do you think his overall perception of the economy and his earning ability would prompt him to settle the claim quickly or drag it out? What does that do to your legal tab when you are at fault for his suffering?

In times like these, you can’t afford to be without proper liability coverage. Keep your liability limits where they should be. Perhaps raise your deductibles if you need to save some bucks. Just don’t leave your assets exposed to the increasingly desperate public.

“Asher, this is Warren Adams. Do you know who I am?”

“WARREN! I’ve been waiting for your call!”, I responded, feigning confidence.

My mind raced. “Warren Adams?? He’s BIGTIME!” I knew the name well. During my first year in business, I’d actually been in to his real estate office on more than one occasion to give presentations, but we’d never spoken personally. Every time I’d gone in to the office, I’d see Warren and his team working away buying and selling places left and right. And here he was on the phone, … calling ME! I was psyched.

Long story short, Warren needed some help insuring a distressed property in Sacramento. I helped him out … and somewhere along the line, took a look at his own personal insurance package. Although most of the policies were in good order, there was one gaping hole in his package that left him exposed in a major way. At that time, he didn’t have an Umbrella Policy, a must for somebody at his level of success. When I pointed it out to Warren, he was upset. And justifiably really. Turns out, he had been with the same insurance agent for the last ten years. Warren had trusted the guy to look out for him and give him good advice, and I brought the bad news that he had been left exposed. Wether it was out of laziness or ignorance, … the insurance agent had failed to do his job. He had become a Fat Cat Agent and was caught.

Old guy out, Asher in.

Fast forward nine years.

An email from Warren comes in asking the status of his Umbrella Policy. Another long story short, … his Umbrella Policy had lapsed. YIKES! I had needed to remember the renewal date and take note in my calendar, but I failed to do so, and the policy went out of force. It was completely my fault. The very thing that brought him to my agency, I had now screwed up on. And now the choice. Will I take care of business, address the mistake, and fix it? Or will I take the ‘Fat Cat Agent’ I’m-too-successful-to-care attitude?

I wrote Warren that evening from my house:

Warren,

Years ago, you and I started our business relationship after I reviewed your insurance and found the advice from your prior agent lacking. Specifically, it was amazing to me that somebody of your assets and exposure didn’t carry a Personal Umbrella Policy … in fact, you hadn’t even been offered one. You were justifiably angry at the old agent, and moved all of your business to my agency and have trusted me to be your insurance agent ever since.

I spend a lot of my efforts to make sure I have a good staff on board, and I know that Jenny and other members of my staff have done a great job servicing your account as you’ve purchased and sold properties. They’ve kept me in the loop on every transaction along the way. I can’t blame them one bit for this.

I’ve met with you several times to review your insurance over the years, been invited to your home, and think about you, your family, and your account often. But, I absolutely screwed up here. It is a 100% a failure on my part, … a failure to followup and review an important area of your insurance. I should have put a reminder in my calendar to review, and despite my late night remembrances, I never followed up with you. I am genuinely sorry for that failure.

There was one time that I had to point out to my tax guy that he was missing a break that I was entitled to. It wasn’t more than a couple hundred bucks … but I told him it angered and frustrated me, and told him that it diminished my perceived value of his services. The second time that he made the same mistake, I fired him and found another, more competent tax person.

As you’ve pointed out, I can’t fix this mistake of mine. But I want you to know that it won’t happen again.

Please accept my apologies.

Asher

Warren was gracious with me. I quickly fixed the problem that my mistake had created, and got him back on track.

Had I become a Fat Cat Agent?! Was I becoming too distant from my clients’ needs? Was this mistake a result of laziness? … No. No. And No.

And how do I know that this whole snafu wasn’t the result of a Fat Cat Agent at work?

Because I cared.

Because I felt that knot in my stomach when you’ve done something stupid, and then I took responsibility for it.

Because I fixed the problem.

And because I’ve vowed to never make a mistake like this again.

There’s not much sense denying that some level of government intervention is needed at this point. The voices of opposition of a large-scale bailout form a very short list.

Every time I turn on check the news to get a feel for how our next president is going to lead our country through these difficult times, I’m dissapointed in what I hear. It often seems that neither Obama nor McCain are doing anything other than pointing fingers of blame at the opposition’s failures.

To be sure, there is plenty of blame to go around. But am I the only one who wishes a little more blame was being spread my way? Yes, … OUR WAY. Isn’t it us … we, the people … that have borrowed and spent and lived so far outside of our budgets? Isn’t it us that flushed the equities of our homes down the toilet when we refinanced away all our cares and troubles and brand new cars and credit card debts and fancy clothes? Isn’t it us that lived as though we earned twice what we do? Isn’t it us who spent as though our homes were neverending sources of free money?

And don’t get me wrong here. I’m plenty educated to understand the failings of both our government and our corporations. But how about facing the cold hard facts that the American people have been just as greedy, selfish, and short sighted in our financial affairs as the larger power players? The reality is that we all have created this problem. Through apathy, overspending, and arrogance we’ve put our country at its highest level of dependence on other nations than ever before. We have historically low levels of savings, and historically high levels of debt. ‘They’ didn’t really force us to spend all that money away … did they?

Its time for our next leader to step up to the plate and deliver something that rises above the obnoxioius sound of desperate politicians.

Give me something compelling like JFK’s “Ask not what your country can do for you…”. Something confrontational and clear like Reagan’s “A time for choosing…”.

Give me something that relates the economic and international failures of the country to the failures of my family’s heart and home.

Give me something more than blame.