Please don’t kill the messenger without at least listening to the message. Many black owned businesses live and die by the model of marketing black owned. Is this marketing message outdated and should black businesses try to move forward? I certainly hope so!
A lot of people support black owned and buy black owned, etc. as a strong marketing message. However, the truth is that black owned businesses have the worst reputations on the planet for customer service and experience. Which many live up to this bad reputation thinking that bad customer service is often acceptable because they are black owned. This is true, don’t argue it is TRUE.
Conducting an experiment in Atlanta, Georgia I visited a very popular fast food restaurant chain, one located in an affluent black area and one in a majority white area. The food was much better in the area with majority white residents. My fries were hot and tasted fresh! The food was excellent. In the affluent black area I received only warm fries and the food was average. The stigma attached to black area businesses must improve. Additionally, large corporations must address this issue! It is not just local and small businesses. Many large corporations operate with low standards of excellence in black areas ONLY.
The black buying power will reach $1 Trillion dollars by 2011. Let this be a wake up call! Either you improve on your level of customer experience or capturing this audience will not be an option anymore. This practice of business has been acceptable and I am sick of it. I plan to start using my social media audiences to start calling businesses out that operate in this manner. You know who you are!