Wake up, all quarterly consumers!
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By Pekka Pekkala
At the change of the millennium, Finland shifted with full force into a quarterly economy where the performance of corporations is measured four times a year.
At the same time, it was made clear that the primary purpose of a listed corporation is to earn money for its shareholders. The value of shares, in other words their price on the stock exchange, must increase, or otherwise the shareholders will show the door to the current bosses.
For us regular office rats, the new and shiny quarterly economy has only shown its dark sides so far.
You might suddenly get a pink slip from your trusty employer should the company decide to streamline its operations. When someone else somewhere else does your job for a cheaper price, domestic know-how and conscientiousness lose all their sheen.
The earnings of the company overrule all other values.
The other negative consequence is that service charges have invaded every line of business. Service used to be included in the price, now it is a product that is separately charged for.
For example, while waiting on hold for service from a call centre, the bill easily racks up to several euros. Sending an e-mail would be free of charge, but the answer may take one month in arriving.
Many fine words are spoken of customer service and relations in interim reports, but their significance in a quarterly economy is marginal. After all, it is basically all the same to the management in a listed company what the customers think of the enterprise - as long as they just pay their bills on time.
So what to do when the hairy grip of the quarterly economy tightens its hold on Finland?
Consumers can use corporations as an example and become brazen.
A part of them have already become quarterly consumers. Long customer relationships are discarded in trash bins when the prices of mobile phone subscriptions and electricity bills, as well as the margins on housing loans, are compared at least once a year.
It pays to abandon expensive contracts without looking back even if the customer service representative of your old company does sound really desperate over the phone.
Cranky words exchanged over the phone only serve to ruin the day of the customer and the customer service employee, but the voice of those consumers who vote with their feet and walk out on the company is heard all the way to the top of management pile.
Not everyone wants to be a brazen quarterly consumer. They are the ones who wind up on the paying end. Their wallets provide the money to pay for the gifts to new subscribers, for discounts to loyal customers who accumulate bonuses, and for service charge reductions to preferred clients.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.8.2004
PEKKA PEKKALA / Helsingin Sanomat
