Bill Ford, Excuse-Maker

Why is it that every time a major corporation gets their butts whipped, they pull out their big fat book of excuses, admit they did nothing wrong, and then fire everyone except themselves?

Well, it’s Ford’s turn. I don't pretend to have the pedigree of Bill Ford, but he is quoted as saying, "The plans we announced in 2002 were not wrong, They took us as far we could go without making dramatic changes. But that's not nearly far enough, especially in light of how much the global marketplace has changed."

Geez…Bill. The global marketplace? Sounds like another big fat excuse to me.

You wanna put Ford on top, here’s something you could do…

…build better cars and put some teeth in your warranty.

Let me tell you what: everyone used to laugh at Hyundai. My friends and I made fun of their cars all the time, until…

…they backed those babies up with 10-year warranties.

And guess what? All my friends are buying Hyundai now. Are they building better cars? Maybe. But they overcame the main objection people have when they buy cars, which is "what if it breaks down."

Standing behind your product is a pretty good way to get business.

So, here’s my free advice to Bill Ford: stop making excuses, take some responsibility for your own actions (I know it’s hard, Bill, but you can do it…besides your excuse-making isn’t helping all those people who lost their jobs), and most importantly…

…stop spending money on your stupid car commercials.

Replace them with measurable direct marketing campaigns that will build a relationship between Ford and its customers. And I’m not talking about those big full-color things I got from Ford, but I’m talking about personal sales letters. You’ll get better results at a fraction of the cost.

So, there you have it, Bill, you’re my excuse-maker of the week.

Carlon “No Excuses” Haas