The 20/80 Rule : Part III
Been a couple of years since I touched on this 'subject' Back in Feb of '18 to be exact: The 20/80 Rule : Part II
Over the last thirty days or so, found myself on an intersting topic after doing a Motorcycle trip on a cruise ship. I cover a lot of that here: R&R Cruise with Motorcycles in the Caribbean
I'm reminded of my 20/80 rule that applies to so many things in life. Here's my spin on it. On the web, whether it be social media (ex FB, Twitter, etc), Forums (yes, they still exist!), or sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp and google reviews .. you can give an entity a thumbs up or thumbs down. You can give a numbered rating. You can give a full blown review if you take the time. Yet, most people don't. Well, some of us do. I've done a LOT on Tripadvisor. I've done a lot of FB. Hell, whenever I experience something great or .. .shitty .. I tend to put it out there. However, most don't. Fact! Let me give an example.
ETA Motorcycle Cruises. Their FB Page has something like 10k likes, over a 3 or 4 year period ( appears that page came about in '17?). Now one could spin that's like 10k customers that approve of it. No, doesn't work that way. Just means that 10k people clicked 'like' for whatever reason. I've done it myself; still do do it. It ensures you see some of it later on in your news feed. Maybe someone just thought it was 'cool'. Maybe it looks interesting. Who knows. Hell, some people do it one some sites just to be aware of a shit show. Trust me.. seen that too. Hell, as I examine it, 18 of my FB Friends have liked it because they know I was on it. Most will never go. It's just a 'like' . Now, here's my point, using this site as an example. Out of that 10k, only 19 people over a 3 or 4 year period did a review. That's it. Out of the 10k likes, that's what .. '.002' percent? That's about normal on most sites. What I did find interesting was ..until a few days ago, NONE of them were bad. You'd have assumed one person would have chimed in. So to the average person, this place seems to rock and can do no harm. Heck, what I initially thought. Of course, after their posting yesterday for a CYA, few more folks jumped in reviewing them to show support. All this leads me to the 20/80 rule. If you didn't bother to read my other two posts on this subject, here it is in a nutshell. Twenty percent of the people make things happen, while 80% just ... show up. Twenty percent of the effort may give 80% of the results sometimes. Way of the world . I've learned you can apply this rule to most anything in life. In my other posts I give many an example. But, let me try and use it 'here'.
In the motorcycle world, 20% push the boundaries. They make things happen. They do some great events. They travel to exotic places. They find some great destinations. They do some awesome long rides. Maybe 20% of all. Now, I'm guessing that number is actually smaller; way smaller to be honest. The other 80% go ride with the local riding group, every weekend. They sign up for the same big group rides every year where someone you assume knows what they are doing lead them to every destination or stopping point along the way. They trailer to a lot of places and put a few miles on when they get there. (ie nothing wrong with trailering, there's always a time and a place). And lastly, most never push the edge a lil and ride roads with awesome sweeping turns, switchbacks, or crazy and up and down elevations. Just a fact. I see this, or lack of this, ALL the time! I mean it's okay once in awhile, but my god... Jump on that bike yourself and put yourself out there! Have mama jump on the bike with you or her own, and go kick it up. Maybe a few bikes take off for Sturgis and Daytona and do a lil living for a few thousand miles on 2 wheels. Because you know what? Most don't.
In the vacation world, 20% do some really cool shit. They go off to exotic places. Go scuba diving. Deep Sea fishing. Find different All Inclusives. Do things 'on the economy'. Do some cool cruises. Maybe some of the places aren't deemed "SAFE!" by all their friends? But the others, the '80%' go to their favorite places they always go to. Find some cheap locations they can afford where they feel safe. Always go with the same people or same family members. They feel safe and comfortable and don't want to rock the boat. I'm going to piss a few off here, but I'm starting to feel that away about many 'cruisers'. Maybe 80% of them like to get on a big cruise ship, go to the same dining room every night, same waiter, same wait staff, sign up for an excursion with all their fellow cruisers, sold to them by the cruise line. I mean .. some of these folks repeat this process several times a year. Have their favorite ships. Their favorite destinations. Now, in all fairness, to each their own. All good.. but... it all fits into my 20/80 model.
Okay .. where am I going with this? You've probably guessed it but let me go there anyways. After a year of looking at posts and comments about ETA, I've seen a pattern. They (ETA) claim a 92% return rate over a two year period. Unless they prove that, I'm going to call them out on that. I mean on ours, nobody was a returnee. I spoke to someone else from one awhile back, and they were all newbies. Now, I get going back for a second trip.. I honestly do. Have to admit, I'd do mine a lil differently, have different expectations, etc. I'd make it better. BUT, when you see people have been 5, 7 , 10 times I can't help but think .. WTF? Folks, the riding was not that great. The destinations (stops along the way) we were visiting, were not always that great. But I'll be the first to admit it had a cool factor. And I just admitted I see the value of a second trip. But who goes back 10 or more times? Explain 'why' to me ... inquiring minds really want to know. But, I have a theory.
Some folks just want to feel 'safe' and this fits their mold. I mean every other comment, post and or review seemed to always have " we always felt safe thanks to ETA". Safe from what? WTF were you scared of? Have you never ridden in traffic? Have you never had your bike in a sandy parking lot? Down a dirt road? Rode over the equivalent of that 'plank' onto the ship? Did you think the locals were going to come after you with machetes and steal your woman? What am I missing? You know what I think? I think many of these folks were actually nervous and scared to be riding on the Islands. Never ridden roads that challenged them. Never ridden in a situation similar to the in and out of the ship on that gateway. When they got home, it was the most exciting thing they have ever done and they owe it all to ETA since they are home in their recliner .... safe. SAFE! If I see/hear "SAFE" one more time, I think I'm going to puke.
As I write all this, I see another side to the coin. Imagine if you live near a cruise port. Let's use south Florida as an example. I can see the value of booking several of these. I mean, the cost and ease of it all is simpler than riding a thousand miles to a good destination for some quality riding. I get it. Now, it'd suck having to put up with someone I've mentioned, but if you can get through that and actually get along with him, a lot of upside here. I get it. And for the non-biker folks that like to cruise a lot, I get it. I guess if you live near a port and can get a lot of cheap cruises in. There is a bang for the buck sometimes. But for the majority of folks .. .well.. I have to question the value of multiple returns. And I'm guessing most of the 20 percenters, don't return after 1 or 2 of these ETA cruises.
REVIEWS
What is about folks that don't do reviews? Most don't. Humor nature I guess. The 80% don't want to rock the boat , and the 20% don't necessarily want to either. Actually, I'm guessing it's less than 1% give good OR bad reviews. I remember reading a book many moons ago when I contemplated going into sales. In one section he discussed something that I've always remembered. The author had a theory. This was well before social media; the average person had about 300 friends and or family, in their 'circle.' This doesn't mean people they hung out with or even saw all the time..but for arguments sake... 300. Now, if we experienced something good out there ... service, product, whatever, we normally kept it to ourselves. I mean if you get a good haircut you don't normally tell more than a few folks about it, if any. Makes sense to me. BUT, if something bad happens, suddenly many of those 300 may hear about it somehow?? So the reputation of a place or person can be at risk and it's hard to get that back. Point being ...if a business gives shitty service or a crappy product we tend to tell people. Lots of people. So, if you are that business and acutely aware of this, you will bend over backwards to make things right. Make the customer happy. The world of social media has made this whole thing.... exponential. Piss someone off, do something bad, it usually ends up on FB or Twitter. On Forums. On personal FB pages. And it gets shared off to the world. That all being said, two things come to mind the last week.
On a FB Page or group, the admin has more power than many realize. They can delete visitor posts. They can delete comments. They can argue against reviews and many times have them removed. They can ban users so they can't comment. The can remove folks from groups. Basically, they can manipulate most if not all negative data and present a rosy picture to the majority of unsuspecting. I see this all the time. I've seen it abused. Hell, I've done it myself a few times over the years. I've got a couple of pages and groups I admin and if someone goes off the rails, it's simple to just hit the delete button and move on. But, these of mine aren't business pages. On a business page, one could argue ... it's pure manipulation of the customer base? Well, I think it is. And I see it happen all the time.
The other thing is I don't understand why folks don't honestly speak their mind. What are they scared of? As long as what you see is the truth, why not put it out there? Especially it it's data which can help others make informed decisions. What are they scared of? Maybe.. they just want to feel.... SAFE?
Over the last thirty days or so, found myself on an intersting topic after doing a Motorcycle trip on a cruise ship. I cover a lot of that here: R&R Cruise with Motorcycles in the Caribbean
I'm reminded of my 20/80 rule that applies to so many things in life. Here's my spin on it. On the web, whether it be social media (ex FB, Twitter, etc), Forums (yes, they still exist!), or sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp and google reviews .. you can give an entity a thumbs up or thumbs down. You can give a numbered rating. You can give a full blown review if you take the time. Yet, most people don't. Well, some of us do. I've done a LOT on Tripadvisor. I've done a lot of FB. Hell, whenever I experience something great or .. .shitty .. I tend to put it out there. However, most don't. Fact! Let me give an example.
ETA Motorcycle Cruises. Their FB Page has something like 10k likes, over a 3 or 4 year period ( appears that page came about in '17?). Now one could spin that's like 10k customers that approve of it. No, doesn't work that way. Just means that 10k people clicked 'like' for whatever reason. I've done it myself; still do do it. It ensures you see some of it later on in your news feed. Maybe someone just thought it was 'cool'. Maybe it looks interesting. Who knows. Hell, some people do it one some sites just to be aware of a shit show. Trust me.. seen that too. Hell, as I examine it, 18 of my FB Friends have liked it because they know I was on it. Most will never go. It's just a 'like' . Now, here's my point, using this site as an example. Out of that 10k, only 19 people over a 3 or 4 year period did a review. That's it. Out of the 10k likes, that's what .. '.002' percent? That's about normal on most sites. What I did find interesting was ..until a few days ago, NONE of them were bad. You'd have assumed one person would have chimed in. So to the average person, this place seems to rock and can do no harm. Heck, what I initially thought. Of course, after their posting yesterday for a CYA, few more folks jumped in reviewing them to show support. All this leads me to the 20/80 rule. If you didn't bother to read my other two posts on this subject, here it is in a nutshell. Twenty percent of the people make things happen, while 80% just ... show up. Twenty percent of the effort may give 80% of the results sometimes. Way of the world . I've learned you can apply this rule to most anything in life. In my other posts I give many an example. But, let me try and use it 'here'.
In the motorcycle world, 20% push the boundaries. They make things happen. They do some great events. They travel to exotic places. They find some great destinations. They do some awesome long rides. Maybe 20% of all. Now, I'm guessing that number is actually smaller; way smaller to be honest. The other 80% go ride with the local riding group, every weekend. They sign up for the same big group rides every year where someone you assume knows what they are doing lead them to every destination or stopping point along the way. They trailer to a lot of places and put a few miles on when they get there. (ie nothing wrong with trailering, there's always a time and a place). And lastly, most never push the edge a lil and ride roads with awesome sweeping turns, switchbacks, or crazy and up and down elevations. Just a fact. I see this, or lack of this, ALL the time! I mean it's okay once in awhile, but my god... Jump on that bike yourself and put yourself out there! Have mama jump on the bike with you or her own, and go kick it up. Maybe a few bikes take off for Sturgis and Daytona and do a lil living for a few thousand miles on 2 wheels. Because you know what? Most don't.
In the vacation world, 20% do some really cool shit. They go off to exotic places. Go scuba diving. Deep Sea fishing. Find different All Inclusives. Do things 'on the economy'. Do some cool cruises. Maybe some of the places aren't deemed "SAFE!" by all their friends? But the others, the '80%' go to their favorite places they always go to. Find some cheap locations they can afford where they feel safe. Always go with the same people or same family members. They feel safe and comfortable and don't want to rock the boat. I'm going to piss a few off here, but I'm starting to feel that away about many 'cruisers'. Maybe 80% of them like to get on a big cruise ship, go to the same dining room every night, same waiter, same wait staff, sign up for an excursion with all their fellow cruisers, sold to them by the cruise line. I mean .. some of these folks repeat this process several times a year. Have their favorite ships. Their favorite destinations. Now, in all fairness, to each their own. All good.. but... it all fits into my 20/80 model.
Okay .. where am I going with this? You've probably guessed it but let me go there anyways. After a year of looking at posts and comments about ETA, I've seen a pattern. They (ETA) claim a 92% return rate over a two year period. Unless they prove that, I'm going to call them out on that. I mean on ours, nobody was a returnee. I spoke to someone else from one awhile back, and they were all newbies. Now, I get going back for a second trip.. I honestly do. Have to admit, I'd do mine a lil differently, have different expectations, etc. I'd make it better. BUT, when you see people have been 5, 7 , 10 times I can't help but think .. WTF? Folks, the riding was not that great. The destinations (stops along the way) we were visiting, were not always that great. But I'll be the first to admit it had a cool factor. And I just admitted I see the value of a second trip. But who goes back 10 or more times? Explain 'why' to me ... inquiring minds really want to know. But, I have a theory.
Some folks just want to feel 'safe' and this fits their mold. I mean every other comment, post and or review seemed to always have " we always felt safe thanks to ETA". Safe from what? WTF were you scared of? Have you never ridden in traffic? Have you never had your bike in a sandy parking lot? Down a dirt road? Rode over the equivalent of that 'plank' onto the ship? Did you think the locals were going to come after you with machetes and steal your woman? What am I missing? You know what I think? I think many of these folks were actually nervous and scared to be riding on the Islands. Never ridden roads that challenged them. Never ridden in a situation similar to the in and out of the ship on that gateway. When they got home, it was the most exciting thing they have ever done and they owe it all to ETA since they are home in their recliner .... safe. SAFE! If I see/hear "SAFE" one more time, I think I'm going to puke.
As I write all this, I see another side to the coin. Imagine if you live near a cruise port. Let's use south Florida as an example. I can see the value of booking several of these. I mean, the cost and ease of it all is simpler than riding a thousand miles to a good destination for some quality riding. I get it. Now, it'd suck having to put up with someone I've mentioned, but if you can get through that and actually get along with him, a lot of upside here. I get it. And for the non-biker folks that like to cruise a lot, I get it. I guess if you live near a port and can get a lot of cheap cruises in. There is a bang for the buck sometimes. But for the majority of folks .. .well.. I have to question the value of multiple returns. And I'm guessing most of the 20 percenters, don't return after 1 or 2 of these ETA cruises.
REVIEWS
What is about folks that don't do reviews? Most don't. Humor nature I guess. The 80% don't want to rock the boat , and the 20% don't necessarily want to either. Actually, I'm guessing it's less than 1% give good OR bad reviews. I remember reading a book many moons ago when I contemplated going into sales. In one section he discussed something that I've always remembered. The author had a theory. This was well before social media; the average person had about 300 friends and or family, in their 'circle.' This doesn't mean people they hung out with or even saw all the time..but for arguments sake... 300. Now, if we experienced something good out there ... service, product, whatever, we normally kept it to ourselves. I mean if you get a good haircut you don't normally tell more than a few folks about it, if any. Makes sense to me. BUT, if something bad happens, suddenly many of those 300 may hear about it somehow?? So the reputation of a place or person can be at risk and it's hard to get that back. Point being ...if a business gives shitty service or a crappy product we tend to tell people. Lots of people. So, if you are that business and acutely aware of this, you will bend over backwards to make things right. Make the customer happy. The world of social media has made this whole thing.... exponential. Piss someone off, do something bad, it usually ends up on FB or Twitter. On Forums. On personal FB pages. And it gets shared off to the world. That all being said, two things come to mind the last week.
On a FB Page or group, the admin has more power than many realize. They can delete visitor posts. They can delete comments. They can argue against reviews and many times have them removed. They can ban users so they can't comment. The can remove folks from groups. Basically, they can manipulate most if not all negative data and present a rosy picture to the majority of unsuspecting. I see this all the time. I've seen it abused. Hell, I've done it myself a few times over the years. I've got a couple of pages and groups I admin and if someone goes off the rails, it's simple to just hit the delete button and move on. But, these of mine aren't business pages. On a business page, one could argue ... it's pure manipulation of the customer base? Well, I think it is. And I see it happen all the time.
The other thing is I don't understand why folks don't honestly speak their mind. What are they scared of? As long as what you see is the truth, why not put it out there? Especially it it's data which can help others make informed decisions. What are they scared of? Maybe.. they just want to feel.... SAFE?
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