It is actually fairly plausible that Stoppelmann has no idea at all that his sales representatives are using such shady tactics.
That is not, however, good news for Stoppelmann. Not in any sense. It would indicate that, at the client-business level of interaction, there is no functional oversight at all. That Yelp's management's either willing to turn a blind eye, or are so negligent as to allow this to occur even in the face of growing criticisms.
Incompetence or malevolence; either way, they're in trouble.
Since Yelp depends on sponsorships to turn a profit (trick question: have they turned a profit yet?), they depend on the sleazy tactics of their sales reps. I'm reminded of a line from the opening of Mission Impossible: As usual, should you or any member of your I.M. Force be captured or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence.
Any advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malevolence.
You do have to view the claims with some skepticism considering those making the claims stand to benefit substantially from people believing them, true or not.
Comments
It is actually fairly plausible that Stoppelmann has no idea at all that his sales representatives are using such shady tactics.
That is not, however, good news for Stoppelmann. Not in any sense. It would indicate that, at the client-business level of interaction, there is no functional oversight at all. That Yelp's management's either willing to turn a blind eye, or are so negligent as to allow this to occur even in the face of growing criticisms.
Incompetence or malevolence; either way, they're in trouble.
Since Yelp depends on sponsorships to turn a profit (trick question: have they turned a profit yet?), they depend on the sleazy tactics of their sales reps. I'm reminded of a line from the opening of Mission Impossible: As usual, should you or any member of your I.M. Force be captured or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence.
Any advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malevolence.
> It is actually fairly plausible that Stoppelmann has no idea at all that his sales representatives are using such shady tactics.
I kind of buy this--I've been told that the sales reps at Yelp are paid by commission, which can lead to this sort of thing.
or it could just not be true
You do have to view the claims with some skepticism considering those making the claims stand to benefit substantially from people believing them, true or not.