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The Buzz On Better Business
Positioning your business as one that is trustworthy is something that we know is important but what does it take to accomplish this? Join BBB Serving Acadiana President/CEO, Chris Babin each month as we unveil the world of local Accredited Businesses who have it mastered and have positioned themselves as ethical leaders in our Acadiana marketplace. Each episode contains the latest buzz on these better businesses; it is designed to help you engage your customers and stay on top of the changing trends while navigating the difficult landscape of today’s marketplace with honesty and integrity.
The Buzz On Better Business
Fostering a Marketplace of Trust: The Impact of BBB Accreditation in Acadiana
Discover the heartbeat of ethical business in Acadiana as we unveil the integral role of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in cultivating a transparent marketplace. Joined by Executive Producer, Carter Simoneaux from AcadianaCasts, BBB Serving Acadiana CEO, Chris Babin, dissects how the BBB's commitment to trust and transparency isn't just talk; it manifests in the real-world support and upliftment of local initiatives. We'll guide you through the why's and how's of BBB accreditation, revealing how it's transforming the way consumers and businesses interact. This conversation promises to equip you with the knowledge to discern and elevate your dealings with companies that bear the badge of reliability.
Trust isn't given; it's earned. This episode throws the spotlight on the high stakes of trust in business, illustrating the accreditation journey and its pivotal role as a trust indicator. The tales we share—from the pitfalls of ignoring a BBB rating to the triumphs of upholding high standards—will resonate with anyone who's ever navigated the marketplace's treacherous waters. We delve into the diverse structure of BBBs, our unique local board, and the rigorous process businesses undergo to receive a BBB seal of approval, offering an inside look at the promise behind the plaque.
Finally, we celebrate the symbiotic relationship between trusted businesses and the success stories that emerge from them. We discuss how our podcast serves as a platform for business owners to broadcast their dedication to ethical practice, while also sharing innovative marketing insights in this ever-evolving digital landscape. Connecting with a revered brand like the BBB can be a game-changer for business owners—learn how to leverage the resources and benefits that come with accreditation and tune in to the empowering narratives that inspire and guide Acadiana's business community toward a future built on trust.
To learn more about BBB Serving Acadiana, visit our website!
To learn more about BBB Serving Acadiana, visit our website:
🔗 https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/better-business-bureau-serving-acadiana
This podcast is an AcadianaCasts production and part of the AcadianaCasts Network. Go to acadianacasts.com for more South Louisiana sourced content.
What I found and I think part of my time at VVB has helped solidify this is people are looking for unique transparency, they're looking for relationships. They're looking for what it is behind the facade of a TV commercial. What is it behind the marketing that's actually going on? The buzz on Better Business Podcast positioning your business as one that is trustworthy is something that we all know is important, but what does it actually take to accomplish this? Join your BBB each month as we unveil the world of local accredited businesses who have it mastered and have positioned themselves as ethical leaders in our Acadiana marketplace. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the Buzz on Better Business Podcast. We're going to do this one a little different. We're going to chat today with the producer from Acadiana Cast, carter Simineau, talk a little bit about BBB and what this podcast is geared for, what the intention is. Let's get started, carter. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:Chris it's been an interesting couple of days had a couple of guests unfortunately have to back out. The show must go on. There's a lot of stats and data that shows that a solo app can really do wonders for your numbers. We're hoping that Chris Babbin-Shine gets people going.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, we're hoping We've committed this year We've made a hard commitment to. We are producing an episode of the Buzz on Better Business Podcast each and every month, because there are so many good businesses out there, there are so many good topics to talk about. We had a last minute cancellation for this month but as you said, carter, the show must go on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we're going to talk a little bit at the end of this episode kind of where we see the show potentially going, the value that it can bring to your businesses in the BBB accreditation network. But for now let's talk about some things that are happening at the BBB. Now we are recording here at the Love of People office, which is a nonprofit that I know the BBB has helped with some activities. The BBB came and helped volunteer at one of our initiatives, bell's Tower, which will be coming to fruition into the light to the public eye really soon.
Speaker 2:That's exciting, yeah, and that was a big help for you guys to come. But you know well about the nonprofit space. The BBB is one of them.
Speaker 1:The BBB, we are a nonprofit At our core. We are a community service organization. We're supported through our members, our accredited members, which we'll talk about shortly, but that's something that I don't think we're able to bring enough awareness to. So, as a nonprofit, I've been at BBB for just over five years now and, from a financial budgetary perspective, we've grown our revenue every year. We've actually in the last, since 2018, we've increased our revenue close to 40%. So the money that we're bringing into the office close to 40% Now, each and every month and as a on the year, I guess as a whole we put every one of those dollars back into the community.
Speaker 1:So when you look at our annual financials, we have a break even net positive hundred bucks positive, you know, negative $100. We literally put every dollar that we get, even as we've increased our revenue, we're putting that money back into the community. So, whether that's through staffing for our core services or all of the services that we do provide to the community, at our core again, we are a community service organization. We're here for a KDN of the seven parishes that we cover, and that's absolutely right. As a nonprofit, we're a 501 C six nonprofit, so a little bit different than a 501 C three, which is a traditional nonprofit. As a C six, we are a membership nonprofit, so we're supported through our members. That's the main way we bring in revenue. However, there are a couple other avenues stream, you know, revenue streams that we do have and our goal is to support the community with that. So the more we're able to grow, the more we're able to provide for the community, the better for everybody.
Speaker 2:Yeah, why was it important for you to lead off this episode with that Is? That's a question that you guys get a lot about y'all's nonprofit status.
Speaker 1:Well, you know, we do sometimes get questions about where is the money spent that BBB makes. What does my accreditation go towards? You know, our accredited businesses pay dues annually, based on their number of employees, and that's again how we're supported. But those dollars go through. You mentioned, you know, our impact initiative. We volunteer in the community each month. Those dollars go towards that. They go towards the core services that we provide. They go towards being able to staff our office for all of the free resources. So, in addition to being a nonprofit, accreditation is the only thing we charge anybody for. So if you're a consumer business coming to us for resources whether it's business resources, consumer resources, just information you're looking, you know, for a dispute to be processed, maybe one of our core services that we assist with. All of those things are free. We don't charge for any of those things and our nonprofit status as a reporting agency allows us to be able to do that and not charge consumers for all of the resources that we provide.
Speaker 2:We're going to get into accreditation in just a little bit, but are there nonprofits that are in the BBB accredited nonprofits?
Speaker 1:So through the BBB there are what's called a charity review program. Now each individual BBB has the option to have their charity review program in place or not. Locally we don't review charities. It's a different set of operational standards that charities have to meet. But if you go to giveorg, the BBB as a whole does report on nonprofits across the whole country. So we are a nonprofit but we report primarily on for-profit businesses in the marketplace that we cover.
Speaker 2:Now this might be kind of too deep in the weeds, but as being a, does a nonprofit status change being in Louisiana? Are there other BBBs across the nation that operate differently Because they're in different states? Are we unique in Louisiana in any way?
Speaker 1:Well, that is a good question. Every BBB location is a 501C6. And to get, I guess, a little bit deeper into the weeds, as you mentioned on the structure, so each BBB is its own entity. We were incorporated. Our local office in Acadiana was incorporated in 1975. We have our own set of bylaws that govern how we operate. We're registered with the Secretary of State, just like any other BBB entity would be in their respective states as well, and we're governed by our board of directors. So our board of directors is made up of managers and business owners of those local accredited businesses and they actually oversee, not only according to our bylaws but according to official legal documentation from what we fall under with the International Association. We are governed by our board of directors. So essentially we're a nonprofit that functions for the support of Acadiana. That's governed by business owners and managers of Acadiana.
Speaker 2:Well, you mentioned. I feel like I'm not the one hosting but you're the expert in this scenario. So I guess I'm asking some of the questions. But when it comes to accreditation, I've made like the slight joke the past couple of months since I've been producing this podcast for you. I'm not Acadiana Cass is not an accredited BBB business, but I'm almost indirectly accredited because I've got the BBB standard of approval, because you guys are the ones. You guys said hey, I'm good enough for you to do the podcast.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, so it does my little work around, you know. But what is this accreditation process like and why is it so important for local businesses to do it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's that's a great question and it's kind of twofold. So from a from an awareness perspective, as a business, you know trust is something that's easily eroded, whether it's online or stories out in the community. You know trust is something that's easy to lose and sometimes, especially this day and age, you can't believe any phone call you get, any email you get. You know it's harder to maintain. So how does somebody know that they can literally trust a business? Forget about accreditation, forget about standards. When you're going to spend some money with somebody, how do you know you're going to get a credit and you know you're going to get some money with somebody? How do you know you're going to get in return something that's quality and it's what you're paying for, whether it's a service or product? Well, bbb accreditation is something that can serve as as part of that decision making process and that's really what we at BBB want people to do, whether they're a business looking for another business to interact with or a consumer looking for a business. You know, at least use our accredited business directory on bbborg as part of that pre-purchase decision. Not necessarily the one all be all, not necessarily the only thing you look at, but at least look at what we have to say about that business and I'll tell a quick story and then I'll get into accreditation.
Speaker 1:So we recently, as you know, we do a lot with the media. How you and I originally met years ago, you know we do a lot in the media because consumer education is a big arm of what we're able to do and what we provide. We have a huge network of BBB so information is always flooding in the newest, latest things. We can try to keep people aware of what's going on out in the community. But we did a new story recently on a lady out of New Iberia that hired a tree contractor that came, took the money, cut a couple branches, didn't pick any of it up, didn't finish the project, can't get in touch with them. So she contacted the media.
Speaker 1:I want to tell everybody about this bad business. Well, when we see things like that, of course our, our alarms go off and we're like, ok, well, what are we saying about this business? So if you went to our business profile, if she would have checked out this business and no, no harm, no foul on her, but just using this as a learning experience, this business and our directory, they have an F rating, they have a pattern of complaint, which means we've identified that they have multiple complaints for the same things from different consumers. That's a big red alert at the top of their um, at the top of their profile, when you go to it on the directory, and they're not licensed to be doing the work that they're doing. So, as I mentioned a while ago as part of the pre-purchase buying decision, if you would have checked out that business and seen that, I would imagine 10 out of 10 people choose a different company.
Speaker 1:So then the position she's in now, with the project not being done, the money's spent, they took off with the money you know she gave them you. You avoid that and that, I think, is where what we do at the BBB and in one way is so valuable. Now, when we are credit a business not to say it's a hundred percent perfect or that accredited businesses never make mistakes, but when a business applies for accreditation cause it is an application process, they tell us a certain amount of information about the business. Our operations team then goes in and and verifies all of this stuff, cause I don't know if you know it, carter not everything everybody says is true.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, especially on the internet.
Speaker 1:Um. So we check into the business, not just licensing and regulatory information. We'll find um, you know, background of owners. You know we last year we denied in 2023, we denied 21 businesses accreditation. Um, because we found an issue with the business that said, eh, you're violating one or more of these eight standards. Now, if it's something as simple as licensing or it's something as they had a complaint in the past that they didn't answer, we work with them to try to reconcile those things and get them to an eligible status. But on those 21 businesses that we denied, we weren't able to get them to a trustworthy status to earn accreditation.
Speaker 1:Now, once a business passes that investigation, we then, on a weekly basis, send those packages, those application packages, to our board of directors and they literally look through every single application that comes in and either approve it or deny it before it gets approved. Because we've got 22 people on our board. They all operate in different industries, they all know different people. They're from different areas of Acadiana seven parishes gets quite large, you know, from one end to the other. So they can let us know yeah, they have a license, but I've heard this, this and this about this business and in that instance, that business maybe doesn't become accredited at that point. So all of this goes into the vetting process before we stamp somebody's application as approved.
Speaker 1:And then, from the financial aspect, yes, we're a nonprofit. They pay dues annually. We don't charge or even worry about money until all of that's approved. And then we charge them, you know, their annual dues based on the number of employees that they have, which is really just our way of determining their size, you know. So that larger business is obviously pay a little bit more than a guy that's working by himself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I mean I've had, we've had a few guests so far. The show is still so young, but all these guests have been accredited businesses. I believe most, most of them all have also been on the board as well. And they all, they all talk about. You know how beneficial the BBB has been for them and it seems like what you're talking about with the accreditation, that initial process. Sometimes it can open up something that maybe was not exposed to them as far as their business running.
Speaker 2:So not only is it for the consumer of being able to trust the business where they're going to, but as a business Kind of helping you get your ducks in a row right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and that's part of what the accreditation means from a business perspective. It's like look, I know people can trust me. I know I'm doing the thing that, doing the things the right way. I want, I want a third-party organization to put a stamp of approval on me, letting people know they can trust me. Obviously, every businesses Marketing is going to be promotional for them, right? So let somebody else come in that that you know Is going to approve what you're doing and say, yeah, they're doing things the right way.
Speaker 1:And then, as part of that, they sign an accreditation agreement with us. It's a two-page agreement. It breaks down all of the eight standards and what that business has to do. For instance, an accredited business doesn't have an option as to whether or not they respond to a dispute or a complaint. You know they, the ways that they market, the ways that they do things, have to continue to meet the standards. And they sign off and Agree to continue to meet the standards as they move forward. So it's not just hey, yeah, they're doing great, we gave them a stamp, but they've also agreed to continue to do that and want us to hold them accountable and doing so.
Speaker 2:That's what I was gonna ask you next is you know it's pretty strange in process in order to get accredited. But what is that process like of the, the annual review every, every single year, making sure that they stay accredited?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so every year Businesses renewal on an annual basis. Some of them pay monthly throughout the year. We do have payment plans and stuff for businesses that are interested, you know, but on an annual basis. A couple months prior to that renewal invoice going out, our operations team does what's called a MAB MIP. It's a minimum accreditation process to continue to check those things. Yeah, they have licensing, but do they still have the licensing, you know? Did we have some Complaints come in through the year that, yeah, this, this isn't looking too good for them, which, side note, about 85% of our complaints that we receive in process are for non accredited businesses, naturally. But you know, have they violated? Has something happened with this business over the last year since they were last stamped as trustworthy? That maybe changes that status and Sometimes we come across some stuff not too often, but it is something we maintain. It's not just a one-time thing and you're good forever, you know.
Speaker 2:Well before we get to y'all's core services of the BBB. I don't know if you were able to rip off any sort of numbers off the top of your head like this, but how does a KDN? I compare almost per capita when it comes to the amount of businesses that there are in the area that you guys serve.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that is a great question At in the BBB system. So last year we were there's 98 different BBBs all cover different Geographic areas through US, canada down into Mexico, and as far as growth as a percentage, our BBB here was fourth in growth Wow over that year period. And we have what's called One things. We one of the things we monitor, because of course we have our own standards as a BBB. They're called our performance and accountability metrics. That we have to report to to the association to make sure that each individual BBB is doing their thing right.
Speaker 1:We monitor what's called our market share and our market share right now in a cadena is 6.8, 6.9 percent. So when I started at BBB it was about 6.2 percent. Now that sounds like a low percent, but what does that number mean? Well, in the a cadena area we have right at 15,000, 313 to be specific, according to the latest census. So now that's the best number we can come up with. Now when the census gets updated, we update that number. But every BBB monitors how many accredited businesses do they have out of the total businesses in that area. Here, locally, in our seven parishes, we have 1100 accredited businesses out of that 15,000 313, and that's where that 6.9 percent comes from. And To compare which was the question To other BBBs were we're in the top 15 percent? I don't know exactly what number it is out of 98, but we are in a higher tier.
Speaker 2:Wow, now, like I said, we're talking kind of close to wrapping up here. Y'all core services, what, what do I need to know? What does people need to know? What do you want to get out there?
Speaker 1:Well, first and foremost, our core services are free. So we're a reporting organization. We provide free information on BBB org. You know that you could you could spend hours on there really trying to view every page that's on our website. But what you can Find out from us if we're not able to help, is that we're gonna point you in the right direction. So a lot of the calls we get or I had a problem with this business. I think I got scammed with this. I think somebody's using my social security number. You know what other organization can you call for free? That's gonna point you in the right direction. Maybe you're having a problem with the person. You know your landlord with him. We're probably gonna refer you to the housing commission. You know there's different things that come up that we have the resources for. We've got the phone numbers, we've got the connections to get you in the door to ask your questions, to get the help that you need If it's something that we can't provide. But we provide dispute resolution for consumers and businesses. So a lot of things that would otherwise have gone, you know, to a legal aspect of needing an attorney. We provide and facilitate those conversations for free.
Speaker 1:Our customer reviews, the investigations that we provide. So we do a lot of investigations, not just on businesses that are applying for accreditation, but maybe we heard about through a complaint, we found out this, this and this was going on and we were able to facilitate that conversation, find out, invest in information and then even turn it over to legal authorities. We have close work in relationship with local law enforcement, state attorney general's office, the FBI, especially their IC3 division, their internet crime division. You know we are a lot of times a mediator and information avenue for from one agency to the other because of our presence in the local community.
Speaker 1:We review all of the local advertising. You know when we, when we see something that's misleading to consumers, we're going to report on that, we're going to talk about it, we're going to post it on our social media, we're going to report on the business profile that this business is kind of being misleading with the way that they're doing things. And nothing that we do is based on our opinion. You know advertising review falls under our code of advertising. How we process disputes follows our complaint policy. Everything that we do follows strict policy and we are here in Acadiana to help support trust in the marketplace, support great businesses, help them do and be better at what they do and then help bring those consumers that are looking to spend dollars to the businesses that are going to going to handle it the right way.
Speaker 2:So without accurate information and you guys do your own research into these businesses but without the accurate information that you guys, you couldn't tell consumers whether or not a business is trustworthy or not. So you need data.
Speaker 1:Yeah absolutely.
Speaker 2:What's the best way for you guys to collect data from a consumer standpoint?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so historically we were we still do a lot of manual data entry. Now, as technology evolves, of course that's changing. Luckily, we do not have to support information and technology locally alone, right, because that would require some some high level expert on how we're going to manage these things. So luckily, as a, as a branch of the International Association, a lot of what we do falls under them and they've got a great IT department. We've started recently, over the last couple of years, pulling data lakes of information from other sources on the internet, distributing those into our database, and we still manually go through. We have somebody on operations team that manually goes through and approves information.
Speaker 1:This business's phone number updated. This one also goes by this name, this one moved and it's this address. You know a lot of things are manually done, but a lot of its data lake information from online. You know it's. It's a never changing world as far as that's concerned, but a lot of times we'll find out through a consumer contact and it's updated information about a business. We then send out a letter or call them and confirm that. So that is 100% an ongoing process. That we'll never achieve, you know, 100% accuracy, but that's something we continue to strive for, and consumers are a big part of giving us that as well.
Speaker 2:Was there anything else you want to touch on when it comes to y'all's core services?
Speaker 1:You know just the fact that that the people knowing what we provide and contacting us whether it's on our website or our phone call or even stopping by the office we get. You know, people walk in the office all the time as well. You know, just to know that we're there for free. We do have a lot of people utilize us. Just our local BBB websites, or the Acadiana side of BBBorg, is about 30,000 people a month, unique users that go to that webpage. Now, I'm not a web expert, but that's kind of a lot of people you know. So we have a lot of people that use our resources, but we can't ever stop spreading the word at how valuable what we provide is.
Speaker 2:Well, we're trying to provide a valuable service to through this podcast and you talked about it's an ever going ongoing process. And that is for sure with this for your, your accredited businesses. What would be your message to them regards to coming on and sharing their story on this show?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So you know, years ago I started listening to podcast, some while you're working out or trying, you know just something in the background, and some you literally you sit there and watch the video just makes it that much better, you know. But what I found and I think part of that my time at BBB has helped solidify this is people are looking for unique transparency. You know they're. They're looking for relationships. They're looking for what it is behind the facade of a TV commercial. You know what is it behind the marketing that's actually going on. So, as an organization that promotes trust and promotes businesses that are doing the right thing, we started a podcast as not only a way to help promote our accredited businesses because we do that in hundreds of different ways it feels like you know, but we always want to help promote our accredited businesses but to start a casual conversation for those that may be unfamiliar with what it takes to be a good business. You know our accredited members are who we choose from as our guests, but really the conversation is about trust and what it takes to operate a business that does the right thing.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, you know, what's best for the business is not ethically necessarily the right thing and people that have owned a business or worked higher up in management, especially small businesses, especially here in Acadiana.
Speaker 1:They have a story to tell and they a lot of times it's a unique story, as you've seen with some of our episodes so far, some of the people that sit in here and talk about their business never thought at 18 years old this is where they'd be. So what we're trying to do is be an avenue for them to tell their story, talk about trust, make it about their business and not necessarily about BBB or accreditation, but as a casual conversation that people want to listen to, to learn more about that business, but learn more about if this business is accredited and they're successful and they're doing things right. What are some of the obstacles they've faced? How have they handled some of the things that we faced in our economy and we faced in our marketplace? And this podcast was created as a way to allow those businesses to tell their story and share what helped get them to where they are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and congruently with that, there's this new way of marketing through social media that is ever-changing, and so, as a guest on the show, not only do you get to share your story and have an authentic conversation and kind of really remove the veil between the public and you and your business.
Speaker 2:But you're also getting some marketing materials for short form social media, for that tiny attention span society that we now live in, through just one minute to a minute and a half long clips that we can put out and it's a way to reach an existing audience, a new audience, a younger audience, as well as people in there who are on social media all the time in their mid-20s, right out of college or just getting into the workforce. But also some people are making the leap in the starting businesses on their own and so to have that information to share, that from experts in this area of when it comes to business, it's a valuable thing to have in your back pocket that the show helps do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, carter, and I'm glad you mentioned that you and a kitty and a cast do a great job producing the content. It's a 100% great marketing value of nothing else right? So it's a great way to be able to share your story. But the marketing kind you talk about, social media, I mean. Thankfully, at the end of this you provide to us the clips, what I need to say on social media, how to post it, because that's not something that we're experts in at BBB. We do our best with it.
Speaker 1:We really feel like we have our best foot forward, but the landscape is ever changing, whether it's the way you're talking about online and social media. Younger demographics are looking at things totally different than you know. Then we've looked at traditionally and then how you market to them, how you reach them, is something that is ever changing. So, being a guest on this podcast, we have that content provided to us at the end. It helps, you know, do that.
Speaker 1:And then, in addition, a business we always tell them monthly we do a seminar for the new businesses that joined the month before and it's a to do list all the resources and benefits that come to them as an accredited business and how to use those, make sure they know how to utilize them. And one thing we always tell them is make sure you're using the accredited business logo, because we've been around forever. We've been around since 1912, not everybody knows what all we do at BBB, but they know we do something good. It stands for something trustworthy. So the more you can associate yourself with a brand that people are familiar with, the better it is for your business, and sometimes that's what it comes down to is brand awareness and being able to let people know hey, I'm here should you need the products or services that I provide.
Speaker 2:Well said, as always, chris. Where can people find more information about the BBB and how to find this show, how to get in contact with you guys? All that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, bbborg, you can find the information there, it'll. It'll naturally link you to the local Acadiana area. If not, put in your zip code, and you'll have all of our office information. You can call us 337-981-3497. Of course, we're on the corner of Congress in Gilbo, right next to Allstate, in that short little shopping center. Right there, you can always pass by the doors open and then follow us on social media.
Speaker 1:So, bbb, at Cadiana whether that's Facebook, linkedin, instagram we created a TikTok. We haven't produced any content yet, but we're going to try to figure out how to do that here coming soon with this conversation we were just having. But follow us on social media. You know Acadiana Cash, you guys produce our content, so we appreciate y'all. The Buzz on Better Business podcast you can find on our YouTube page as well, and you know if you need us.
Speaker 1:If you don't even know if you need us, you just want to find out if we can provide anything to you. Give us a call, find us, let us help you. I really hope you enjoyed the show. Thank you so much for joining us to help support the show. Please like, share, follow us on whatever podcast application or even on YouTube, wherever you caught this episode at If you want to find out more about the Better Business Bureau, you can contact us 337-9813497. You can find us on social media, bbb at Cadiana and, as always, you can go to BBBorg for any information you're looking for. See you next time. Thank you so much for joining us.
