How Not to be Your Own Worst Enemy
Published on February 5th, 2010 by: admin in: A - Ω, Business
How Not to be Your Own Worst Enemy: What a Business Should Know
Somebody once said that history repeats itself because we don’t learn anything from it the first time around. While that may be acceptable for an individual, it may prove costly or even suicidal for a business to let experience be the sole teacher. So good business leaders opt for the next best option: Learning from others’ mistakes.
There is no limit to the number of ways in which your business can take a walk through Blunder-land. However, the most devastating of errors can happen when an enterprise puts its foot, instead of its money, where its mouth is. That’s right, some of the most expensive and celebrated blunders have been related to what a company said to its customers as well as what it allowed customers to say about the company. Here’s a quick look at two fundamental communication commandments:
Thou shalt talk to thy customer. And when the customer talks, thou shalt listen.
Nothing new here, but surprisingly, this is one of the most disregarded rules. The annals of corporate history are bursting at the seams with telling gaffes that happened as a result.
In 2009, Dell launched Della, a women-oriented website to market its netbooks. In a move that was supposedly done keeping its target group’s interests in mind, the site was loaded with cutesy-pie info on downloading recipes and counting calories. Predictably, potential women customers let Dell know exactly what they thought of having “lifestyle” being interpreted as “gender”.
In case you aren’t willing to listen to your customer, they will find ways to ensure you do. Another incident that created waves in 2009 was musician Dave Carroll’s “United breaks guitars” song series, following a baggage mishap. By the time United Airlines woke up to the ruckus, they had already got more publicity than they needed.
And sometimes, customers’ needs will be brought to you by your own employees. A classic example is that of the Ford Model T. Henry Ford’s obsession with his masterpiece is legendary. When employees suggested a new, low-slung version of the car in 1912, he ripped apart the prototype with his bare hands, silencing all future discussions on the topic. By 1925, the Model T was unchanged while competitors innovated to race ahead on spanking new highways.
Sales figures reflected changing preferences very clearly. Competitors like Dodge and General Motors inched ahead, while Ford’s market share slipped from 57% in 1923 to 34% in 1926. The battle was lost in 1930 when Chevrolet overtook Ford and stayed put in the top slot.
What about when the customer doesn’t say anything? Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And don’t break it either. Close calls in the past include the spectacular debacle of New Coke, which cost Coca-Cola $4 billion in research and 3 percentage points in market share. Crystal Pepsi went down the same path. A more recent example would be the attempted, and consequently withdrawn, revamps of the Pepsi and Tropicana logos in 2009.
Thou shalt not underestimate the power of media.
By all means, use media to promote your business. But do pause a moment to think of exactly what you want to convey, and its possible impact. Sometimes, it can boost your business in ways you never expected, or wanted.
A case in point is the Starbucks free drinks voucher which was sent to customers by email. A normal enough move, but the company decided to tell customers to forward the voucher to family and friends as well. Soon, one million Americans were claiming free drinks and Starbucks was slapped with a $114 million lawsuit for finally refusing to honor the offer.
A similar scenario emerged when KFC offered free meal coupons through talk-show diva Oprah Winfrey’s website. Interestingly, KFC omitted to put limits on the number of redemptions or coupon prints, resulting in near-riot situations at outlets across the U.S.
Everybody knows how fast information moves around these days, but sometimes it takes an incident or two to show exactly how fast. The video of two Domino’s Pizza employees on YouTube is not likely to be forgotten in a hurry. In the United Airlines incident referred to earlier, Dave Carroll spent nine months trying to get United to act. Finally, when he vent his ire through a song series on YouTube, it took one million hits for United to respond. The damage to the airline’s image, however, had already been done.
The moral of this story? Treat your customers like the intelligent, thinking beings they are. A simple concept, but one that is sadly neglected most of the time.
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Tags: Business, knowledge, worst enemy
