I love being right, but..
April 11, 2009If you know me, you know I love being right, but lately, I wish I weren’t right so often.
When The Oregonian, interviewing me for a story about the Joe’s bankruptcy, asked whether I thought Joe’s could survive and/or might be sold to another company, I said, “No.” Yesterday, Joe’s started liquidating.
The evaporation of so many retailers is a scenario being repeated too often for three key reasons:
- Many retail operations operate with thin profit margins–or no profit margins–so when sales decline, the retailers simply have no (forgive the pun) margin for error.
- Many retail operations have no raison d’etre–no reason for being–no strategy that separates them from their competitors, no strategy for meeting changing consumer needs.
- Too often, good customer service is missing in action. Poor customer service can result in lost sales, and few companies today can afford to lose those sales.
Perhaps, as a result of the current economic environment, we will see a return to good customer service. I’d really like to be right about that!