You Broke It!!

There is an old axiom that states, “if it ain't broke, don’t fix it”. But what happens when the company that produces the product is the one who broke it?

As a business strategist I am a firm believer in the concept of continuous improvement, but changes should be driven by research and data that proves there will be no ill effect for customers or the company as a result.

There have been too many products that come into the market strong only to fail because a decision was made to change it at the height of its popularity. For example, there was a food retailer who came out with a pastry a few years ago. My son knowing I have a soft spot for good pastries, recommended I try it and I did so. To my surprise it was very good, which was uncommon for this retailer because their focus is usually value and not taste.

I too recommended the pastry to a few friends, and they too liked it. After a year or so one of the times I purchased the pastry I noticed it was smaller and the taste was gone! It tasted like plastic, the icing was not sweet, and the texture was way off.

Having more than 20 years in retail management, I know what happened. Corporate saw how well the pastry was selling and decided to change the product or vendor to increase profitability. Within 90 days the pastry was no longer on their menu…surprise!

The purpose of this article is not to rant, well maybe a little, but to point out the shortsightedness of their strategy. While they were undoubtedly trying to be responsible to their shareholders, they totally didn’t take into consideration the fuel in this scenario, the customer.

It would have made more sense to test the elasticity of price by small increases, than to change the formula for what was bringing increased sales.

We have to change the point of view of management and leadership from trying to gain, to trying to bring more value. You cannot cut your way to profitability and grow. Instead try creating levels of value so high consumers are willing to pay more for it, be consistent, and let employee and customer feedback drive the next iteration of your products.