Category Archives: Consulting

June 19, 2015 · 8:15 am

The Hole Truth

This Foodie Friday, let’s delve into the world of food mysteries.  I hadn’t really noticed but apparently the holes in swiss cheese have been shrinking and no one quite knew why.  A cynical commentator (who me?) might speculate that the opposite ought to be true, as margins rise when you’re selling empty space.  Be that as it may, it was really a problem and scientists did some investigating.  The answer is instructive for anyone in business.

You know that cheese is made by the interplay of bacteria and milk.  The bacteria is added and the differences in the milk (sheep, cow, goat, etc.) and the strain of bacteria are what make different cheeses.  Swiss cheese is cow’s milk and three unpronounceable strains of bacteria, none of which had been changed;  yet over the last hundred years, and very much over the last fifteen, the holes have been shrinking.  Why?

Turns out it had to do with improved cleanliness.  Better sanitation resulted in a safer product but also removed microscopic bits of hay from the milk.  Those hay bits were critical in the formation of the holes.  That solves our mystery but also raises the business point.

We’re all familiar with the law of unintended consequences but how many of us take the time with our team to think through the effects that law might bring with every new action?  Product changes, a new marketing plan, or any other change has the potential to bring about changes that aren’t readily foreseen unless we spend the extra time to think about them.  It’s nice to tie executive compensation to our stock price but maybe that has the unintended consequence of focusing on the short-term or good financial results at the expense of better customer service.  Maybe we cut the price to get a deal but then realize we’re losing money.  Maybe we reduce quality to save on costs and watch as a competitor steals share.

Making the milk cleaner was a great idea – who wants customers getting sick and dying?  The unintended consequence was a big change to one of the product’s signature features.  After all, without the holes, Swiss Cheese is just Emmental and Appenzell.  That mystery took 100 years to solve – hopefully the mysteries inherent in your business won’t take that long.

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June 18, 2015 · 12:12 pm

The Freemium Come On

I had the same sort of thing happen to me twice in the last 24 hours so of course I feel compelled to rant about it. In the first case, I was searching for a better system to keep track of my business development work. I spent some time reviewing solutions and I thought I had found one that I liked. Research told me that there was a free solution that would meet my needs so I signed up. Imagine my surprise when my account said I was now using their enterprise solution for a 30-day trial.  I wrote to customer service asking about the promoted “free” option and was told that in 30 days my account would be downgraded to the free solution although some pieces of what I had access to would be lost.  No, he didn’t tell me which pieces so I’m a little wary of getting too invested in this since who knows if I’m building a database which will then be held for ransom.

In the second case, my “thing” about grammar led me to a browser extension that is supposed to improve upon the tools built in to the operating system, my word processing software,  and the browser.  It too said it was free so I installed it and registered for an account. The first document I ran through it contained a number of errors, some of which were labelled as “critical” (spelling and a comma fault) and others labelled as “advanced.”  Hovering over the critical issues allowed me to fix them immediately, choosing from several proposed solutions.  I clicked on the advanced list and was taken to a page which told me I needed to upgrade to fix the advanced writing mistakes as well as to enhance my text.

In both of these cases, I don’t begrudge the companies for charging for their services.  I think freemium is a pretty good business model and there are some free services that I’ve paid to upgrade over the years after having used them for a bit.  I have a bigger issue with companies that begin as free and then begin charging for features which had been free.  The issue I do have is a lack of clarity upfront.  If it’s a freemium service, state that and lay out the differences between free and paid.  Hopefully, your product is good enough that you’ll convert folks who use it and want a deeper involvement.  Don’t play the airlines’ game of promoting a low cost (or no cost) and then hitting a user up with charges for everything under the sun.  That’s just deceptive.  That’s my take.  Yours?

 

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June 12, 2015 · 8:41 am

Watching Out For Cannibals

It’s Foodie Friday, and this week our topic is an announcement made by Whole Foods the other day.  If you’ve ever shopped there you know that the “Whole Paycheck” nickname the chain has acquired is accurate.  The products there are generally first-rate and are priced as such.  With the growth of lower cost competitors such as Trader Joe’s that offer an almost equal level of quality at more reasonable prices, Whole Foods decided to fight back:

“Today, we are excited to announce the launch of a new, uniquely-branded store concept unlike anything that currently exists in the marketplace,” said Walter Robb, co-chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market. “Offering our industry leading standards at value prices, this new format will feature a modern, streamlined design, innovative technology and a curated selection. It will deliver a convenient, transparent, and values-oriented experience geared toward millennial shoppers, while appealing to anyone looking for high-quality fresh food at great prices.”

I guess he never heard of Trader Joe’s but let’s put that aside.  The store will be called 365 by Whole Foods which is their store-branded line.  This move raises the question (not a food question!) of cannibalization.  You see, according to the folks at Harvard, history shows us that most of these lower-cost brands are created explicitly to win back customers that have switched to a low-price rival. Unfortunately, once deployed, many have an annoying tendency to also acquire customers from a company’s own premium offering. To prevent cannibalization, a company must deliberately lessen the value, appeal, and accessibility of its lower-cost brand to its premium brand’s target segments.  That means you’re knowingly offering an inferior product, and in my mind that always bears the risk of tainting the premium product.

Whole Foods isn’t going to put Trader Joe’s out of business.  I’m willing to bet that they’re going to take some serious losses (new stores aren’t cheap) as they start up and if all customers are doing to going to the new place to buy the same goods they would have bought (along with some of the higher-priced stuff), you’ve reduced margins even if you’ve maintained sales.

I guess the lesson in my mind is one I’ve put out there before.  Be who you are as a brand.  Embrace those who love you and create new fans every day by explaining cost and value aren’t the same and why you’re the best solution to a customer’s problem.  It’s worked for a lot of high-end brands.  Why not Whole Foods?

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