Am I Buying Coffee or a Smile? - By Rick Williams
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When I lived near Porter Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts had side-by-side stores both selling coffee. You could almost touch both doors at once. I would buy coffee for a boost in the morning.
When I walked into McDonald’s, the counter person looked at me and asked how they could help. I looked at the server and asked for a cup of coffee with no cream.
When I walked into the Dunkin’ Donuts, five steps away, the counter person was looking at the cash register saying, “Next!” Same story every time I went into D&D.
I stopped buying my coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts and only went to McDonald’s. I was not just buying coffee. I was buying the personal attention and eye contact of the McDonald’s server. I remember at the time being surprised that the service was so different at two national brand stores selling the same “product” a few steps from each other.
The Wall Street Journal featured an article about Starbucks attempting to reverse its declining same-store sales by spending millions training and retraining its in-store staff. When a customer comes in the door, the new training manual instructs the barista to look the customer in the eye, smile, and say, “Welcome to Starbucks.” Starbucks recognizes that their customer is buying more than “coffee.” The customer is buying personal acknowledgment and a smile.
Too often, we don’t understand what our customer is buying versus what we are selling. We focus on our next generation technology, multiple product options, price, or years on the market while our customers are choosing which company’s product to buy for entirely different reasons – can I talk to a person?, the social experience in the store, warranty, online recommendations, affinity with a life style, cause, or celebrity, etc.
I wrote earlier about two McDonald’s product and buyer disconnects and lessons learned that will help you avoid the same mistakes. Here is the link to my quick read blog post.
What Are We Selling? – Chicken McNuggets or Sci Fi Fantasy?
McDonald’s had near riots at their outlets after a one-day promotion of Szechuan sauce for the chicken McNuggets linked to a sci fi cartoon character.
The blog includes a link to my longer article titled “What Business Are We In?” Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen examined why McDonald’s could not increase sales of its milkshakes. McDonnald’s did not understand what its customers were buying when they purchased a milkshake. Take a moment to read these two fascinating stories.
Here is one more story. My grandfather, Richard Williams, was a true self-made entrepreneur who founded several companies. He may not have graduated from high school. My grandmother told the story of going into a high-end men’s clothing story where my grandfather asked for a quality white dress shirt. The clerk brought out a white shirt and said the price was $2.
My grandfather told the clerk that the shirt was not what he was looking for. He wanted a top-quality shirt for his business meetings. According to my grandmother, the clerk went into the back room and then brought out the same shirt again. This time the cost was $4. My grandfather said that was the shirt he was looking for and bought it.
Some buyers look for the lowest price, but others look for the highest price. Many companies add mostly useless bells and whistles to their core product so they will have a top-of-the-line product for the customer who only wants to buy the most expensive model. That is not me, but was my grandfather, according to his wife – my grandmother.
Santa Fe Peppers
The color palette is strikingly different in the western US than in the eastern US, where I live. The West’s red earth and majestic buttes contrast with the East’s gray rocks and brown earth – the darker the better.
When I walked by a market in Santa Fe, these multicolored peppers were offered for sale. They were a visual gift of beauty to me from a wonderful city so different from mine.
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