tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post8659012450535952649..comments2023-10-18T08:32:17.510-07:00Comments on Kevin Hillstrom: MineThatData: Improve The ProductUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post-13776643158767129142007-06-20T16:14:00.000-07:002007-06-20T16:14:00.000-07:00K --- good comment, those are reasonable thoughts!...K --- good comment, those are reasonable thoughts!MineThatDatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014200122021988374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post-61026716326360092392007-06-19T20:05:00.000-07:002007-06-19T20:05:00.000-07:00Kevin,I will play devil's advocate here..the merch...Kevin,<BR/>I will play devil's advocate here..the merchandise executive has 1. Limited budget, 2. Intense pressure to perform already exists, and 3. reliant on many factors that are not in his/her direct control--manufacturing issues, logistics issues, trying to find right mix for customers, etc. As you said, the results they had from a customer skewed his results. Not defending poor decisions, just explaining. <BR/>That being said, leads me to point that you were there to explain to your bosses your sales plan...I have feeling other gentleman was called on carpet many times before and since that meeting. <BR/>The difficulty isn't you were stuck with a bad merchandise executive, it is how do you do your job? As you, Stephanie and Paul point out, if merchandise is that bad, than no amount of successful marketing will make it work. You later point out it is Darwian process as you stated so you just wait for that process to follow through and both bad merchandise and bad merchant are gone.<BR/>Is there a way you could have increased sales in other lines, increased overall sales or anything else that would have satisfied your bosses and yourself?<BR/>I believe it is called the AA prayer where the prayer is for serenity to accept the things you cannot change, the will to change the things you can, and the wisdom to know the difference. <BR/>You were called on carpet for what you could do...you had to accept problem of bad merchant(or have tried a better tactic like a one-on-one with the guy rather than embarrassing him in publc). Were there any bright spots in the product line? Maybe 2 of 10 items actually sold well---focus on the 2. Items constantly out of stock? What is a good substitute and focus on that. <BR/>There is a movie called suckers about car dealers--really goofy movie and I only recommend it for one scene--the head honcho trying to inspire his salesteam says "Give me the worst lines you got" and for every customer line he has a great comeback. <BR/>That's what you have to do---no matter if you don't have a product customers want, convince them you do. <BR/>Not picking on you, just what I took from your story.<BR/>KAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post-24700793805934130362007-06-14T16:18:00.000-07:002007-06-14T16:18:00.000-07:00There was a lot of input from customers, from exec...There was a lot of input from customers, from executives all over the company (not just the division we were working for), from our advertising agency, you name it, somebody had an opinion.<BR/><BR/>Worst on the customer front ... folks picked out the one comment from one customer that matched their point of view, and then ran with that one opinion.MineThatDatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014200122021988374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post-46207068960117259462007-06-14T14:24:00.000-07:002007-06-14T14:24:00.000-07:00I had the same thought as Stephane - great marketi...I had the same thought as Stephane - great marketing can only do so much for a poor product. The situation Kevin described took a few years to sort itself out. The damage to customers and to the brand can be significant and sometimes not recoverable for smaller businesses.<BR/><BR/>Kevin, looking back is there a way you could have included customers in that discussion, and not just limited the negative back-and-forth to "internal" points of view?Paul Schwartzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311622220764431558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post-9878422575881501142007-06-13T17:24:00.000-07:002007-06-13T17:24:00.000-07:00A few years later, the merchandise was discontinue...A few years later, the merchandise was discontinued, and the merchandise executive was let go by the company.<BR/><BR/>You'll find that retail/online businesses move with a surprising efficiency ... there is a Darwinian element to it. If your executive team doesn't agree with you, let the customer take care of business for you!MineThatDatahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014200122021988374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32202893.post-84109562043242098282007-06-13T04:53:00.000-07:002007-06-13T04:53:00.000-07:00Very interesting post! What happened a few months/...Very interesting post! What happened a few months/years later? Did the company went belly up or succeeded at selling under-quality products? You might have achieved your goal, but was it in the best interest of the company or a shorter view to satisfy the bosses and investors?<BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing your experience.<BR/>Stephane<BR/><A HREF="http://blog.immeria.net" REL="nofollow">immeria.net</A>Stéphane Hamelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10573779479865639459noreply@blogger.com