Experience Manifesto

It’s the Little Things

It's 2020 and we're in the middle of a pandemic where people can't go out to eat in restaurants as we usually do. Thankfully, take out and delivery is booming!

So why do so many restaurants still not have their actual menu online??? Sometimes I can find the menu in pictures taken by guests and posted on Yelp or Trip Advisor, but the restaurant itself doesn’t have their menu available. This seems like such a simple thing to do to keep themselves going in these very challenging times. If I can't get this simple, basic information, how can you expect me to buy from you?

It’s always surprising to me how sometimes businesses miss the very simple easy things that they can do to make the sale. If you’re reading this and you own a restaurant, please make sure your menu is available!

Do You Have a Bank for Times Like This

I know it’s hard to believe, especially for some of the youngsters who might be reading this, but there was a time when air travel was so much nicer than it is today. And no, I’m not talking about back in the 40’s! If you were waiting for a flight to depart and there was a problem, the airline might move you to a competing company to make sure you got to your destination. They might even do that if it was your fault, like getting to the airport late and missing your flight. Not that I have any firsthand knowledge of such a thing, I’ve just heard stories. You might have to pay the difference in airfare, but I don’t remember change fees and all the hoops we have to jump through today to change a flight. Back then, helping you get to your destination was more important and created better loyalty than the immediate loss of revenue.

Then, deregulation hit and yes, prices dropped and more people could fly. I’m not sure that made the experience better, but it did open travel up to a wider audience. But, that deregulation also came at a price, and not just monetarily. Where previously, almost all airlines realized that they needed to compete and cooperate, now they just competed. And with fares dropping, they started to add additional fees to everything they did. The said it was better for us, they really started to make a lot more money on all of these charges. In 2018 alone, airlines made a collective $5 billion in baggage fees alone. From a piece in the news today in the Washington Post:

Consumer groups have long pushed for airlines to do away with change fees, arguing they can be unreasonable, sometimes costing almost half the price of the original ticket. But airlines have steadfastly resisted because such fees have become a lucrative revenue stream. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. carriers made $2.8 billion from reservation change fees in 2019, roughly 1.4 percent of their total operating revenue. Airlines made even more on baggage fees, roughly $5.8 billion, about 2.9 percent of their total operating revenue.

Change fees have become particularly onerous these days. I’ve sometimes had to pay more than the cost of the ticket to make a change. I think United had a change fee of $200, it was absolutely crazy.

So now that the airline industry has been hit hard by Covid, they’re starting to make some changes. Effectively immediately, United will drop change fees on all of its domestic flights.

“Change is inevitable these days — but it’s how we respond to it that matters most,” United chief executive Scott Kirby said. “When we hear from customers about where we can improve, getting rid of fees is often the top request. “Following previous tough times, airlines made difficult decisions to survive, sometimes at the expense of customer service (Emphasis mine),” Kirby said. “United Airlines won’t be following that same playbook as we come out of this crisis. Instead, we’re taking a completely different approach — and looking at new ways to serve our customers better.”

The truth is, businesses have long been screwing over customers in their rush to generate more revenue. While all airlines have had their issues, United had some doozy’s! How many of you remember United Breaks Guitars? This was a pretty big deal back in 2009 and frankly, it didn’t seem to really change much. They had a very clear philosophy - “We don’t really care if you fly with us or not.” BTW, the video below has a solid 20,000,000 views today.

And no matter how many times airlines ran commercials about how important you, the customer, were to them, but at the end of the day, we knew the didn’t really care. As long as they got money from us, they would tolerate our public griping. There were certainly times that people got individual help (over the years, I certainly did), for the most part, they never acted liked they cared one way to the other.

Now they need us. They asked for billions in taxpayer support money, which they got, but travel hasn’t picked up at all. Now it’s important to put customers first. I appreciate that they’re doing this, but after years of putting money first, they’re maybe realizing that with our customers, they don’t actually have a business.

There are examples of companies that have put customers first, but they’re really few and far between. Those companies have built bank with their customers so when something does go wrong, they have something to withdraw from that bank. far too many companies don’t have enough money in their customer accounts for times like this. They have been drawing down on accounts without putting anything back for far too long.

How is your customer balance sheet? Have you been taking with out giving? Would your customers agree with your assessment? You can’t just show up in the bad times and ask for help.

To Bundle or Unbundle, That is the Question

[This is a repost from this article that we wrote MediaVillage.]

For several years, I gave most of the presentations at the AT&T AdWorks Lab and of course, the entire discussion of un-bundling and cord-cutting was always part of the discussion. At the time, I used to say that I thought that cord-cutting was potentially more of a point in life thing and less of a generational issue. When you're single and loving alone or with roommates, you don't want to be the one stuck wit that monthly bill, so it makes sense. As you get older and have a family, you start to realize how much all of the channels cost to deliver all of the content you really want. Just take a look at this piece from last month about the costs for various streaming services.

I asked my wonderful daughter Sydney what she thought about all of this, and here's how she replied:

"What do you think about all the new subscription services?" That’s what my dad asked during our 2.5 hour car ride to CT. I answered sarcastically, “It means bad news for Netflix!" But more than that, it means bad news for consumers. Having everyone take back their piece of the pie means it will be harder for consumers to find and watch what they want, when they want.

People flocked to sites like Netflix because it made their lives easier. They are able to access a multitude of shows and movies from several genres. Everything is made readily available and the setup is easy to navigate. You can watch Thor: Ragnarok one moment, a Nat Geo special the next, and then move onto binging a new show all in one place.

Consumers don’t like sifting through multiple layers to find what they’re looking for. While new streaming services such as DC Universe and Disney+ may seem like a good idea to wealthy business men looking to get wealthier, I don’t think consumers will be as excited about this trend. For them, it just means their favorite shows and movies are being removed from the sites they already pay for. They will have to pay for multiple streaming services in order to get the assortment of movies and shows they want. I can easily see this causing strife between consumers and streaming services. Personally, I am very upset that the new season of Young Justice is only available on DC Universe when I watched the first two seasons on Netflix.

As a member of Gen Z, I can assure you we find ways to watch what we want, even if it’s not through conventional channels. Whether on Youtube or another less than legal website, Gen Z would rather find their own way to get the content they desire then pay for something they don’t want. However, there is a point where the desire for good content overpowers pride. In order to appeal to consumers, these new services need to keep their prices down and their options open. Users are more likely to switch if they believe the transition will be easy and painless. It is clear the decision to make individual streaming services was based on a desire to make more money, so streaming services will need to work hard to prove that they care about the customer’s experience too.

Good luck to Netflix when you go toe to toe with Disney +, to new companies trying to find a niche, and to consumers who will have to navigate the sea of streaming services. Honestly good luck to everyone involved in this shift, you’ll need it!

I share her frustration. Sadly, this had been going on for some time now. I wrote this back in 2015. During our SXSW presentation, William, one of our speakers, made an excellent point about content and Gen Z:

If the experience of free is better than the experience of paid, then they won't be paying!

While content providers and cable companies do everything they can to generate additional revenue, they continue to make it more difficult for consumers. It's not enough any more to have a full cable subscription, now you also have to subscribe to individual channels to get certain content. Want to see any of the new Star Trek shows? CBS All Access. Impulse? Youtube Premium. Handmaidens Tale? Hulu. Well, you get the idea. Suddenly, I'm spending $100/month for these services and I don't have premium cable channels yet.

I've now started seeing people asking who will start bundling all of these channels back together again. For example, in this piece in FierceVideo, Barclays analyst Kannan Venkateshwar wrote:

In our opinion, however, ISPs that can create product bundles will be a lot more effective than those creating price bundles but the only company which has invested in this among ISPs is Comcast.

So, we're back to looking at who will bundle all of the streaming sites back together again. In a piece in Vox from March, wrote:

The streaming revolution, which promised to break down lots of barriers in the TV industry, is beginning to morph into something else. And what it’s morphing into looks a lot more like ... traditional television.

With Apple having music & TV bundles, BGR reports that they're now thinking about creating a super-bundle. From that report:

Apple has priced Apple TV+ aggressively on a standalone basis. It only costs about $5 a month, which is a testament both to the newness of the service and to the fact that there won’t be a lot of content available at the beginning — just a handful of shows, compared to the hundreds and hundreds of TV series and movies available on something like Netflix.

What Apple seems to be working on with this new proposed bundle offers some interesting possibilities, such as an opportunity to include the company’s subscription news service Apple News+. Depending on where Apple prices such a mega-bundle, it might be less of an ask to encourage consumers to sign up for it than to try and convince those same consumers that they need another standalone news app or something like Apple TV+.

The real question for everyone involved - consumers, content providers, networks, etc. - is how many of these will the consumers want and pay for. How will we discover shows if I have to pay for a channel to see a single show. Will consumers pay for one month of a service and binge everything (like I've been thinking about with CBS All Access).

TV would've failed at the very start if I needed to pay differently for each channel. I don't think we'll see these established channels failing, but there's no doubt that in a few years, we'll be back to paying someone to bundle everything again and complaining about how much it all costs.

It Really Isn't That Hard

Monday night, I needed to run a quick shopping errands to get ready for some meetings at the Lab, as well as just get some things done for me. So, I headed up to the Garden State Plaza, since I could do everything I need there. I did get everything done, but I also had very good experiences everywhere I went. Although I didn't get the names of everyone I dealt with, I had a great experience at each of the 3 stops I made. It just reminded me, how simple it is to give customers good service, no matter what your product is.

• My first stop was to the AT&T store there. I upgraded from a Note 9 to the Note 10+, a phone BTW, I really like. I was supposed to be sent a box to return the old phone, but after several weeks and multiple phone calls, I hadn't received it. Not wanting to get charged for the old phone, I took it with me and went to the AT&T store to see if they could help in person. Franke (I think that was his name) asked if I needed help, I told him what this issue was and he solved everything in less than 5 minutes. Got me the box, shipping label and made sure it was all packed and ready to go. He was polite, friendly, efficient and most all of all, solved a problem that four phone calls didn't.

• My second task was a visit was to the Swatch store there. I've been wearing a Bunnysutra watch (funny story about it, ask me the next time you see me!), so I visit Swatch stores much more frequently than I used to. I love that they will just clean it and polish it up and replace the battery for free whenever that's needed. Once again, the staff couldn't have been nicer and friendlier and we always have a fun conversation about the watch.

• Lastly, I visited the Nespresso store there to pick up some coffee for the office. Love their machine and particularly love that the pods are recyclable, but I'm not really knowledgeable about coffee. Again, the staff there couldn't be more helpful. From sampling some of the new blends to being able to give me good suggestions on which coffees I should buy, shopping there is always a fun experience. I always come away from their store feeling I got some fun coffee and got just a little more knowledgeable about coffee. BTW, their boutique in the Bloomingdale's at the Short Hills Mall is equally good.

At the end of the day, it's not rocket science. All of the people I interacted with on my trip were friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. They all seemed to enjoy what they were doing. And I walked away a happy and satisfied customer.

Bunnysutra

Can You Be an Influencer if You're Not Real?

A recent article in Verge, Virtual creators aren’t AI — but AI is coming for them, talked about the rise of AI influencer, like Lil Miquela:

One of Instagram’s hottest influencers is a 19-year-old intelligent robot. Lil Miquela’s 1.5 million followers watch her eat sherbet on the beach, visit her favorite art galleries, and hang out with other robot models. Except, Lil Miquela isn’t really an artificially intelligent being. She’s also not a robot.

According to the article, there's a lot of VC money going into this space, which I guess is how the world works these days. But, can we really call them influencers when there's absolutely no chance they can use any products at all? Now, the influence business has had challenges and more and more we know that quite often, they are really nothing more than paid spokespeople.

Wikipedia defines an influencer as a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media. I would add, and I think most people would as well, that they can influence us because we believe that they have knowledge and experience with the product/service they're talking about. If someone you know recommended something to you and it turns out they have never used it before, that would seriously decrease the influence they had to get us to use that product.

So what's the value of an artificial influencer? If you know they have never, and could never, use the product, aren't they just a commercial? I can certainly see this tech becoming a great tool for customer service and creating better in-store experiences, but I'm not sold on it as an influencer. I may just be old fashioned, but I think in order to influence me, you need to have actually used the product. Let me know what you think in the comments!

L.L. Bean Ends Lifetime Warranty

L.L. Bean made some pretty big news when they announced that they were ending their lifetime warranty on their products. This was a cornerstone of their customer experience since they started and I would guess a driver of why people shopped at Bean. It also spoke of why retail needs to be a relationship between the stores and the customers. Both sides have an obligation to be respectful of each other and when it gets out of balance, things like this happen. I would certainly be interested in knowing how much they were losing on these returns, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt that it was having a real impact on their bottom line.

But, rather than just eliminate the lifetime warranty, I think they had a chance to make a different play and maybe even generate some additional revenue to boot. They could've used this as a chance to create a new loyalty program for both one-time and regular shoppers, keeping this important point of differentiation alive, while making sure that it would be very hard for people to game the system.

Here's what I might suggest:

• For single items, they could charge a sliding fee based on the purchase price.
• For people who shop regularly, they could pay a yearly membership in order to keep the lifetime warranty.
• They could also waive the fee for people who shop above a certain spending amount.

I think that L.L. Bean could've really done better here and not just cut the warranty. Even when making choices to eliminate long-standing services, companies should use some creativity and think of how both they and consumers can benefit from the changes. Fortunately, L.L. Bean has a long history of doing right by their customers so it is unlikely that this will have a big impact on their sales. But not every brand has that equity to play with.

Companies should have an obligation to put their customers front & center in their decision process. Customer know that many times, that doesn't happen, hence the lack of brand loyalty we see today. We're very brand promiscuous today. On the other side, customers have an obligation not to abuse the system as well. If they do, then they force companies to make changes like this. When both sides work together, then both sides win.

Here's the letter that was posted to the L.L. Bean Facebook page:

A Letter to Our Customers,

Since 1912, our mission has been to sell high-quality products that inspire and enable people to enjoy the outdoors. Our commitment to customer service has earned us your trust and respect, as has our guarantee, which ensures that we stand behind everything we sell.

Increasingly, a small, but growing number of customers has been interpreting our guarantee well beyond its original intent. Some view it as a lifetime product replacement program, expecting refunds for heavily worn products used over many years. Others seek refunds for products that have been purchased through third parties, such as at yard sales. (Emphasis mine)

Based on these experiences, we have updated our policy. Customers will have one year after purchasing an item to return it, accompanied by proof of purchase. After one year, we will work with our customers to reach a fair solution if a product is defective in any way.

This update adds clarity to our policy and will only affect a small percentage of returns. It will also ensure we can continue to honor one of the best guarantees in retail, with no impact for the vast majority of our customers. To learn more, please view our full return policy at llbean.com.

L.L.Bean has stood for quality, service, trust, and getting people outdoors ever since my great-grandfather founded our company over 100 years ago - and that will never change. Thank you for being a loyal customer and we look forward to continuing to inspire and enable you to Be an Outsider.

Sincerely,

Shawn O. Gorman

L.L.Bean Executive Chairman

L.L.Bean Is Making Changes to Its Longstanding Lifetime Guarantee Policy

L.L. Bean Scraps Legendary Lifetime Return Policy

When a Company Really Stands By Its Products

Marketing in a World of Bots

I’ve just returned from CES, the annual gather of all things technical in Las Vegas. Over 4,000 companies will present their wears, from the largest companies in the industry all the way down to new start-ups being shown in Eureka Park. Last year, almost 190,000 people attended over the several days of the event, all looking to see what trends they should be following. This year, there seem to be a number of key trends being discussed, that for me bring up some interesting future discussions for the advertising industry. They include 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). Of course, there will also be a great deal of VR and AR on the show floor, some I’m very interested in.

What’s most interesting to me about these trends and how they might come together is what it means for the advertising business. Eventually, IoT will mean that everything we have will be connected, allowing the systems to know how we’re using a particular product. So, if my washing machine knows what size box of detergent I have, then it can automatically order a refill when the time comes. The AI will be able to learn how often I do wash and how long it takes me to go through that box, really taking me out of the ordering equation completely.

While not using really any tech at all right now, we have that system running with dog food today. For years, we watched the food dwindle, reminding ourselves daily for a week or so that we needed food. That usually resulted in a few days of them eating things we made at home before we got back to the pet store to buy more food. By going into the store, we could then be influenced by sales or a desire to try something new. Today, we have a standing order at Chewy and the food arrives about every six weeks.

What this means for dog food manufacturers is that it’s now much harder for them to get me to change my order. They have to get me at the right spot in the cycle to get me to change the order and they have to change my shopping habit, which Chewy has not established. The upside for our household is that our dogs are never without food. The downside for all of the brands that we’re not currently using it that it’s much harder to get into my shopping cart.

Today, we are seeing more and more products purchased this way, these kind of standing orders that happen automatically without any consumer involvement. The Amazon Dash Button is an interim step to this future, automating the purchase, but still requiring the consumer to trigger the purchase.

But as 5G rolls out, making it much easier for a wider variety of things to be connected to the network and more things being automatically connected to the network and AI learning our habits and behaviors, it starts to take me out of the purchase funnel. In the near future, I will be able to program (or they will just learn!) my shopping bots to do a large majority of my shopping for me. And for marketers, this creates huge challenges.

How will marketers in the future influence those bots that are out there shopping on my behalf? Today marketers use all kinds of tools to get me to buy. They can appeal to my emotions or just my budget. They can help me with longer term purchases or connect with me for an impulse buy. But how will an emotional appeal change the behavior of my bot?

Now, there will always be things that either require my involvement, big ticket items like major appliances or cars as well as other items that I just like to be involved in the purchase. But if toothpaste, deodorant, laundry detergent and even some of the more standard parts of my wardrobe can be purchased through my shopping bots using AI, I’m not sure I’d want to be involved in that purchase process myself. And that will upend the entire idea of the consumer journey and purchase funnel.

For me, of course, this means brands need to figure out how to connect with me before I programmed my shopping bits, so that their brands are added to the mix. I might not always want just the cheapest dog food, but I may be up for a deal among 3 or 4 brands that I have preselected. It’s critical for those brands to be in my consideration list for my bots.

Think of how many products you wish you didn’t have to shop for every week, where you could just do some upfront programming and then let the system to the rest. If you think you’re one of those products, you need to start thinking about this issue today. For the robots are coming, but these robots will be working for me the consumer and you need to make sure that I’m already loyal to your brand when they’re here.

Talking Experiences at the Adobe Think Tank, Advertising Week 2017

I had a chance to sit down with Don Bennion from Adobe during Advertising Week to talk about what makes a great experience, the value of data and the importance of authenticity!

Gen Z - Experience Over Things

This is a special guest post, written by my daughter, Sydney (16)

As a Gen Z-er, I don’t usually think about what I’m doing or why I’m doing it. I don’t analyze my shopping pattern (there isn’t anything to analyze) or question how my friends and I will impact the economy as we get older. Since I’ve started speaking at conferences, that has started to change. This summer I went with my school on a service trip to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana to help the Indians (yes, they told us to call them that). We spent just over a week on the reservation doing everything from serving food, to painting, to laying sod for the upcoming Powwow. It was an amazing experience which I’m pretty sure has changed my life. I guess I’ll have to wait a few years to find out for sure. When I got back, my dad told me that was a typical Gen Z thing to do: Go for the experience rather than a material item or thing. I didn’t think much of it until later in the summer when I went to the Dolphin Research Center (DRC) in Grassy Key, Florida, yet another amazing experience I will never forget. While there, I thought more about what my dad had said and I thought about what my friends did with their summers. I realized that, at least with my circle of friends, our summers aren’t about just going to cool places, they are all experiences specific to the individual and their interests. One of my friends is shadowing a vet over the summer, another went to India and Africa to interact with children, one went to a Japanese immersion camp in Japan, and a bunch went to summer dance intensives. We use our summers to explore possibilities and find experiences that we can connect with.

I went to Montana to experience a different culture and gain insight about my country, and came out with a new respect for the Indian’s struggle and a new awareness of America’s past. I became friends with some of the people living on the reservation and learned a lot about their rich culture and the struggles they now face. I didn’t buy a single thing while I was on that trip because it wasn’t the material things or keepsakes that mattered to me, it was experience. While in Montana, I became closer with my classmates, and by the end of the trip I had at least 1 inside joke with every person. We met so many amazing people there, like Bob Tailfeathers, Francis Heavy Runner, and Tom Crawford. Tom had the greatest impact on our group because we spent the most time with him. He told us incredible stories from his past that stuck with each of us for different reasons. Even though he grew up in a different time and a very different world from the one our group of private school kids know, every person could find a connection to Tom’s story. On our last night in Montana, we got to share s’mores with Tom’s granddaughter after she and her friends were chased through the woods by coyotes! While these may not seem like the most important things, it was, in fact the whole reason behind our trip. The experience we were all looking for was a connection with a different culture and the creation of lasting bonds between people who seem to have nothing in common. Compared to that, any trinket or space-wasting thing we could buy seemed pointless.

Later this summer when I went to the Dolphin Research Center, it was once again for the experience. I worked throughout the year to earn enough money to pay to go to the week-long Teen Basic training program. While my parents could’ve paid for it, I wanted the experience of earning my own money to do something that I wanted to do. So, I did. I earned more than enough money and was able to go to camp where I had an amazing time. It was the first time I’d ever been to a camp where I didn’t know anyone, I had to fly there alone, and I wasn’t sure what I’d be able to eat (I’m an extremely picky eater). But, I went anyway because I wanted to experience what it would be like to work with marine mammals. I made friends, memorized the names and identifying features of 27 dolphins and 4 sea lions, and learned a ton about the world we live in. Each day we had 1 or 2 hour long seminars about dolphins, the eco-system, climate change, and how we can help save our planet. I’m pretty sure I learned more in that week than I did the entire year in chemistry class. It was easy to learn at camp because I wanted the experience, it wasn’t forced on me like school is. The only thing I bought at camp was a shirt, and that was actually another experience. I got a white shirt, chose two colors, and then had my shirt painted by one of the dolphins named Pax.

Both of my summer trips were created around the experience and had nothing to do with spending money on random things. From what I’ve seen, Gen Z is mostly buying things based on a connection they have with it, not just because they have money to spend. I haven’t done an official survey, but out of the teens I interact with and talk to, none of them are loyal to one brand. They go to whatever place they have the best experience. If the clothes are nice, but the experience isn’t great, kids won’t go back. Brands need to think about that when marketing to Gen Z. For example, while at dolphin camp we talked about the Adidas shoes that are made from recycled plastic found in the ocean. Everyone agreed that we would rather buy products with a backstory about helping the planet than random items that will eventually add to the planet’s pollution. Brands need to start thinking about this. What is the brand backstory and what is their future?

Adidas is a good example of a brand creating an experience around their products and other brands should follow suit. Gen Z has the world at their fingertips and won’t hesitate to change shopping patterns if a brand does not support their interests. With a few google searches we can find out whether or not a brand uses child labor, their pollution levels, and anything else we might be interested in. Brands need to consider their brand morality and the unique experiences that their brand gives if they want to keep Gen Z as a consumer. How can their products create experiences that transform me and the world around me? Yes, Adidas is still selling me a shoe, but the experience they created around that shoe gives me a reason to buy them over other sneaker brands, even if they cost more.

Today, we have many choices when we look to buy something. The right experience creates the reason for me to buy from a particular brand over the many other choices I have.

Amazon Didn't Kill Your Store, You Did

Today my wife and I went to the local Home Depot to look for ideas for the walls in the small hallway where we keep the foster puppies. We were looking at some vinyl and porcelain options, trying to decide what would look good, but also be durable for the constant flow of puppies that come through our house, I believe 55 or so to date.

We looked around ourselves and then we had some questions, so we looked for an employee in that section to help us. Unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone, so I finally flagged down someone from another section who really did try to get us help. But after 15-20 minutes, we gave up and went home without the information we needed.

Sadly, this isn't our first bad experience at Home Depot, as I wrote about here when we had a problem with our recently purchased lawnmower.

I buy certain items in store because if I need help, I want to be able to just go back to the store. If that's not going to happen, then there's no reason for me to buy in the store. If all you're going to do is tell me to return it, I can do that from an online seller. I came to you in case I needed service.

If you don't have the item in your store, but another location does, don't make me drive all over town to get it. Have it sent from that store, make my life easier.

You see Retail CEO, Amazon didn't kill your retail business. You did.

• You did it with every decision you made that didn't put your customer in the center of that decision making process.
• You did it every time you caved to Wall Street and laid-off staff so you could have a positive impact on your bottom line.
• You did it every time you made it impossible for the consumer to easily find and purchase your products.
• You did it every time you cut corners and made your brand undifferentiated in today's world.
• You did it every time you decided that training wasn't that important and besides, the consumer could just look up the information themselves anyway.
• You did it every time you pretended you were "putting control in the consumer's hands" when all you were really doing was looking for ways to save yourself money.

Yes, Amazon and other retailers have put pressure on you thanks to the lower costs and things like free shipping. But they were able to get in there because you were doing a crappy job to begin with. And while Uber is having many problems on its own right now, the reason they were able to get started was because generally the cab experience in this country was so crappy. It's the same thing with retailers. Online retailers came into existence to fill the void you created. And even Amazon is getting back into physical stores!

There are some great retailers out there, big and small. I've always loved Duluth Trading and especially how they stand by every product they sell. Thanks to the fact they I've been wearing an old Bunnysutra watch (funny story about it, ask me the next time you see me!), I've really enjoyed visiting Swatch stores.

Retailers continue to keep stores open, but more and more, they're barely supporting them. Go into any Sears or Kmart store and ask yourselves how long you think they'll be in business. They're usually grossly understaffed and the staff they do have don't seem to either know much or even want to be there. I'm a big believer in physical stores, but they actually have to serve a purpose. They can't just be crappy versions of an online store.

As I wrote about in No Man Can Serve Two Masters, companies can generally either serve their customers or support Wall Street, but they usually can't support both. And they will never support their customers when they put Wall Street first.

So the next time you're at an industry event bemoaning how bad the retail business is, don't look around for external forces to blame first. Start with an inventory of all of the ways you stopped delivering on creating great experiences for your customers. Look at how you put your investors first and destroyed everything you once stood for. Only then can you complain about Amazon.

Additional Reading

• If You Just Started Talking About Being Customer Centric...
• Why Don't More Retailers Have Genius Bars?
• Can Walmart's New Store 8 Save Physical Retail?
• When a Company Really Stands By Its Products
• Shouldn't We Make Place Special?
• Customer Experience
• Role of Experience
• Retail News