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Customer Service Information |
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Invalid Excuses for Poor Business Results - The Weather
Note to Kmart: It wasn't about the weather In the 1970s Kmart was the retailer to beat. No matter what happened, they seemed to turn profit. Customers were loyal and prices were hard to beat. The chain was opening more store each year than some of their competitors had in their entire chain and sales were growing at admirable rates. Things were good. Then sales began to slump. By the middle of the 1980s Kmart was beginning to be report poor sales. The main reason they gave: the weather. With each disappointing sales report, Kmart blamed the weather. "The bitter cold hurt business." "The blizzard moving through the Midwest kept customers away from the stores." "The unseasonably warm fall decreased demand." Whine, whine, and more whine. At first, investors bought the excuses. They overlooked the fact that in each sales period Wal-Mart would report record or near-record results. Observers noted that Kmart's merchandise mix was more weather driven than Wal-Mart's because Kmart had more lawn and garden and apparel business than Wal-Mart's merchandise assortment which relied on more consistently selling consumables and commodities. As time went on, the whine became tiring. Analysts began to grow weary, with one eventually noting that Wal-Mart was apparently having different weather than Kmart. Top management had become so engrossed by the weather as the reason for poor sales that they did not even look at other possibilities. Prices were less competitive. Weekly ads were not bringing people into the stores. Customers were finding empty store shelves. New products were taking longer to get to Kmart's shelves than at Target and Wal-Mart. To make matters worse, executives at Kmart decided to upgrade the merchandise mix, thinking their customers would appreciate higher quality merchandise and be willing to pay more. Customers didn't agree. Weekly reports showed customer counts were continually dropping, so management decided to drop the report. The chain was out of control, disconnected to their founding principles, and so convinced that if they could just get Mother Nature's favor everything would be okay. Kmart is not alone in blaming the weather. Resort areas have long used them as an excuse for a poor season. Home and Garden businesses regularly point to the weather when results fall short. Sporting goods stores and athletic venues say weather controls results. Although one might say there is validity in their claims, it is nothing more than whining, whining, and more whining. During the fall of 2004, Florida was hit with no less than 4 hurricanes. Orlando's Walt Disney World and Sea World certainly could have complained that sales and profits were hurt because of the hurricanes. Neither did. Why? Both businesses understand the nature of weather on their business. They have designed their businesses in such a way as to protect their bottom-line. They have done so by connecting to their customers and understand exactly what their customers wanted yesterday so they can accurately predict what customers will want tomorrow. It is not about the weather, it is about understanding what your customer wants and delivering it to them in the manner they desire. Wal-Mart understands, Sea World understands, and Walt Disney Theme Parks understand. More importantly, their employees understand. They are so focused on the customer that the customer will reward them time after time, no matter what the environmental conditions. To be successful, your first second, and third business focus must be on what the customer wants. Rick Weaver is President of Max Impact, a national leadership and organization development company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Rick is an accomplished business executive with experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain and project management, team building, and process improvement. He has worked with hundreds of companies to improve sales, processes, and bottom-line results. MaxImpact offers leadership and organizational development services along with employee assessments and background checks. Contact Rick at 248-802-6138 or via email, rick@getmaximpact.com. MaxImpact is on the web at http://www.getmaximpact.com
MORE RESOURCES: Pricing, AI, DPA, Customer Service Tools; Bill Emerson Interview; Training This Week; STRATMOR CD Workshop Mortgage News Daily AI Chatbots Are Ready to Talk to Customers. Sort of. The Wall Street Journal Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Yahoo Finance Qme secures $3M funding to streamline customer service across Africa Techpoint Africa Building Competitive Advantage in Customer Care Through AI The Business of Fashion 311 Customer Service Center City and County of San Francisco FTC Finalizes Order with H&R Block Requiring Them to Pay $7 Million and Overhaul Advertising and Customer Service Practices for 2025 and 2026 Tax Seasons Federal Trade Commission News Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Business Wire JEA is inviting bids for 19-story downtown tower that used to be its headquarters The Florida Times-Union American Lamprecht Enhances Visibility for Air and Ocean Shipments Using Descartes Solution Supply Chain Dive Neterra Enhances Its Customer Service Monitoring System Total Telecom Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill Finovate Gladly Named a Leader in Constellation ShortList™ for Digital Customer Service and Support PR Newswire QueueKiosk™: Saving Thousands of Active-Duty Man Hours & Improving Customer Service at the MPF Office Kiosk Marketplace Finally, hard data on a real-world AI business use case: It’s huge for customer service Sherwood News Liverpool reinvents customer service through digital platform ComputerWeekly.com Firm to expand customer service in Yorkshire with new service centre Golf Business News CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service CSPI Newsroom Textron Aviation to Open New Service Facility at Essendon Fields Airport, Expanding Capabilities in Australia Pittsburg Morning Sun Help Department of Taxation and Finance Six Game-Changing AI Customer Service and CX Strategies Hospitality Net Interviews: Talking 'to you, after 2000 years' with Matt, Owen, and Max of Customer Service Punknews.org Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) New York State Department of Health Cigna's customer-centric strategy could ripple across the sector Modern Healthcare Major AI Success Story: Giftify Achieves 40% Faster Customer Response Times with Enterprise AI StockTitan Community advocacy group accuses RG&E of shutting off service to record number of customers in 2024 Spectrum News Contact Us About Your Bill myclearwater.com Customer Service Center apps.tampagov.net Customer Support | Department of Corrections Governor Tom Wolf 311 - Birmingham’s Customer Service Center City of Birmingham (.gov) DESCO's meeting held to enhance customer service and power reliability The Business Standard 70% of customer service to rely on AI by 2028: Gartner Outsource Accelerator Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) My experience as a Customer Service and Sales Intern Toby Shapiro's Experience at A.D. Sutton and Sons Chapman University Delta’s annual profit-sharing day spotlights ‘people first’ strategy The Atlanta Journal Constitution 3 Ways To Quickly Make $50 GOBankingRates Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Celebrate Customer Service Week City of Riverside (.gov) Which companies have the best customer service? Amazon, Shein, Costco among top-rated brands USA TODAY Con Edison Proposes Investments to Meet Growing Demand for Clean Energy, Enhance Customer Support T&D World Fulton County Recognized as a 2024 National Customer Service All Star Fulton County Government Contact Reverb Support Reverb America's Best Customer Service 2025 Newsweek 8 strategies for using AI for customer service in 2025 Sprout Social Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians California Department of Justice AI for Customer Service Market worth $47.82 Billion by 2030 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets™ PR Newswire Can artificial intelligence rescue customer service? The Economist Permits–customer services King County Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications Federal Communications Commission Department of Transportation Governor Tom Wolf 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Shep Hyken, HPU Customer Service Expert, Mentors Students and Staff High Point University Summer EBT | Department of Human Services Governor Tom Wolf How Intercom Achieves 86% Resolution Rates with Claude AI: A Customer Service Revolution - Anthropic Office of Developmental Programs Governor Tom Wolf |
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