Why customers are poorly served

It is getting busier with investors on the Retail highway. A displacement market where not the maximum speed limit determines the norms and values, but the free space, where only the strongest survive. It is the investors who are after results and therefore increase the pressure on the managements by setting increasingly higher requirements. Under-performing means dismissal. "For you ten others." There is one goal: more profit!

Changes in management are almost faster than the seasons. Virtually every new (interim) director knows better than his predecessor and throws new rules and slogans like 'Lets change the rules of the game' across the conference table. District managers fly into the country with red ears and an iPad full of guidelines, motivational programs and restrictions. The impending dismissal in their heads, spinning like a runaway merry-go-round.

Increasingly intelligent automation increases the accuracy, quantity and accessibility of the figures. Being able to anticipate the analysis of these figures more quickly means there is a chance of improving the result. It's the same numbers that drive the store managers more and more from their stores to the conference tables, far away from customers! Because when the district manager comes, the figures must have been done.

The number of non-customer-oriented tasks for the sales staff is increasing while the number of working hours per store is decreasing. A contrarian austerity measure that makes the responsible and high-quality employees overworked and who therefore leave home sick. There is virtually no time left for customers. Almost every euro has to be discussed whether it contributes directly to the result. Marketing campaigns are 'save' without risk. Mistakes are no longer made. The heart is out. The question is, who is making the biggest mistake here?

Do not feel addressed! Or should it be? After reading the above paragraphs, you probably have an opinion about the content of my message or about me as a messenger. Do you dare to stand for that? You might think I'm an asshole, jerk, or whatever word comes to mind. Because you can't do anything about what is imposed from above, can you? What is your role in this customer process and how do you deal with this role? Do you support your own performance? The tide is turning. Have guts and take responsibility on your behalf! Many customers will appreciate that. And that increases profits!

“The closer the organization is to the customers, the closer the customers are to the organization, the stronger the brand and the greater the profit!”

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