• When is it time to stop caring?

    Posted on November 21st, 2005 by and currently 3 commenting.

    So I was wondering, what is that exact point where a company stops caring? Stops paying attention to their customers? Stops with the phenomenal customer service?

    Is it when they reach a certain sales figure? A certain number of employees? I know, I know, it’s probably because they grow too fast for those good ol’ quality control checks, right? (Bad excuse, I say.)

    But right now, most of the little guys are trumping the big guys. It’s the difference between Arborwear and Carhartt. It’s the difference between Southwest and American. It’s the difference between MINI and Buick. Between CD Baby and Amazon.

    Do the little guys bust their asses because they have to? Or do they “get it” because they are the ones who are as loyal to their customers as their customers are to them?

    So, is it really possible to grow REALLY large and still have a soul?

    Um, Harvard Business Review, can you put your pocket-protector staff on this one for a study?

    Are there a lot of questions in this post, or what?

  • http://thebrandbuilder.blogspot.com/ Olivier Blanchard

    “Is it really possible to grow REALLY large and still have a soul?” Yes. Absolutely. Without a doubt. It just takes the right people to make it happen.

  • Gammo

    Is Amazon being a punk? I’ve never had bad service thru them. I still use it to get discouted items. Me like.

  • http://fromthemarketingtrenches.typepad.com/fromthemarketingtrenches/ Johnathan Dampier

    There are likely a number of reasons for this. Certainly, the bigger a company gets, the further away its management gets from the ones that matter…the customers and the employees (the rank and file). Instead, they begin to rely more and more on consultants. Take one of today’s hottest trends; branding. It is amazing how much focus and attention (and money) companies give the branding process (typically done with expensive consultants) and, yet, their employees are left clueless. Why can’t companies with such immense resources get it right? Because most marketers and branding agencies don’t focus enough on the main way a brand is presented to the marketplace…via the company’s employees. And being “too big to pull it off” is no excuse. Hertz is a great example of that. Every one of my Hertz experiences in every single city is evidence that a large company can get it right. Every Hertz employee I’ve encountered acts as if the company’s mission is tattooed on their brain. (An even more amazing feat when you consider Hertz is owned by conglomerate Ford.) It’s not new information that internal branding is essential. Yet, it is where most companies fail. If employees don’t live the brand…the brand will die a slow and painful (and now with blogs, a very public) death. If employees don’t live the brand all this other expensive branding voo-doo is only going to profit the consultants.