Aaron Shields’s Mind Terroir

If we could satisfy the most critical of our customers it would be easy to please the balance

I’m dedicating this week’s posts to bits of wisdom from one of my favorite books on retail: Quest for the Best by Stanley Marcus.

Marcus recalls an incident with chocolate during his career at Neiman-Marcus: Seeing his store carrying more milk chocolate than dark bittersweet, he approached the buyer and told her they shouldn’t stock that much milk chocolate. The buyer’s manager defended her, telling Marcus that the milk chocolate sells more. Stanley Marcus responded that Neiman-Marcus was supposed to serve discriminating tastes. Milk chocolate only satisfied people without a developed palate. If the customers were to give the milk chocolate as a gift it would not only make the customer look foolish but also Neiman-Marcus for selling it. Marcus told the buyer to switch the proportions of chocolate being sold, because a store should not only sell but also educate.

Later, customers came to favor the dark bittersweet as their palates became more discriminating.

Had Marcus permitted the store to continue selling the milk chocolate, he would have sold more over the short term, but diuted the brand and its profitability over the long term. Short terms gains often are the result of business decisions that lead to long term deficits.

Is there something your business is doing that works now but you know will hurt you in the future?

Tags:   best customers · Branding · stanley marcusNo Comments