They made a concerted effort to take better care of the customer AFTER the sale with speedier parts delivery to dealers and improved responsiveness to customer questions and complaints.
Many in business too often forget that building a valuable brand doesn’t really start with a logo, tagline, beautiful photography, slick websites or clever advertising. In fact, the birthing of a trusted brand doesn’t generally start in the marketing department at all. Oftentimes, it starts in engineering. Or in customer experience planning. Or even with dealer loyalty programs. It starts by being the best at something, and ultimately becoming a leading brand because of it.
I’d argue that consumers may not be loyal to some of the P&G brands anymore, but it’s not necessarily because consumers have changed. It’s because the brands have lost their leadership edge. As they were mimicked and copied, they failed to continually and relevantly differentiate.
Take retail in general. Retail brand after retail brand is closing stores right and left. Just recently it was announced that Sears and Kmart are closing 43 more stores. J.C. Penney – 138 stores. Macy’s – 68 stores. Payless ShoeSource – 512 stores. Radio Shack – 1,000 stores. And while the list goes on, the point isn’t that “consumers just aren’t buying so stores are closing.” The point is that consumer shopping preferences were changing, and these brands failed to recognize it and adapt. For example, had someone else in retail leadership seen the future and power of the Internet the way Amazon’s Jeff Bezos did, perhaps THEY would have created the best shopping experience on the web ... and ended up with the same bucket of money that Bezos now has.
And it doesn’t always take leading edge technology or product innovations to be the best. Case-in-point: Chick-fil-A.
This brand continues to confound the market as it seemingly competes with one arm tied behind it’s back year after year (closed on Sundays), yet consistently reports the highest per-square-foot retail sales among ALL fast food joints. Incredible! And what’s their edge? Where are they the best? I’d submit that it’s not necessarily the food or the stores themselves but simply the way they treat the customer. Yes, a brand can be best at being nice. And it can pay off BIG TIME. Just ask the cows at Chick-fil-A.
So what does this mean for your brand? Well, if you’re not already best at something, ask yourself where you COULD be best. List out the options. Discuss them with your leadership team. Then create a plan to relentlessly focus on your difference — but keeping your eyes on the horizon so you don’t get caught down the road being irrelevant. And someday, you just may be first.