There’s a diner down the street that my girlfriend and I love to go to for breakfast on weekend mornings.
It’s cozy, friendly, and it’s the perfect backdrop for conversation.
It has built its business around serving regulars – like us – who count on it for a moment of serenity during typically hectic Washington workweeks.
The diner is a time capsule of a calmer era. A time before status updates and check-ins and the vibrating smart phones that have so seamlessly become a part of our interrupted lifestyle.
The diner was a break from all that. Until the other week, when they added 4 big-screen, HD, larger than life, pixel-pulsating television sets.
Now, I don’t want to pull an Andy Rooney and go all luddite on you – and I’m sure the owners were proud that they’d made such a long-awaited improvement to their establishment – but the “improvement” sort of ruined it for me. And I’m not the only regular that feels that way.
Amidst playing catch-up with emerging trends in technology the diner owners forgot about one thing: their regular customers.
And the same thing can happen when organizations get carried away with what’s latest and greatest in the world of content marketing. What’s newest isn’t always what’s best.
Adapting to a changing marketplace is key to long-term success, but exercise extreme caution when making a decision that might alter the core experience you provide, and ask yourself these questions:
- Does this improve the existing experience or is it introducing an entirely new experience?
- Am I doing this because it feels like everyone else is doing it or is it something that makes sense for my customers and readers?
- Is the change I’m making responding to a flash flood trend in the market or an actual sea change?
- Will my readers and customers thank me or curse me for this? (Hint: Asking them never hurts – not everyone loves surprises.)
Abandoning your company blog in favor of a Facebook page may seem like the right thing to do in the short-term, but what are the long-term implications?
Trading your print magazine in for a digital-only edition might help you save on cost but what does it cost for you ultimately in readership?
Outsourcing your customer service to a call-center to increase productivity might make things seem easier but what else are you losing with those conversations?
Your readers and customers are your readers and customers for a reason. They fell in love with something about what you do and chose you over a competitor for a specific reason. Never take this for granted and be cautious when changing what they fell in love with.
Don’t be reckless with their hearts.
[image: stevensnodgrass]
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You’ve just described the transition of several of my favorite neighborhood restaurants. It’s sad, really. I enjoy the parallel you’ve drawn from this to brands themselves, who seem so keen on adopting technology for technology’s sake.
It was sad when we went to this diner after the change for the first time. Kind of like “nooo, I liked your old haircut! Now you look like everyone else!” Sigh.
And sadly, it’s the Justin Beiber haircut
I was hoping this blog would live a full life and never have a single mention of Justin Bieber. At least it was contained in a sarcastic remark!
When everyone copies each other, everything starts to look the same.
Exactly. Mimicry is the cornerstone of a homogeneous culture.
To me, the TVs were a failed attempt at throwing spaghetti against the wall. The notion of “fixing” something that isn’t broken – in this case, the opposite, the business is thriving – is a pitfall to watch out for for everyone. It reminds me of a manager focused on (obsessed with) growing facebook fans instead of exploring plausible and more appropriate revenue streams for his or her industry. Innovation (er, copying innovation) that doesn’t cater to your users is nothing but a distraction.
And yes, he does actually have a girlfriend
Exactly: playing into the “but everyone else is doing it” mindset.
And thank you for validating my claim
You fail to look at external factors. If other resurant’s and diners are bringing in tv’s and customers are staying longer, and consuming more, this is a practical decision. Though the usuals might not like 4 tv’s in their hangout, I wouldn’t, if it brings in new business, the tv’s have served their role in the diner. The diner is making more money and the’re new customers visiting the diner.
You bring up good points and you’re right, external factors must be weighed carefully.
In the breakfast industry though, it’s not about getting people to stay longer, it’s about turning over tables. And it’s about building a loyal base of regulars.
However, this diner has actually had decreased business since they’ve implemented the televisions. I discussed with the manager – who knows me by name, another positive symptom of their value system – and he confessed to this privately. The owners, I should mention, rarely visit the establishment. It was a decision made from a distance, not from the trenches.
They were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives at one point and the main factor customers stated for return visits was the old-time appeal.
Most restaurants will not survive if they don’t focus on building regular business. When I managed a restaurant this was overwhelmingly our focus. It’s much easier and more cost-effective to keep a customer than it is to acquire a new one.
My guess would be if they polled their customers prior to making this decision, their would have been overwhelming rationale to keep things as they are.
You can find a TV anywhere. A good place for conversation? Not so much.
Thanks for the comment. And you’re absolutely right that a decision can’t be made just on what I “feel” is the right thing. You’ve got to look at external factors and weigh them carefully. In fact, that’s the point I tried to make (though I probably failed). I’m glad you brought it up.
P.S. I love any comment that starts with the words “You fail …”
I had to bring it up, I wrote about externalities and outside influences on my econ exam. But you bring up logical arguments on why tv’s wouldn’t work in a diner, but at place like bars, it can be big difference. I hope the owner does whats best.
Agreed, my friend. I’ll be at a bar sometimes and be insulted that they don’t have a nicer TV or a bigger screen. And if I’m thinking about going back, I’ll remember that and pick somewhere else.
Seems to me that technology tends to run way out in front of society. Another observation you could make is advertising in movie theaters. No one seems to like it, but everyone has it. And TV’s are often there simply because you can do it, even if it makes sense only in certain types of restaurants and diners.
Most businesses don’t survive if they don’t focus on their customers. You mentioned digital and magazines in your post and the abandonment of print in favor of all digital. In a recent conversation with a client, I noted that we had lost our promotional print budget and that it was all going to the development of a tablet edition. That was cool, I said, I can make this work, still. I wish you had talked this through with me,I thought, but sometimes clients run out in front of the people they pay to advise them. So be it.
” So, I asked, “Recent reader surveys must show that your readers have access to tablets and they want to download a digital edition? They have smart phones and will download a digital edition to their devices? They’ll pay you for these new versions?”
<>
So long as they pay their bills they’re a client. But they’re not long for the world.
“Seems to me that technology tends to run way out in front of society. ” You hit it squarely right there, Phred. In our echo chamber we tend to hear about all of these ideas that will revolutionize everything. We sell ourselves and each other on the idea and wait for the sea change to come. But then (usually), a funny thing happens: real life people don’t adopt the change. They ignore it. They do what they’ve always done or they wait 10 years to adopt what you thought would catch on overnight. So that middle-ground – that innovation purgatory between the idea of something and it actually catching on, is where a lot of organizations can get burned badly. When you live on the cutting edge it’s a lot easier to bleed. See what your real life customers want and respond to that and you’ll be good.
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment. I appreciate it.
Level of irony that a post about the death of conversation seems to have sprouted a ton of conversation?
Ah, but would we be having this conversation if we were in a diner and the TV’s overhead were broadcasting the latest game? Or a Justin Beiber dance video?
(Applause). Exactly, Phred!
It’s not just restaurants. I hate that we are forced to listen to inspid TV blather in airport waiting areas now. It’s just annoying noise.
It reminds me of a quote which I will now botch/paraphrase: “The more noise you make, the less people will listen to you.”
“Will my readers and customers thank me or curse me for this? (Hint: Asking them never hurts – not everyone loves surprises.)”
I find that often businesses are afraid to ask their customers because they don’t want to admit that they don’t absolutely know what is best for them. And that’s a shame, because, as you point out, they could learn a lot.
Matt, I agree with you, and that’s an interesting insight. There is a tendency to show bravado on behalf of companies (i.e. “of course I know what’s best”) that gets in the way of truly serving a customer.
This is a typical case of not understanding what you’re selling. The diner you describe was selling piece and quiet, not waffles and turkey clubs. I know a place like that and if they did bring TV and what not I would stop going.
So, regarding the external factors, perhaps they do want to shake the regulars and bring in new blood. If thats the case, then I guess they’ve made the right move…but I doubt it…
“… not understanding what you’re selling.”
That’s exactly it. I think, because the owners rarely visit this place, they took a generic approach to their business. They assumed that – just like every other place in town – a technology upgrade was overdue. If they would have dropped by more often and seen what was making their customers truly happy, they would have invested the money in other ways, you’d hope at least.
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