Fwd: [New post] Scrabble had its customers, there’s no mix up.

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New post on the business dude

Scrabble had its customers, there's no mix up.

by joepederson

I was cleaning out the closet at my grandparents' house this weekend and found some pretty cool things. Do you remember the Super Soaker water gun series? I found the first one, the upgraded version and lastly the bazooka that was supposed to be the end all for any water gun fight. Of course, there were other items. Ninja Turtles, Hot Wheels, and then old board games. That is what caught my attention and also the inspiration of this post.

Under the dust and debris I found a purple box with "Selchow and Righter Co." printing on the box; the game is Scrabble. What is so special about that, you may ask? Well the answer lay deep in the box. The 1980's version had a peculiar piece of paper in it.

The note states:

"If you find that some tiles are missing or defective, we want to replace them. Please list the letters involved on the form..."

Later the game was purchased by Hasbro after a series of bankruptcies. My speculation is that with the larger companies, and business improvement (quality) plans - this was lost along the way. I am sure that today - one could call and still get tiles replaced. But the message... is not the same.

The little form that was in the box said "we care about our customers." Today - how many things go out of the way to state this, even if it incurs an extra cost? Presentation is the key. Some businesses use it as a sales tactic - but it is only a sentence in the campaign. It is essential that we get to the WHY of WHAT we do. (Simon Sinek is a great author to read.) We perform, to sell a product in the end. To get the customer to come back we need to be sincere with a quality product.

What are you doing to retain your customer, or go that extra mile and ensure you are sending the message? Maybe you do not sell directly to the customer. Consider the internal and external customer relationships you have in your business process. Do you make an item for another department to process? Are you making it so the quota is met, regardless of how the quality is, or are you making each piece with the desire in mind? Ultimately we are all selling a service or good to a customer, and eventually an end customer.

What message are you sending?