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Subject: Profitably Linking Your Business, Profession & Purpose Part 4

Author: Dennis S. Vogel

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 21:16:15 02/19/07 Mon In reply to: Dennis S. Vogel 's message, "Profitably Linking Your Business, Profession & Purpose Part 1" on 15:37:34 11/26/06 Sun Part 4 A Business Can’t Succeed, If Customers Secede (NOTE- What I wrote below may not reflect what McD’s franchisees are required to do. I worked for 1 McD’s franchisee in 1989. I didn’t read the corporate bylaws. Some franchises let operators buy from other suppliers as long as the supplies are at least equal to what the corporation sells. Some differences have been found in the level of trans fats of fries sold by various McD’s franchisees.) McD’s can’t afford a rebellion like Coke drinkers launched after New Coke replaced Classic Coke. I wonder how many McD’s French fry eaters would know the difference if the oil was replaced secretly. Since secrets quickly become widely known or are suspected, McD’s can’t afford to do it secretly & lose more trust & credibility. A large corporation needs big sales to support it. Those sales may shrink because of the health problems of trans fats or a difference in taste. If it’s done secretly, those who want different oil will ridicule McD’s. Darned If They Do Or Don’t. Darned If They Do It Slowly Or Quickly. McD’s could slowly change the oil by increasing good oil & decreasing bad oil. The taste would change slowly. This could also solve a problem if McD’s bought or has a contract for a lot of the current oil. But if it’s left up to franchisees to mix it, they may not do it as ordered--accidentally or on purpose. Those who eat at McD’s a few times per week may not notice. Less regular McD’s customers, who hadn’t been weaned slowly, may notice some difference. But taste isn’t the only problem. In test markets, some McD’s fries were soggy & looked bad. Mixing oils could produce worse results. The fries may be safe to eat, but not look healthy. If it were done slowly, some would accuse McD’s of not moving fast or soon enough. Not doing it or claiming to do it but not following through would be detrimental. However the change is made, some franchisees may have stocked up on the current oil &/or may keep using their used oil longer than the corporation wants them to. Different potatoes may bring better results with different oil. If franchisees anticipated this, they may try to stockpile fries too. But they could end up stuck with old (shelf-life) oil & fries if people stop buying because they hear/read about the nationwide change. Those (hypothetical) franchisees couldn’t afford to announce they have the desired oil & fries because the corporation may sanction them. It may be possible to get better, healthier results by changing the cooking method, but it’d mean investing in more training & training materials (books, videos, etc.). Changing oils &/or potatoes may force a change in cooking methods anyway. It’d mean employees would know or guess a change was or will be made. McD’s execs aren’t sure if they should announce any changes. Yet, the press releases for other companies changing oils are very common. Rebellion For A Cause & With Good Effect True, rebellion brought Coca-Cola a lot of publicity; but the main issue wasn’t health. A rebellion could bring McD’s more publicity about its efforts to serve healthy food. But it couldn’t afford to bring back the bad oil because it’d lose credibility it’s trying to re-establish by eliminating bad food. Some may not care about the trans fats, but many of us do. McD’s probably can’t afford to stock 2 kinds of oil & use 2 fryers & 2 bagging areas for its fries. Plus, some customers would slow the serving process by asking employees, “Are you sure these fries wee fried in non-trans fat oil?” To maintain high sales & avoid frustrating patrons, McD’s staff has to quickly move from customer to customer. Lesson 1: Do your best to avoid creating situations in which you’re darned if you do & darned if you don’t. With a wide variety of opinions, you won’t be able to please everybody. This is another good reason to serve a limited target market. Lesson 2: Do your best to anticipate each problem before changing things. Don’t rush the timeline & make mistakes. Don’t assume you know what’ll happen. Lesson 3: Investigate enough alternatives without inflicting paralysis due to analysis. Realize some mistakes are inevitable, but some mistakes are minor. Sometimes, the biggest mistake is not changing. Dennis S. Vogel thrivingbusiness@email.com Successful marketing is more than offering what people want. Get them to perceive your offer as what they want. Then present your offer in ways they’ll accept. Learning these ways are what this forum & my free information web site are for. http://www.lakefield.net/~thrivingbusiness/ [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

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Subject	Author	Date
Profitably Linking Your Business, Profession & Purpose Part 5	Dennis S. Vogel	22:10:50 03/31/07 Sat