What Went Wrong?

Things will go wrong in your business. Customers feel cheated. They complain. They swear they’ll never be back.

What happened?

Seth Godin explained in the context of Whole Foods, after the Amazon acquisition. What does the business stand for now? Convenience? Uniqueness? Surprise or delight? Godin doesn't know.

He asks, “What does Whole Foods do, actually?”

Or to put it another way: What was the original contact?

When people become customers they assume a contract. The ice cream will be cold, the tables will be clean, the service is with a smile. Or, the widget fits the tolerance specs and arrives on time.

It doesn’t matter what the contract is, but it does matter that you know it. It’s when customers feel this original contract is violated that they get mad.

If someone is pissed they might just be pissed. But it might be something deeper. It might be something foundational to the business.

So, what’s your contract?

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