| thepowerofpain.com :: the pain papers :: newsletter #16 |
THE PAIN PAPERS:
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——————————————————————————————————- Learn to Use Pain as a Catalyst for Innovation ——————————————————————————————————- The Pain Papers ——————————————————————————————————- SHARE THE WEALTH. FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER. Any other unauthorized publication, excerpting, or duplication of the contents without the permission of Christopher K. O'Leary is a violation of copyright law. For past issues of The Pain Papers, see... To subscribe to The Pain Papers, please send a message
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——————————————————————————————————- FAQ ——————————————————————————————————- OUTSOURCING AND PAIN https://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/industry/01/05/xbox.woes.ap/index.html The link above points out the problems with outsourcing. Basically, problems arise when you outsource everything from manufacturing to customer service. This can lead to no end of pain for your customers, as Microsoft is learning with the X Box. ——————————————————————————————————- HP'S WOES Paul Vachon pointed me to this column... https://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=205853 In it Stewart Alsop has this to say to Carly Fiorina... "I don't know, Carly, but I'm beginning to think that Walter Hewlett has a point: I can't imagine that your merger with another huge, screwed-up computer company is going to help me be a happier customer, the kind who buys more stuff from Hewlett-Packard. So maybe merging with Compaq shouldn't be the highest priority for HP; maybe just putting one foot in front of the other would increase shareholder value and customer satisfaction." Talk about the right reasons - why customers will care. ——————————————————————————————————- EXPO Midi Cox (midic@mac.com) had this to say... "Home Depot Expo came to San Diego about 10 years ago and was very hot with the yuppies who did not like to go to Home Depot or admit that they got their kitchen design done there. The same concept (reducing the 'pain' of acknowledging that you took a discount approach) applied to this bush walk tour that my sister found for the whole family. While we did hike, we did it in a way that minimized the environmental impacts but did not reduce the luxury any more than absolutely necessary. The director has created a 4 day experience that lets you almost feel that you have really done a backpacking trip, and, even my kids, noticed how nice it was to arrive and not have to set up the tent or get out your own sleeping bag, and to arrive with water, juice, cheese and crackers (and wine and beer) ready! Back to your note on Expo. Relieving the pain of admitting to shopping at a discount or warehouse store is not enough for the business to survive. I haven't been in the San Diego Expo store, but the look alikes nearby have failed. I hear less and less of people shopping a Expo (not more and more at Home Depot) and the level of shopping at the high-end design stores seems to be holding up. If you want a Gucci, where will you compromise for a Taiwanese copy (reducing the pain of the cost)? Recent data about the Japanese who used to purchase Gucci (and others) like crazy in Hawaii (to avoid duties) suggests that they are putting the cost of travel into the duties." I also went into my local Expo the other day. It's an interesting place, and utterly unlike what I expected. The thing is that the Home Depot brand represents cheap, high-quality goods. In contrast, Expo is very much a high-end store. This makes the link between Expo and Home Depot incongruous. When I go into Expo, because of the signage I am thinking Home Depot. As a result, what I see doesn't make sense to me. Home Depot is a do-it-yourself store and brand while Expo seems to be a we-do-it-for-you store and brand. While this is fine, linking Expo to Home Depot only confuses things. What Expo should do is sever the link between themselves and Home Depot and carve out their own identity. As long as the two are linked, people will not know what problem Expo solves and who their customers are. ——————————————————————————————————- Please send all comments or feedback to chris@thepowerofpain.com SHARE THE WEALTH. FORWARD THIS NEWSLETTER. Any other unauthorized publication, excerpting, or duplication of the contents without the permission of Christopher K. O'Leary is a violation of copyright law. To subscribe to The Pain Papers, please send a message
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