Seth Godin on Benefit of the Doubt

Seth Godin has a good post on when people give others the benefit of the doubt. While he discusses miscommunication, it can be extended to include the lack of communication. I read somewhere that when you don't communicate anything, people will make something up themselves to fill the void. Often, because most people will not give you the benefit of the doubt, what they make up is worse than the truth.

This is a key point for managers: communicate enough so that people do not have to make things up, but not so much that you are bugging people. Since people are individuals, learn over time how much information of various types your teammates desire and customize your communication style accordingly.

Punishing Loyal Customers

I am frequently surprised by companies that offer better deals to non-customers than they do to their existing customers. At Constant Wave, we have a policy that no one should be disadvantaged because they trusted us with their business or were an early adopter. When we run special discounts aimed at acquiring new customers, we offer the same discounts to existing customers.

This is another advantage to the SaaS (Software as a Service) model. Since our customers rent the software, we can easily apply a discount to the next month's fee. A sales model would require us to rebate a portion of the purchase price to existing customers.

You're Going to Make Mistakes

You're going to make mistakes, and that's okay. But what's not okay is failing to set up systems to tell you when you've made a mistake.

How Starbucks Should Have Introduced Instant Coffee

It wasn't a mistake for Starbucks to introduce instant coffee. They introduced it in a way that weakens their brand and contradicts the story they've been telling for years. They are saying that the instant coffee tastes just as good as their brewed coffee and challenging customers to a taste test.

You should never put your customers in a position where they could lose, so the taste test is a bad idea. Starbucks should offer customers the opportunity to compare the different coffees, but the containers should be labeled so that the customers know which coffee is instant and which is brewed.

The instant coffee should clearly be marketed as "almost as good" as the brewed coffee or "the next best thing" to the brewed coffee. It should be positioned as a drink for when you can't get the original Starbucks experience. Commercials could show people enjoying the instant coffee at the in-laws' house or the South Pole. It is a way to treat yourself when the original experience is not an option.

This would expand the brand, rather than undermine it, which is what the current approach is doing.

Luxury Lite: Starbucks Goes Instant

The Wall Street Journal has an article today on Starbucks' instant coffee. I recommend reading the article for the discussion of the whole experience of using a product, for example uncorking a bottle of wine. I think instant coffee from Starbucks is a terrible idea because it destroys the notion of the ritual of making coffee. I also recommend reading Seth Godin's book "All Marketers Are Liars", which explains the importance of having a story to tell about your product. Starbucks built a brand with one story, and now they are saying that story was wrong.