| Great Leaps Forward are often Preceded by Spectacular Falls Backwards | | Date Created: Dec 01, 2004, 05:00 PM |
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Sometimes great leaps forward are preceded by giant falls backwards...
In my area a number of the grocery stores are experimenting with automated checkout systems.
Obviously the goal of these systems is to reduce overhead while improving customer convenience simultaneously. During the last 2-weeks, I've tried it twice.
At one store they had not one, not two, not three - but FOUR separate checkers trying help people with all the problems they were having with the system. In my case it wouldn't scan the item I was purchasing. It took two checkers just to get me scanned and out the door.
Then last week my wife and I tried it with a basket full of groceries. It was very frustrating. Directions were poorly displayed. Doing things that are common sense (like when buying 10 cans of cat food, instead of scanning each item separately, just scan one can 10-times.) are forbidden, placing an item on the tray, then moving it to make room for more groceries brought the system to a stop. The poor checker, who was overseeing the debacle, kept yelling instructions from 20 feet away. All in all, it was a very frustrating experience for all of us.
So, is this giant leap forward in convenient shopping doomed from the start.
Nope.
I have no doubt that this will be a success after the bugs in both the system and the consumers are worked out. But it illustrates an important point about innovations. Sometimes, in order to go forward, you first have to go backward.
If you are trying to convert your sales force from a "product pitch" mentality to a "consultative selling model" then you are going to have to put up with some set backs and a temporary decrease in sales performance. This is true everywhere in the organization.
The challenge is to have patience with the new system. In the sales example above, I've seen more than one company ditch the consultative model and drop back to product pitching because the didn't want to deal with the temporally decreased sales (not to mention whining from the sales people) that come from the trial and error learning curve.
On the other hand, sometimes the early problems and challenges are an indication that you need to ditch the new system. Not every idea works. Just ask the folks that brought you New Coke.
As with so many decisions, it comes down to business wisdom. Are you experiencing the normal turbulence and bumps that come from launching a new system or do you need to yank on the ejection chord?
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