What with the news of the end of the road for HMV, I found this article on the BBC website

Have a full read of it… but there’s a rather telling paragraph to why I agree how HMV has failed;

For one former HMV employee, it was an anecdote he recently heard from industry contacts that brought home to him where the music retail chain had gone wrong.

It was the tale of a customer who had gone to his local independent record shop in search of a back catalogue CD after trying in vain to find it at the same town’s branch of HMV. “He asked in HMV for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and was asked, ‘Do you know what type of music they are?'” says the ex-staffer, who prefers not to be named. “He replied, ‘Is the manager about?’ and was told, ‘I am the manager.’ That’s when he went elsewhere. “When I worked at HMV, the most important thing when we employed people was their musical knowledge. But now, you get a job if you worked at Burtons before.  “It’s just whether you’ve got a bit of personality and you can sell things. They’re looking for a retail background as opposed to a musical background.”

Local record shops, have this knowledge – maybe HMV would’ve succeeded if they’d ever seen Miracle on 34th Street…

Below is the dialogue from the movie… Mr. Macy speaking to his executive team:

 “On the face of it, I admit this plan sounds idiotic and impossible. Imagine, Macy’s Santa Claus sending customers to Gimbels. But, gentlemen, you cannot argue with success. Look at this. Telegrams, messages, telephone calls. The governor’s wife, the mayor’s wife… over 500 thankful parents expressing undying gratitude to Macy’s. Never in my entire career have I seen such a tremendous and immediate response to a merchandising policy. And I’m positive, if we expand our policy, we’ll expand our results as well. Therefore, from now on, not only will our Santa Claus continue in this manner, but I want every salesperson in this store to do precisely the same thing. If we haven’t got exactly what the customer wants, we’ll send him where he can get it. No high pressuring and forcing a customer to take something he doesn’t really want. We’ll be known as the helpful store, the friendly store, the store with a heart, the store that places public service ahead of profits. And, consequently, we’ll make more profits than ever before.”

 

Customers first strategy… for films…or can it be used in real life?