Rat holes are nice places actually. They are safe, warm and dark. One can hide there thinking that this the best we could do. A little suffocating at times but that seems ok. But this is for rats.
Not so good if you are a business. Theodore Levitt wrote Marketing Myopia in 1960’s, a paradigm that has been restated several times. To the point that people who reiterate this thinking in boardrooms are dismissed as rhetoricians and hagiographers and a topic not quiet pragmatic and conducive to our environment which operates to a financial cadence.
Yet we breed metrics like share of wallet when we seek to measure if we have sold enough to a customer.
The challenge with getting into rat holes with a customer is that we thoroughly undermine our ability to help our customers solve their biggest challenges and achieve their largest dreams. In most cases, surprisingly, shying away from the vantage positions they would like us to take as strategic partners.
Rat holes have one advantage – speed. Companies commend and celebrate people for their marksmanship to spot tactical opportunities and serve them for the customers. Since these are, by definition, small customers are willing to move fast. It seems like a win-win situation. But the same speed has a problem – leaving the larger needs of the customer un-served. Also celebrating speed might be doing it too soon as it might be because of involvement that the customers have agreed to buy your products. This makes their engagement short-lived. In the subscription economy that we live in, loyalty and a sustained one at that is a more critical business metric.
If a brand wants to deny its competitors, this schadenfreude they need to avoid the temptation of getting into rat holes. Brands must participate in creating and achieving ambitious visions for their clients. They need to solve their client’s biggest problems and be part of their extended boards. Share their frustrations and joining their house parties when there is success. And work with sfumato, blurring their brand promise and customer success. That is why brands exist. Makes sense?
And to the point of financial cadence, these are lines drawn by us in sands of time to infuse a sense of discipline and accountability. Let us not use these to hamper creativity and prudence. No matter how great a rat hole, it is a dark place
