Surface Ripples

What Happened?

It was on a recent trip to the UK that I discovered a new fashion trend: men aren’t supposed to wear single-cuff shirts that have a chest pocket…

Since the proverbial ‘year dot’ (well over 30 years) I’ve bought single cuff shirts with chest pockets.  Of course, one found the occasional exception, but generally, if it was a long-sleeve, single-cuff shirt, it had a chest pocket.

Now this pocket is useful to me for a particular reason.  I need reading glasses and so it’s a handy place to put them when I’m not reading, but where I know they’ll always be ready if necessary.  It’s also useful for pens.  I live and work in a hot country where we don’t wear jackets to the office, so we lack the extra pockets that those would provide.

Imagine my surprise when, for the first time in 2 years, I went back to the UK and found that one of the UK’s best-known high street department stores had stopped selling the ‘formal’ single-cuff shirt (with chest pocket) and only sold them either in Viyella or in packs of three (one of which was usually a colour I didn’t want). I tried another and found the same.  In the end, I was able to order shirts from a limited range with a chest pocket by paying extra just for a scrap of cloth some 5 x 4 ½ inches (12.5 x 11cm).

I know I’ll get used to this and just pay the extra. In fact the shirts I ended up with are better fitting and of better quality (they should be, for the price!) that those I bought from my tried and trusted store for over 30 years.  What interests me more is why the sudden change.  It could have been:

• Increased costs which customers weren’t prepared to pay;
• Lack of awareness on the part of the store’s buyers;
• Both.

Whatever the reason, there’s a minority of those who need reading-glasses who will bemoan the demise of the single cuff shirts with chest pocket in the high street which will, no doubt, drive them into the arms of online retailers and further increase pressure on the already-beleaguered chain from which I was wont to buy. 

It made me wonder: what might we be doing in a bid to save costs, improve efficiency or increase profitability that might irk our customers to the extent that they either take their business elsewhere, or give us less?  It’s often the ‘little things’ that drive them away, particularly if one follows another and then another.  We need to listen to our customers.

I’ve spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With a wealth of international experience in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management.  I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services.  For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.

Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Strategy

posted by William Martin @ 10:09