Conversation with Boston Volkswagen by Paul Graham
I recently looked into getting a new car. The Kafkaesque conversation that resulted would have been funny if it were happening to someone else. If only Volkswagen could redesign the sales process to be as good as their cars….
For me it did happen to someone else so it is funny 
However, I run across similar thinking and “customer service” and then I don’t find it as funny. The failure to failure to adapt to a changing world (the internet is here to stay folks) is amazing. Most companies would benefit from just adapting to the changing world without elaborate innovation plans. Innovation is great, but challenging. Don’t ignore the possible improvements short of innovation.
It seems to me obvious the VW response is that of an organization trying to hold on to an outdated model of behaviour. Toyota needs to do a great deal of work in the dealership area too. At least they realise that they do and are trying: Park Place Lexus won a 2005 Baldrige award.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Buy less stuff. Save more. Not a complicated plan, along the lines of: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. Paul Graham posts excellent essays online. His latest is another good one - Stuff…
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:40 am
“In most companies the IT department is an expensive bottleneck. Getting them to make you a simple web form could take months. Enter Wufoo. Now if the marketing department wants to put a form on the web, they can do it themselves in 5 minutes…”