The Audi experience illustrates a number of more general points for consideration. First, that good lost sales research should encompass both the âbuyerâ and the âsellerâ; the insights gained in this study and the specificity of resulting actions resulted from the ability to compare and contrast these opposing forces. Secondly, that the tendency to regard dealers more as a liability than an asset is misplaced. This lost sales research process could not have worked without the insights of those at the grass roots of the business, and whilst the findings in this particular case will lead to still further revisions in the network, these revisions are finally in everybodyâs interest. A dealer who is not in tune with a brand and its customers will know that there are other brands with whom their skills and outlook are more synergistic. The research process can bring clarity to the appropriateness of this outcome. More importantly, dealers who are in tune with a brand and its customers can genuinely act as an ambassador for the brand and in the 1990's this is an essential for any brand which gives more than lip service to the concept of serving customers; a business can advertise, it can add value, but unless this is supported from the grass roots, it is unlikely to succeed.
MFI, the UKâs leading furniture retailer, recognised the need to develop its trading format as a response to customer feedback and also as a response to pressure on its share of the kitchen furniture market, one of MFCs core product areas. As a test bed for new ideas, the Homeworksâ store concept was developed and tested in the UK. Homeworks primary points of difference from MFCs trading format lay in part in the simplication of pricing, and a move away from heavy price promotions, but more fundamentally lay in the adoption of a radically different store design from the traditional MFI outlet. A programme of exit interviews and observations of shoppers usage of the Homeworks outlets was undertaken in an attempt to test the value of the Homeworks experiment for MFFs core business. The results of this survey work showed clearly the power of store design to reposition the MFI proposition; through the Homeworks store format, MFI was able to reach customer segments previously unavailable to traditional MFI stores whilst maintaining its core shopper base.