Augustin did not prototype or test his hypothesis about sales and discounts. This is important because, as many have learned from potential market surveys, what people say they will do is not evidence for their actual behavior. Actions speak far louder than words— so there was a large benefit to temporarily trying his theory rather than jumping immediately into implementing the concept. In his case, he lost millions of euros before learning this essential lesson: the money you spend on research and development is worth the money you’ll save by not deploying a faulty system or product. There should also be some intermediary pivots and shifts to the concept before its final implementation which clearly does not happen when you go directly from concept to mass markets. He decided to go head first into a four year plan— had he gone through the steps of prototyping and product testing, sure it would have taken longer than he wanted in terms of time from conception to deployment but it ultimately would have led to less of a drop off in customer traffic and sales.
As Augustin’s consultant, I would first try to change his mindset. Despite his good-nature, his plan comes off harsh and abrasive. I would want him to understand the persona of his customer base and how they see his current pricing model vs his proposed model. Then, I would want him to prototype the model and calculate the relative benefit he would have in switching. Next, I would try it out temporarily— either for a few select items/brands or a time period— and see whether it was received in the way that was expected. I think my biggest takeaway was that Augustin can’t picture himself in the customer’s shoes so my work would focus around solving that issue and then moving forward with customer-centered solutions.
