Going after market share mistakes

One of the mistake businesses make is going after market share. This is most evident in the automotive industry in my opinion.

We can see this in the big three GM, Chrysler and Ford. The fact that they went bankrupt in 2008 to 2009 (GM and Chrysler) was the result of going after market share, although they would blame it on the market crash. The fact that they are so heavily unionized also played a role.

What inspired me to write about this are two things. First, is that I will never seek to go after market share in my business. Second, is that I have been a long time loyal driver of Volkswagen cars. The reality is that Volkswagen or local Volkswagen dealers have never recognized this.

Volkswagen does not seem to have learn any lessons from GM and Chrysler. Volkswagen unveil the newly design Jetta at a price point never seen before. Why? Because they are after market share. Now that the Jetta has been in the market for almost 6 months they are already talking about the positive results measured in sales volume. This of course means cuts in quality needed to be made as described here and the Jetta was remove from the premium compact car market. They will sell more cars and gain market share but the question of loyal customers has not yet been addressed.

I have set out to do this different in my business. I'm far more interested in loyal customers instead of going after market share. One way to ensure this is by having a customer price guarantee.

The work of the team at Interaction Versa is guaranteed to the complete satisfaction of our customers. If a customer is not completely delighted with the service performed by representatives of Interaction Versa, we will, at the option of our customer, either refund the price, or accept a portion said price that reflects the individuals of our customer's level of satisfaction.

We will assume the individuals and companies we work with are delighted upon payment received by us under the terms of our work.