Today I read this on E-Commerce Times…
[The king of the video rental stores, Blockbuster, is struggling for survival as its business model falters against competition from Netflix and Internet distribution of films. Still, the company has managed to persuade lenders to rejigger its financing, holding back the threat of bankruptcy for the time being.]

The explanation cited in the article for Blockbusters demise was the main reasons they are in trouble was because of Internet distribution and sinking franchises. Of course Netflix was also on their blame radar.

Yes, I hate to see a company go under but what really gets me as a small business person and a consumer is why does it take these corporations so long to see they are not as relevant as they once were to us? Is this a surprise to you Blockbuster? All the years I’ve been a customer of yours I’ve never been invited to engage with you except to quibble over some charges I felt were incorrect on my account. Not complaining…just stating the facts!

You had my email, my address, etc. I never received any opportunity from you to tell you what I like or don’t like about Blockbuster, no in-store experiences that were anymore than just a transaction, no real indication you care for me as YOUR customer. Just business as usual… which is what I find just about everywhere these days. Heck I why would I choose taking my time to come into your store and get a pretty much ho-hum service and experience when I can just hope online, order and go to my mailbox to get my flick from Netflix? Seems pretty simple to me I don’t need a whole lot of smarts to tell me your business model is not working.

Grant you this is my blog and my opinion but I’m jus sayin’…I believe most consumers, eyeballs or whatever we are referred to would agree with me when I say…service and interaction with most American businesses is sadly boring and status quo. I HATE status quo and I’m personally very tired of all the commercials, offers, and advertisement that show pretending caring companies, amazing burgers (which never look in real life like what you see in the ad), happy employees, etc. We are not dumb. We can tell the difference you know!

I’m not mad (yes, I am) just wondering why is it so hard for many of our icon businesses to genuinely care for their customer. To be successful in 21st century business you must sincerely value human beings as much as the bottom-line. Without us it’s pretty hard to have a bottom-line. Just ask Blockbuster.

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