Walgreens Whiffs by Trying to Dodge the Truth
Companies and consumers are caught in a political spitting contest when most of the time they simply want to sell and buy everyday products.
BY HOWARD TULLMAN, GENERAL MANAGING PARTNER, G2T3V AND CHICAGO HIGH TECH INVESTORS@TULLMAN
It’s becoming harder and
harder for businesses to try to properly position, present, and then justify
their day-to-day operating decisions (not to mention new initiatives,
experiments and store designs) to their actual customers -- the vast majority
of basically middle-of-the-road people who just want to get on with their lives
and don’t regard every purchase they make as conscious and intentional
demonstrations of strident political statements and positions. Sometimes a rose
is just a rose, coffee’s just a cuppa, and having a beer and a brat isn’t
burdened by momentous political concerns. That’s why most businesses--large and
small -- try to stay as far away from politics as possible and
encourage their employees to do the same, at least at work. The very best
place to leave your politics is at the office door.
When you look at things
more closely, these so-called social and political “problems” are rarely the
serious concerns of customers or consumers -- those folks are all about
business as usual--not that they ever mind watching a stupid cat fight from
time to time. The problems for most companies -- Anheuser Busch, Target, Major
League Baseball -- flow from the constant noise, nagging, and nuisance of the
crazy shit-disturbers on both sides of whatever the latest Fox-flogged
installment of bogus concern and flatulent outrage happens to be. Their
painful posturing and fake outrage are then amplified by the click-crazy media
and quickly spread across social media by people with a lot of anger, angst,
and aggression and not much else to do with their time. But if you aren’t
careful, their simplistic and baseless slanders can still slime your business.
The insurmountable
challenge -- much like any debate with your teenage children -- is that there’s
no right answer or remedy sufficient to satisfy people who are invested in and
enjoying the tumult, who thrive by surfing the strife, and who haven’t the
slightest interest in any reasonable discussion or resolution. Much like the
MAGAt morons in Congress, the mess and the misery, the distraction and
disruption, and the colossal wastes of time and energy are the entire point of
the exercise.
So, it’s almost
impossible for even the best-intentioned managers, as they try to run their
companies, to successfully navigate the increasingly perilous path between the
deluded debaters, the drop-in dilettantes, and the dishonest disrupters. For
sure, you don’t want these outsiders influencing or interfering with the way
you run your business. But too often one unfortunate result-- knowing
that these idiots are out there-- is a kind of paralysis that sets in and gets in the way of innovation,
risk taking, and forward motion.
That’s not a happy
result for anyone, but there are actually worse, self-inflicted things that can
happen to your company if you’re not careful. One of the worst mistakes any
owner or manager can make is to lie to themselves and to their employees and
customers. This happens so often lately because of the treacherous tension
between political correctness, the pressure and fear of false and critical
social media, and the continuing need for authenticity.
The only right approach
in these cases is to tell the truth and tell it like it is. This is a lesson
that Walgreens among plenty of other businesses clearly hasn’t learned. Half a
lie is still a lie and the whole truth is the only thing that stands the test
of time and gets the job done.
In the latest
case, Walgreens introduced a new concept store in Chicago with only two aisles
of basic products for shoppers to peruse while the rest of the merchandise is
securely out of sight. With a perfectly straight face, while the entire world
knows that retail stores are being flagrantly ripped off daily, Walgreens
claimed that the new format is an experiment in digital-first merchandising to
“benefit” customers. Not, mind you, to benefit customers by reducing shrinkage
to avoid raising prices or closing the store entirely, but so that customers
could order online for pickup or order in-store at kiosks. And, to make things
worse, Walgreens’ messaging specifically said that the new design had nothing
to do with anti-theft measures that every other retailer in the country has
implemented. This was a complete lie and an attempt to head off the obvious,
expected noise from the usual suspects.
When the laughing died
down, Walgreens’ management looked like complete idiots. Worse yet, their PR
positioning didn’t work for a minute. Regular customers were inconvenienced,
obviously unhappy, and insulted and offended by Walgreens transparent
explanation. Of course, the haters immediately turned out to cry racism and
discrimination. So, in short order, the company managed to make everyone
unhappy.
More importantly,
Walgreens sacrificed a great deal of their customers’ hard-earned goodwill and
the trust of the community as well. It’s clear that the alternative to telling
the truth, even when the truth hurts, is a walk down the thankless path of
trying to please a bunch of hypocrites and pro forma protestors while you fail
to speak frankly and honestly to the people who count - your customers.
And equally importantly, you’re lying to your employees, who have a very
serious stake in this conversation. Everyone understands that retail theft has
reached epidemic levels, especially when “justified and explained” by naïve and
manipulative politicians like the new mayor in Chicago. No one doubts the need
for the stores to take appropriate actions to stop the bleeding.
The front line of
defense, and the people most often in harm’s way of these assorted criminals,
including organized shoplifting rings, are team members, not the suits
sitting back in the corporate offices. Telling these folks, mainly for
insurance reasons, to do nothing to prevent the thefts; to ignore crooks and
creeps running from the stores with bags full of merchandise; and to stand down
while these arrogant assholes taunt them and make fools out of the paying
customers isn’t a solution. This policy is just the latest concession to
the rampant crime we’re seeing in many major cities and the inability of their
political leaders to do anything to confront or change the situation. The pols
are encouraging the thieves to keep it up and this puts the employees at even
greater risk which is what’s driving major retailers like Nordstroms and Walmart out
of various downtown areas.
If consumer trust
and confidence in the honesty and sincerity of our leaders in every area of
business, law and government isn’t already at historic lows, the weak and
dishonest efforts like these by Walgreens to try to avoid having forthright and
open conversations with all the stakeholders about what needs to be done and
what actions can be taken just makes the situation worse.
A lie may fool
someone else, but it tells the truth about you.
