I remember this story from the halcyon days of M&S. That when customers bought food from M&S and it didn’t taste amazing, they immediately thought their cooker was not working properly and called an engineer.
Of course this may well be folklore. However it does illustrate the level of trust that M&S commanded, and it seems we are desperately wishing to trust them again.
Wishful thinking has turned into reality for M&S with spectacular sales and profit figures across the whole business. Everything is up including market share in clothing for consecutive months.
Whilst the figures are certainly down to improvements across a wide area of product development and operational efficiencies, it is fascinating to understand the clarity and purpose that is driving the change in fortunes.
Central to the M&S strategy is the vision to be the most trusted retailer, with quality products at the heart of everything they do.
In contrast to recent years where the familiar sensuous advertising has often left reality floundering to live up to expectations, the commitment to quality, and ‘trust in quality’ is now at the centre of the reality.
In food, over 1,000 products are being upgraded adding both quality, added-value and the trust behind the brand. Unsurprisingly, value perception is the highest it’s been in a decade.
And in clothing, deeper buying into campaign lines and on-trend collaborations have driven trust in style perception. Sensible and smart changes to the depth of stock buying driven by a new internal confidence and employee trust in both the quality and styling of its products.
Trust is the most difficult thing to gain, and the easiest thing to lose. But if there is one thing more difficult, it is to re-gain trust after it has been lost.
The fact that this has been achieved, not only trust from customers but also from its internal HO and shop sales teams is quite a feat.
Perhaps the real key to this turnaround is a beautiful phrase used by Chief executive Stuart Machin. M&S is embracing the spirit of being “Positively dissatisfied!” even in the face of such impressive figures.
And, therein lies the M&S message for all of us. Despite our successes we must always be “Positively Dissatisfied.” We must continuously learn from our successes as well as our mistakes.
Only through Being “Positively Dissatisfied” can we ensure that our customers are no longer “Negatively Satisfied.” Not any more long-suffering, accepting what they are given, but instead amazed at when they now receive.