The Wall Street Journal talks about waiting in line today. Successful businesses focus on the net value obtained by the customer. Most people give a higher value to low cost rather than service when it comes to flying. The lower cost of fewer ticket agents and longer lines allows the airline to provide greater overall value through more discount fares. Customer should not be confused with consumer.
Consumers are the universe of customers.
In the case of car rental agencies - their customers are the frequent renters, and the companies do focus on providing value to this consumer segment. If anything, the infrequent casual renter is a distraction in the mission of a car rental company to provide value to its real customer. At the same time, the kids get to grill the grownups about survival and success in the corporate world . Great idea, even though it demonstrates that you don't really need us consultants . In this month's MIT Technology Review Simson Garfinkel provides a commentary on redesigning the code v. redesigning the user .