What watching Endgame taught me about products (no spoilers)

Reliability is Key

I actually bought two tickets for that day. Not for two seats in a single showing like normal people, but two single seats to different theatres at overlapping times on the first day of Endgame. I was going to watch it the first day because in today’s state of social media it was a foregone conclusion someone was going to spoil it before the day’s end. First I bought the ticket for the regular theatre chain I always go to but then I opted to buy again because of an earlier showing time and better seats. The day came and when I got into the theatre I was blown away. The seats were really good — it was one of those La-Z-Boy recliners that’s obscenely comfortable, the spot was pretty good and there were way fewer seats compared to a normal theatre. I was sold on the concept. Sure it was more expensive, but I’m getting what I paid for. It was going to be a great day.

The first two thirds of the movie went on without a hitch, but then something happened that I never thought was possible: the movie stopped. It froze like when you’re watching Netflix and then someone tripped over the router cable. It stopped for what to me then seems like minutes — which was an eternity when you’re trying to immerse yourself in the movie. Then it happened again at several points throughout the rest of the show. After the show is over I vowed that I would never set foot in that theatre chain again.

Thinking back to it the whole ordeal gave me some insights towards how we as consumers view products and services. When we compare service providers like the theatre chains, what is most apparent to are the differences: the seating arrangement, the lobby decor, the screening hours. However this does not mean that we ignore the primary attribute of watching a movie at the theatre: the best picture, sound, and comfort leading to maximum immersiveness. We simply took it for granted when choosing between them because we trust that both chains will perform about the same. When we find out that one provider has failed to deliver the primary attribute that we previously took for granted, then none of that other attributes matter. The theatre could have the most comfortable seats, the best picture, and the best sound system known to man at this point but it wouldn’t matter when the movie stops halfway.

So I think the lesson here is we have to ask ourselves: what attributes do our customers took most for granted and have we delivered those reliably?Between the attributes that we provide, there are some that are key and when we fail to deliver them our customers will just go right out the door. Some examples of these could be: user safety in ride-sharing apps, health concerns in a restaurant, durability in a premium phone, etc. Developing extra features to separate ourselves from the competition is good, but reliability in delivering our main values is paramount.