Retail's need to bridge the 'empathy gap'

Back in the '80s, my husband and I did a lot of outdoors stuff — we went trekking in Bhutan, kayaking in Alaska. We wore Patagonia gear because it was the best, and we knew it would help us do better or more safely whatever it was that we set out to do.

After being a fan, I became an employee. I worked at Patagonia in Ventura in the early '90s. It was a company full of true believers who didn't need to do customer research because they were the customer. They called themselves "dirtbags" — people who couldn't afford to pay retail and were totally accomplished in the sport, whether it was fly fishing or surfing or mountain climbing. Dirtbags were the opinion leaders who set the tone for what was cool in their sport.

All that's to say that last week'sSaturday interview in the New York Timesabout Companies from Mars, Customers from Venus rang totally true for me. The empathy gap is real. All of us can name brands that don't "eat the dog food." Here are three at the top of my list:

• Stub Hub: this internet business has a lousy user interface and my own poor sell through experience suggests that though these guys may indeed be sports fans, they have never tried to sell anything on theirs vs. competing sites.
• QVC: useless junk hawked by a few earnest people and a bunch of smarmy ones
• Wells Fargo: nickel and diming, tell you with a straight face that they have to charge you for having a savings account. Does anyone who works for Wells Fargo actually pay these fees? Doubtful. Most likely, they have special accounts and get special treatment.

And even though I'm not a fan of the world's largest retailer, I have to admit they do walk the talk. To my surprise, the company ditched its efforts to move up market, which risked alienating its downscale audience. And as theNew York Times reported last week, CEO Lee Scott has publicly committed the company that democratized consumption in the United States — enabling working-class families to buy former luxuries like inexpensive flat-screen televisions, down comforters and porterhouse steaks — to democratize environmental sustainability.

For those retailers currently residing in the empathy gap, here's my advice: Get to know your customers, and fast. While you're taking them for granted, someone else is trying to take them from you.