What Are You Willing to Sacrifice to Provide a Great Customer Experience?

In reading the obituaries for Eddie Van Halen, one quote has stuck with me. Van Halen was reflecting a few years ago on David Lee Roth, the band’s on-again off-again lead singer. The two men were as much adversaries as bandmates. Yet Van Halen continued to reunite with Roth.

Despite the huge personality differences between the iconic guitarist and the lead singer, Van Halen knew what his fans wanted, and gave it them.

“I think it’s now built into people’s DNA, that it just won’t be Van Halen if it’s not Roth’s voice,” Van Halen told Billboard writer Chuck Klosterman in 2015.

“…[T]here is an element of music that is for the people. You make music for people. Otherwise, just play in your closet. And how do you reach the most people? By giving them the band that they know. To do it any other way would be selfish.”

Would you be willing to do that if it made your product great?