The interviewer has noted the candidate consideration of competitors, and is now steering her toward customers to gauge her hypotheses. Candidate: I would want to assess not only end consumers, but retail customers like supermarkets, mass merchants, and membership clubs. I would segment the end consumers first, to see if there has been a shift in preferences away from our client cereal types toward those of its competitors, say from sugar to healthy cereals. Excellent. The candidate highlights that there are two very different groups of customers, the stores that sell cereal and the end consumer of cereal. She also introduces a segmentation strategy, the cornerstone of many consulting problem-solving techniques. In doing this, again, she presents a potential rationale for a shift in consumer preferences. Interviewer: The client has done extensive market research and found no changes in consumer preferences. In fact, our client brand has been and remains on top in the minds of consumers. What would you look at regarding retail customers? The interviewer continues to steer the candidate through the possibilities. Candidate: Well, considering we have lost market share in a nonshrinking market in which consumers favor our product brand, pricing, and selection over competitors, we may have a supply problem. Have our retail customers had problems with the product supply coming from our client? The candidate effectively summarizes what she knows so far, showing the interviewer that she is staying on track and is noting clues along the way. Interviewer: Yes. Stock-outs have been increasing over the last year and retail customers have become agitated with orders frequently not being fulfilled by our client. Specifically, of the five cereal products produced by our client, it isNailing the Case69
