ABSTRACT
Later, at a dinner with the sales team of the local distributor, Louisa could not help but share her frustration with a young sales manager seated beside her. He smiled awkwardly and said:
I’m sorry, Mrs. Perez, that nobody told you about it earlier. But I believe the reason your product’s sales are going down has nothing to do with your marketing efforts. Some dishonest soda fountain operators have fi gured out a way to open sealed concentrate containers and dilute the beverage with tap water. The competitor’s containers are much easier to tamper with than yours-that is why they keep buying them; it’s not the quality of the soda. Your company’s technological prowess and the growing numbers of dishonest operators have driven you out of the market.
