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Any parent of young children knows that flexibility is the key to everyones happiness.
The best laid plans will always go astray, and if you are not flexible, sticking rigidly to that plan will usually end in tears (the parents!).
So how does this relate to business?
A recent retail 'experience' brought home to me the fine line retail staff tread when it comes to keeping customers satisfied and enjoying the experience.
Recently I visited a beach side area in Victoria with wife and two young children in tow.
The usual fun was had and towards the end of the day Miss 5YO asked to go for a ride on the Carousel that was housed in it's own building.
After a few minutes walk we arrived at the venue and approached the booth.
"Two tickets please" said I.
"$7.40" please said assistant.
Pulling my wallet out I realised I had spent my last cash on afternoon snacks.
My wife was also bereft of folding money so I handed over my EFTPOS card.
"Sorry we have a $10 minimum"
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't know, it's the rules, there's an ATM 5 minutes down the street"
Any business that frequently sells low dollar value items (15 cent prints?) and has a threshold minimum for EFTPOS runs the risk of alienating customers.
Why would you ask your customers to drag two, rapidly becoming feral, children on another 10 minute walk rather than compromise a 'rule' and make a customer happy?
What is the REAL cost of putting through this transaction?
The problem with setting rules for staff is they usually only see black and white. They do not always see the shades of grey in between.
What safety checks do you have in place to make sure your staff think before they say no to a customer?
How about setting up a "No No's" Policy.
In other words, no one says No to a customer without at least running through the options with another staff member or manager first!
Find a way to say YES!
Bill McCurry has a great 'Yes' pad he hands out to retailers.
Every time a staff member has to say no to to a customer they write it on the pad.
It's a great way of keeping track of how you are losing customers.
If you are saying no often enough about a certain product or service then it suddenly becomes an opportunity.
The end result of the 'Carousel Saga' was I was forced to buy something else to get the transaction above $10 - probably the short sighted intent of the owners to lift the average sale price - but you know what, they left a bad taste in my mouth and I wonder how many other customers have left their business feeling the same way?
Sure their business may be mostly transient customers but do you want yours to be too?
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