#348 no

I had about 35 people serving on a committee for me this year.  In addition to a thank you note, I wanted to give them a "little something" in the envelope as a token of appreciation.  Spring has really just come to our area, so I decided that an ice cream cone would be a nice touch -- the first cone of the season from the local, homemade ice cream parlor.

I knew this was a slightly unusual request as I wanted a gift certificate for a cone (= $3.20) instead of the standard $5 gift card.  So I went in person and nicely asked the clerk if she could accommodate me given that I wanted 35 of them.  Her reply: "no."  That was it.  Never mind that it meant foregoing $112 of sales for this little local business.  "No."

I had my assistant make some calls, and other ice cream places in town were more than willing to accommodate me.  So she called and asked for the original store's manager, and what do you know -- I was able to buy 35 certificates for a free cone!

Why did it have to be that hard?  Even though they made nice certificates, I am still irritated with the process and the (lack of) service there.

Do you train your front line staff to be in the habit of saying "yes" more than they say "no?"  Or at least saying "I don't know; I'll have someone get back to you."  As a manager, do you even have any idea what your staff is saying "no" to?  Have you asked them what requests they have received and what changes they would make to accommodate things?

The teenager at the counter has more to say about how people perceive your business than you do.  Try to instill in him/her maturity beyond their years and the ability to say at least "maybe" instead of instantly giving an outright refusal.

-- beth triplett
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