leadership dot #2180: what cost

Another implication of excessive brand extensions (as I wrote about yesterday) is that it makes couponing all but impossible. Twice recently I have been in line at the grocery store with a current coupon that I wanted to use on a product and was declined. “Yes, they are Johnsonville original brats”, the clerk sniped, “but not the Johnsonville flame grilled original brats.” Too bad for me.

The faulty logic comes in for the store when I decided not to purchase the product without the coupon. Due to health laws, they are unable to return the package back to the sales floor and thus literally tossed out $7 worth of meat right in front of me rather than give me one dollar off.

It reminded me of a saying that my colleague Michael Miller often repeated to us: “What does being right get you?” Yes, the coupon technically was not applicable to the product I had chosen, but what did being right do for them? They irritated me, they aggravated the customers in line behind me, and they ruined a much greater value than if they had honored the coupon even though it was incorrect.

Think about Michael’s question when you are training your staff, creating policy or deciding what course of action you should follow. What does being right get you? Most times, you just walk away with righteousness at a ridiculously high cost.