April 22, 2010

Reader Dumbfounded by a Dumb Rule

A friend and colleague of mine is a fan of BE DiFFERENT or be dead. He and his organization Great Canadian Van Lines have been very supportive helping to spread the word of BE DiFFERENT.

He recently sent me an e-mail on a Dumb Rule he encountered in a retail business in Vancouver. Here is his story:

“I was in Le Chateau with my wife last week looking at a suit. Found a great suit that I liked; they had my pant size, but not my jacket. I noticed before I left that the mannequin in the window had the suit I liked on and so I went up to the display and guess what - the mannequin had my jacket size on. So I asked the Sales Rep if I could purchase the jacket on the mannequin.

She said no, that they we are not permitted to touch the clothing on the mannequins.

Thus the dumb mannequin rule cost them the sale.”— Mark Valliant, General Manager, Great Canadian Van Lines ,Vancouver BC

Classic. I would bet that this particular sales person wanted to do the right thing for Mark but had been punished in the past. Too bad. A de-dazzling service experience; a lost sale and the object of a ‘Here’s what NOT to do’ story. Le Chateau (and other retailers that I am sure have a similar Dumb Rule), can you really afford to lose a sale in these challenging times? I think not.

Share the dumbness. Send your favorite Dumb Rule story to me at Reader Connect. I will publish as many as I can.

Cheers, Roy

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Related Blog Articles

The Four Steps to Dazzle Customers
Hire Human Being Lovers
Recover from Your Blunders
Kill Dumb Rules
Bend the Rules

 

 

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Posted 4.22.10 at 08:00 am by Roy Osing | Read Comments (0) | Leave a Comment