Yesterday I wrote about one of the Ten Ways to Lose . . . Even When You’re the Best, claiming that you lose when your rules of engagement are too rigid.
Then what do you know I had a perfect example of how that works. My husband went to Sears to buy a new gas grill. A few weeks ago, he stopped into Sears to inquire about the grills. The one he selected was a special order item. The salesman told him they would have it shipped to the Sears store, and then they would need a few days to assemble it, and then they would deliver it (free) to our home. But he said, “I’m not the expert, you’ll have to order it from (someone else at Sears).”
So yesterday husband returned to Sears. He had a 10% off coupon plus a $40 gift certificate, and having shopped around, he knew that Sears had the best deal on this grill. Until he went to order it. The grill expert said, “It says here (online ordering system) we cannot have it shipped to our store. It must be shipped to your home (unassembled). And you will have to pay for shipping ($137). And if we assemble it, we will have to send someone to your home, and we charge for that.”
Husband says, “That’s ridiculous. I can buy this same grill from other places and get it assembled and then delivered.” And she said sympathetically, “That’s what I think you should do.”
How many $1000+ sales can Sears afford to lose? How many people are willing to go to Lowe’s and wind up paying more (no coupon; no discount code) for the convenience?
Lots of us. Your customers are like that, too. Do you have a “rigid rules” example? I’d love to hear it.
