Are Your Policies Hurting
Your Business?
A customer’s purchase is overcharged by $10.00. The store policy is
clear… “No cash refunds” so the sales associate
refuses to issue the refund even though the
mistake was hers. The customer was told he would
have to accept a store credit or wait for a
cheque to be issued by head office.
A customer wants to exchange a sale item she
bought three hours earlier but the store policy
states, “All sales are final.” The employee
adamantly refuses to exchange the item for the
customer.
What is the likelihood that these customers will
buy from those stores again? I think it would be
safe to say they won’t.
We all know that policies are instituted for a
reason – to protect the company and reduce the
risk and liability. However, in many situations,
policies are put into place to manage a tiny
portion of the business – people who look for
ways to exploit your business or who try to get
something for nothing. Unfortunately, these
policies are designed to control the minority
rather than the majority. And, as a customer, I
highly doubt that you like being told, “That’s
our policy.”
There is no question that some people will take
advantage of liberal and flexibly policies.
However, my experience has taught me that these
individuals are far and few between.
Case in point; when a friend of mine published
his first book, he offered an unconditional
money-back guarantee to anyone who did not feel
the concepts would help them improve their
business. His publisher was distraught about
this decision, telling him that he was setting
myself up to be taken advantage of. However, in
the the last several years my friend has sold
over thousands of copies of his book and has
never had a request for a refund. Was the risk
worth the reward? Absolutely!
In another situation, a participant in one of my
public workshop expressed his disappointment
because the program did not address his specific
expectations even though full details of the
program were provided before he registered.
While I considered the possibility that he was
trying to take advantage of me, I still offered
a refund because it made good business sense.
The easier you make it for someone to do
business with you, the more business they will
generate, providing of course, you offer a good
product at a fair price. I firmly believe that
flexible policies can help a business increase
their market share.
Here is something else to consider. When your
policies change (which is not uncommon), don’t
force existing customers to adhere to the new
policy immediately after it has been
implemented. Give them a grace period to help
them adjust to the new procedures.
I also think it is important to give employees
some latitude. I’m not suggesting that you allow
everyone to make their own decision but I do
know from experience that most people will make
good business decisions if given the
opportunity.
Many people are hesitant to do business with
someone they have not purchased from in the
past. And for good reason, they have been sold
goods and services that have not lived up to
their expectations. Reduce their concern and
hesitation by making it easy and risk-free to
buy from you.
One of my first clients expressed concern about
doing business with an unknown vendor (me). When
she asked what would happen if she wasn’t
satisfied with the program I was going to
develop for her, I told her that she wouldn’t
pay. I even agreed to include this in my
contract with her. Several years later, her
company is still a client and I have since
extended this policy to all new clients.
Another aspect to consider is the fine print you
include in contracts. Why force your customers
to review paragraph upon paragraph of text that
can only be read with a magnifying glass. State
your terms up front and believe that the more
fine print you have, the more you are trying to
hide from your customer.
I remember my wife talking to a computer company
we were leasing from after we discovered that we
had made two extra payments even though the
lease had ended. She was told, “Your contract
clearly states that you are responsible for
contacting us to terminate the lease.” I have
also seen this type of clause for extended
warranty programs. Some companies offer a rebate
on the warranty if you do not use it. However,
the caveats usually require the customer to
submit the original receipt within 30 days of
the warranty expiration.
Evaluate the policies you have implemented over
the years and look at them from a customer’s
perspective. They may be costing you business.
© 2006 Kelley Robertson, All rights reserved.
Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson
Training Group, works with businesses to help
them increase their sales & profitability and
motivate their employees. Receive a FREE copy of
“100 Ways to Increase Your Sales” by subscribing
to his newsletter available at http://www.RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.
Kelley speaks regularly at conferences, sales
meetings, and corporate functions. For
information on his programs contact him at
905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com.
