Slightly Off KIlter

I went to our local Large Hardware Emporium yesterday morning to return some of the remodeling supplies we won't be using in our dining room remodeling job — specifically nine pieces of pre-cut pre-fab baseboard molding in the "other" style than the one we decided to install. These were worth the trip to return — $43 worth. I had the receipt.

I was also returning one small, $1.50 part, for which I didn't have the receipt. I wouldn't make a special trip to return it, but I was going to the store anyway.

I arrived at the Returns / Customer Service Desk. The CS guy was obviously new – "obviously" because, in a service industry, one either quickly loses the attitude or loses the job. In his case, newness manifested not as unsureness but as a level of impersonal curtness bordering on rude… and for me, it didn't take long to cross that border.

Rather than greeting me (I expected something along the lines of "Hi! What can I do for you today?") he picked up the pieces of molding from where they lay on the counter and. as I was speaking, held them up, stared at them, stared at me and said "Did they cut these for you?".

Keep in mind that I was talking, I held an itemized receipt in my hand, and each piece of molding had a barcode label. The labels weren't currently visible because the strips were bound with a rubber band, but he hadn't bothered to remove the rubber band or to ask me about the strips.

I said "No" and as I continued he snapped the rubber band and grabbed a strip from the bundle. I suggested he be careful because the strips aren't wood (they're easy to break) and he said "I can see that". Uh huh. Right. So he finally asked if I had a receipt (which I'd been holding all this time) and I finally got the opportunity to hand him the receipt as well as the small, $1.50 part, for which I didn't have a receipt.

He scanned strips, the part, the receipt and then said abruptly, without making eye contact, "I need your Drivers' License."

"What?!"

Now it is true that the return policy is posted and that the policy states that returns without a receipt require ID (and will be credited back as store credit). But this is a $1.50 part. I am returning $43 worth of materials with a receipt. And in any event, how about turning and looking at me and saying politely, "Because you don't have a receipt for this one I'll need to see your drivers' license for the return"?

It wasn't good enough, either, to just show him the license. I had to take it out of its little window slip case. Even the bank never makes me take it out of its case. It's not as if anyone other than the police or the DMV can run the magstripe through a scanner.

At that point I lost what little patience I had left; I was now seriously annoyed.

So, I did something I have never done before at the CS desk in a store (although I have done it during a phone call to a Customer Service line to solve a problem) — I suggested to the CS guy that he could try a little politeness and I asked to speak to his supervisor. He agreed to find her when the transaction ended.

About this time, the computer entered the game, insisting that, because there was no receipt for the $1.50 part, the entire transaction ($44.50) would need to be credited back as store credit. Given that I had already declined the option of taking the entire amount as store credit, the CS guy realized this was a problem (wonder of wonders). At least he didn't simply tell me I didn't have a choice. He called over a co-worker to help him.

Consider the difference between night and day. The co-worker met my eyes. She smiled. She met her co-worker's eyes and asked what the problem was. She was brisk and efficient but not brusque. She cleared the computer, rescanned the items, asked about the piece without a receipt, and said the magic words "It's only $1.50". Then she punched a few buttons and in less than the time it takes to write this she had credited $44.50 to my Master Card (without asking to see the card, or my license, again) and said "There you go. That's all you need. It's all finished".

She had the Power To Say Yes.

We read something about this a few years ago, Generally, it is the supervisors who have this power, but often it is also the longer-term, more experienced employees. The Power To Say Yes is the power to "think outside the box", to do the right thing in the current circumstances.

The Power To Say Yes is the power to credit a $1.50 item, returned without a receipt, back to the customer's Mastercard along with the other $43 (with receipt) credit. It's the power to issue a credit for a product inadvertently shipped even though an order was canceled, without insisting the customer send back the product… because a return would cost the company even more and the CS rep understands that. It's the power to resolve an issue in the customer's favor, to recognize and to do what it takes to retain a customer and generate good will. It's the power to apologize for a problem.

The Power To Say Yes is the Power to Achieve Customer Satisfaction while providing customer service. It's the power that results in praise rather than complaint, in happy customers who say "Thank you" and who come back to your store to shop again.

Transaction completed, I repeated my desire to speak to the supervisor, who was called. The supervisor arrived, smiling and asking how she could help. As I explained, her expression changed to one of helpful concern. She apologized and promised to speak to the employee. After I finished my complaint, I also told the supervisor that the other CS rep had been very helpful, suggesting the new guy could learn a lot from his co-worker. During the conversation, the CS guy glared.

In many cases (on the phone with a Customer Service line), I have needed to get a supervisor involved to solve a problem. In this case, while it was important to speak to the supervisor and explain the problem (I hope the CS rep will get the training he needs) it was not necessary for the supervisor to solve the problem. By the time I spoke to her, the problem was already solved – by a Customer Satisfaction representative who had (and who exercised) her Power To Say Yes.