Often, businesses and entities put policies in place as preventive measures… usually because they’ve been burned before, either by personal negligence or customer/client abuse. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? After all, without a defined course of action the possibilities of error and loss only increase. However, there are times when being so rigid on policies only hurt those who honestly need a different course of fulfillment.
As a case in point, I went to the mall last night with my wife, daughter and two 4-month old twins to do some light shopping. We parked our car and carried the two babies a long distance inside, knowing that this mall rents strollers. After an unfruitful attempt at locating one, and well over a mile already on our feet, I had my wife sit down and keep an eye on the twins while I go further ahead to search. After another half-mile of walking, I found an information desk that had exactly two employees, thirteen strollers, and one stiff “policy”.
“A half-mile back near JC Penny with my tired wife, waiting on a stroller, miss.” I said with a friendly smile.
“I’m sorry sir, but our policy states that you have to have your children with you to get a stroller.”
“I do, Miss, they’re on the other side of the mall waiting for a stroller. Can you just rent me two strollers?”
“It’s our policy, sir.”
“Listen, how about I rent the strollers, go get the babies with them, and wheel them the half-mile back here so you can see them?
“It’s against our policy.”
“You know what, miss? Your policy is about to lose you a customer. Perhaps you should offer to relax your policy in exchange for something else, like holding onto my Drivers License or some other ID to ensure that I’ll come back with the strollers. This way, we can both be happy.”
“Sorry, sir. Policy.”
We left.
Whether you’re a business, a website, a church, or any other entity that services people, you’ll find that your “visitors” will come to you through many different avenues, with many different needs. If you’re serious about making the sale or providing the service, you’ll learn when your policies matter and when they can be relaxed in order to keep the customer alive.