I'm in a gift shop, being served by "Ann," a pleasant young, part-timer. I see an item we could use in our business. Ann has five in stock. I tell her I'll buy all five.

She explains she can only sell me three of them, because if I take all five, she won't have any left in stock.

One of our staff is at the pick-up counter of a commercial vendor, getting a $20 item we needed in a hurry. "Brian" behind the counter asks, "Do you have an account with us?"

"No this is all we'd buy from you in a year."
"Well, do you have a purchase order?"
"No, we don't use them. But I do have a company check with me."

Brian is stumped: "I can't take a check here … leave me your business card, and we'll send you an invoice."

My wife and I are at a department store checkout. "Cathy," a full-time cashier, is ringing up our $75 purchase including several pieces of "disposable" luggage (cheap but bulky).

She maneuvers these things across her scanner, a receipt is printed with the SKU's on it, and we cajole all our items into large bags.

Cathy then picks up my credit card and inserts a charge slip into her printer.

The printer eats the charge slip.

Apparently the only procedural option open to Cathy is to void the sale and start over. So we unpack everything and repeat the entire procedure. With exactly the same result.

I suggest that as she has a record of what's been sold, my signing a charge slip will pay for it, and the SKU's can be written in after I'm gone.

This was obviously a new-and radical concept for Cathy. She calls for a supervisor.

The supervisor's big-picture perspective leads her to decide that the only option is haul all this stuff to a different cash register, unpack it, and try again.

I'm in a store to buy gift certificates. "David" tries to sell me specific merchandise instead.

You should know two things:

- these are all exactly true (one simply can't make up these kinds of scenes)
- all these people were very "customer service" polite and professional

Why doesn't Ann know that the key to retailing success is inventory turnover, not retention?

Why doesn't Brian know that a check is better security than a business card? And whatever margin there was in $20 is all eaten up by the cost of invoicing?

Why doesn't Cathy (or her boss) understand that if you know what's been sold, and you've been paid then customer's priorities can safely kick in?

Why doesn't David know that certificates are the best sale because you get to sit on the money, (and a good percentage of them will never be redeemed)?

How can these businesses expect their people to help them make money, if they haven't taught them how the business makes money?

Guts test: What's going on at the front end of your business? How well do all your people understand the business of your business? By what means are they expected to acquire this knowledge?

Recommended Reading:
Maverick by Ricardo Semler and The Great Game of Business by Jack Stack. Both tell a CEO's story of dramatic turnarounds based on educating their entire team on how to help the business make money. One happens in Brazil, the other in Missouri-a concept with broad application.

Teaching your people to be "customer service nice" is good. Teaching them how to help you make money is better. Doing both is what will make you the best.

Warren Evans is a prominent Canadian consultant and trainer based in Mississauga, Ontario. A popular and dynamic speaker, he's addressed audiences across Canada, the U.S. and in the Caribbean and Europe. He is one of North America's leading authorities in the field of Service Management. Warren can be reached at (905) 858-000.
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