Taken from the Saipan Chamber of Commerce's Managing Change workshop this week:
Speaker: Tony Pellegrino, multimillionaire entrepreneur
He shared that in this economy people should cope with change through self-examination and so much more. He shared a story one time he went to a Joeten owned store, yes he mentioned the store. He wanted to get a lawnmower and there was this $400 mower and he asked the sales girl, "who came up not smiling" and he asked her what the best price could the store give him since there were rusts on the mower all ready. The sales person said it's a fixed price. Then Mr. Pellegrino attempted further, then the sales person called her manager who came out. "Again no smile on his face," said Pellegrino, adding that the manager told him that that was the best price written on the tag. Not happy with the customer service at all, he said he asked his wife to leave the store.
He said he went to the other store and got the same mower for the price he wanted and he said he couldn't forget the guy that sold him the mower because he was so accommodating and so on. Pellegrino said the Joeten store should've given him a better price and sold that rusting and aging mower. He said he could've bought it from Joeten if the customer service would've been better. "They lost a $400 sale from me that day."
People should adapt to change, he said, "Cause if you don't you'd die as a fossil."
9 comments:
I feel for the salespeople who aren't empowered to make good sales decisions on behalf of the store. I don't think it is necessarily about change, though they should be more accommodating. I think it's about authority. If you hire someone as your manager, you need to trust that she will take risks, make sound choices, etc.
What was the "other store"? Did he say? If so they should get a Kudos.
Joeten... don't get me started. I don't know, however, if Tony is one to be discussing business adaptation.
Boni's right, you can't blame the sales people and in most cases even the managers. They are not usually given the flexibility to make those kind of decisions. You can blame management for allowing a culture of unfriendly and uncourteous behavior by their employees to proliferate.
nah, he didnt say which store. for me, there is a point here being addressed that is for every business to adapt to changes. it's inevitable.
(noni) it just hasn't sunk in here yet for alot of people. i go all over the place and front office and sales staff aren't pleasant. i may get into it with sand, sblog and half on this site... but in public and especially where our tourists are concerned... i'm an absolute angel ;)
you can't always just fault the lowly salesperson though. consider the fact that they are receiving a crappy salary, with almost no chance of promotion, next to no professional development and often with bosses who have hitler-like attitudes... i'd wouldn't be a very happy camper either. You get what you pay for and you get what you invest in.
a tamed angel. interesting...noni i guess the bloggers have connived not to post any comment when you're around. ahihihi. ;-)
Rev, (and other siteowners), Thanks for the link add!
ur velkum
(noni)connive away... see, that's the thing... it's not about the issues with them... it's about people.
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