Stupid Policy of the Week
We talk a lot about empowering employees and giving them “policies” to work within that are guidelines, not cement walls. Giving employees the information, training, and flexibility to do what they know is right for the customer will go a long way toward creating loyalty-building customer experiences. Giving them policy “blinders” upsets and frustrates customers (not to mention the negative effect it can have on employee morale).
Here’s one example:
Last weekend I took my 9-year-old daughter shopping at Aeropostale, so she could use the gift card she had received. We gathered a handful of goodies from around the store (T-shirts, PJs, and the like) and headed for the dressing rooms. As we walked into one, one of the store associates stopped us and said only one of us could go in. Huh?
I understand that as a store designed for tweens, teens, and young 20s, they would prefer that not two teenagers go into a dressing room together and spend more time talking and laughing than trying on. But when a parent and younger child (i.e. one whose age equals parental approval of clothing purchases) go into a store together, why is it a problem? It was certainly large enough.
I don’t mind waiting outside the dressing room. My daughter’s old enough to do her own thing and come out and model. But in a busy, overstuffed store like this one, I was mostly just in everyone’s way. I could more easily have sat in the dressing room and sped up the try-on process.
This was simply a case of one policy, no exceptions, whether it makes sense or not. What if I was going to try on the clothes and my daughter was only, say, four? Would they say, “Oh, sorry, you’ll have to leave your four-year-old to roam the store while you try on, or you’ll have to shop elsewhere”?
My suggestion: Hire well in the first place. Then give employees the room to use their best judgment within the bounds of flexible policies.
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