The New Management, Pt 2
This article is part two in a series of articles about The New Management, a team-leadership philosophy I have been piecing together over the last few years as both an Employee and a Manager. This will make more sense if you start at part one.
Two Stories
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Customer approaches the service desk at a retail store with a product, clearly opened.
“I would like to return this,” Customer says.
“Do you have your receipt?” asks Employee.
“No, I don’t know where it is and when I got this home it didn’t work the way I thought it did, so I don’t really want it anymore.”
“Well, if you don’t have a receipt then we can’t take it back. And anyway it’s been opened,” says Employee.
“Well, I bought it here, I’m sure you could look it up the system.”
“I’m sorry, once a product has been opened we can’t take it back.”
“Well, can I talk to a manager?”
When she arrives, Manager listens to the exasperated customer–who has now been in the store 15 minutes–go through the story again. While she listens intently, Employee rolls his eyes, knowing that Manager will accept the merchandise and issue a store credit.
After another 5-10 minutes Employee has issued a store credit to Customer, who is relieved but frustrated the process took 30 minutes, required escalating to Manager, and retelling the story.
What’s Right With This Picture?
Customer approaches the service desk at a retail store with a product, clearly opened.
“I would like to return this,” Customer says.
“Do you have your receipt?” asks Employee.
“No, I don’t know where it is and when I got this home it didn’t work the way I thought it did, so I don’t really want it anymore.”
“OK, let me see if I can find the purchase in our system. When did you purchase it?”
“Last week,” says Customer.
“OK, and did you use a credit card?”
“No, cash.”
“OK, I won’t be able to find the record in our system then. We typically don’t take back opened merchandise without a receipt, but what I can do for you in this case is give you store credit for the amount of your purchase. Will that work?”
“Well, I would prefer the cash.”
“I would too. If you can find the receipt then I can give you cash, but without it I’ll only be able to issue store credit. Is that OK?”
“Sure.”
“OK, bear with me for just a minute while I do the paperwork and we’ll get you on your way.”
There are actually more than 2 stories here. We must count the story Customer will tell friends and family, the story that Employee will tell Coworkers, and the story of things Manager left undone to approve a simple return.
Why did the Wrong story take 30 minutes of the customer’s time? Why did it require 30 minutes of Employee’s labor plus Manager’s time?
Why did the Right story only take 5 minutes, result in a happier customer, and a less burdened Manager? More importantly, why are stories like this so rare?
More on that next time.

