Being flexible makes more sales

My bride and I were dining with Lorraine and Aron at 6. We were bringing dessert.

Living near what’s arguably the best bakery in San Diego, I planned to stop en route at Edelweiss. Naturally, I checked online for their hours and saw they closed at 6pm.

Arriving at 5:40 I found the door locked, lights out, and a sign reading CLOSED.

But…but…

It seems they’d spent weeks advertising their new 5:30pm closing time and thought they’d changed their hours on every search engine. Of course I found one that had slipped through.

Another customer at the door was equally nonplussed and walked away, but I felt I had right on my side. So I knocked. A LOT!

The people cleaning up inside undoubtedly opened the door just to quiet me down. After I explained the situation, Lynn graciously opened the shop, turned on the lights, and called the staff from the back room.

Turning the music back on was a nice touch.

Seeing me making my purchase, the lady who’d walked away returned to buy some tarts. Then another couple appeared, announced they’re regulars, and bought a bunch of pastry.

Why Edelweiss’ hours were shortened is unimportant. Lynn knew it’s unacceptable to let down the very people they wanted to attract in the first place.

When I was a youth my dad told me mistakes happen in every business, and how you deal with them shows what you’re made of. Edelweiss’ team lived up to their tagline “Made with butter and love”.

Had Edelweiss’ employees rigidly stuck to their earlier closing time I’d have gone elsewhere, eventually overcoming my disappointment.

But Lynn’s team saw this as an opportunity to put smiles on numerous faces, and we shoppers all appreciated their extra effort.

Being flexible helped Edelweiss’ staff put more money in their register while keeping numerous customers happy. From where I sit it was exactly the right response.

Your business undoubtedly provides opportunities for you to also be flexible. No, you don’t want customers to unreasonably walk all over you, but adapting on the fly to a customer’s needs can earn you a positive review online or around the dinner table.

And isn’t getting customers to return why we’re all working so hard in the first place?

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

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