One of the great benefits of writing a blog is all of the comments and ideas you get from readers. Sometimes it is directly on the site, other times through email. Last week I received this great parable from Marcus Carey, who is the VP of sales for his company. He forwarded this in response to last week’s 8/16 Rule, so I thought it would be great to share with the rest of you. I will be spending the week in San Diego at the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council meeting and looking forward to sharing my learning’s with you over the coming weeks.
Break the Rules
An Army general met with the representatives of two companies bidding for a contract to support field equipment. Faced with solving a real problem that came up that morning, he decided to put each vendor to the test.
Our system is down, and we don’t have any replacement fuses,” he said. Both companies made standard fuses that would fit. “Whoever gets the system up and running gets the first contract."
The rep from Company A began processing the paperwork, pushing it through the system. Thanks to his diligence, within seven days, instead of the usual 30 days, a replacement fuse was shipped to the Army base. He called the general, who thanked him for his prompt response, but said he had awarded the contract to Company B.
“Why?” asked the rep from Company A. “I happen to know their standard order-to-ship cycle is 30 days, and we got it to you in seven.”
“Yes,” said the general. “But after you left our meeting, your competitor drove into town, bought one of his company’s fuses at a hardware store, and brought it back to the base within 30 minutes.”
The moral: Policies work well during standard operating conditions. But, when extraordinary performance is required, don’t let policy stand in the way of solving the problem, serving the customer, or making the sale.
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