I was in a retail store the other day when I overheard a customer making an impassioned plea to the sales associate to help her with an “out of stock” situation. The customer was desperate to obtain this item for her son’s birthday. She asked the sales associate if there wasn’t something he could do to help. His response was that the store was out of the item and they weren’t expecting any more until the holiday season. He explained that the economy has slowed down their shipments with corporate controlling inventory levels on a much tighter basis. The customer was frantic and near tears. I could relate. I’ve been there myself. Rather than the sales associate offering to check other stores in the area, he simply terminated the interaction with the  customer by muttering an insincere “sorry” and walking away. The associate missed a prime opportunity to create a customer for life. He could have been so much more creative at solving this problem. What a dumb move!

What are you doing to encourage creative problem solving in your place of business? What should you be doing? As you budget and plan for the upcoming fiscal year, consider some training workshops on creativity and innovative thinking. It may be one of the best things you’ll ever do to foster greater levels of customer retention.

Now let’s get out there and be creative!

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