I have no food allergies and for that I am quite grateful actually. However a number of my friends and colleagues are allergic to nuts, bee stings and the like. I think that when you have no allergies or don’t feel that you have to be hyper-cautious about certain behaviours or the consumption of certain foodstuffs you possibly do develop a kind of complacency that ultimately may cost you. So when others I am with, probe food servers on ingredients or make special requests I do feel a little awkward.
Though I am not ‘English’ and hardly consider myself ‘British’ it is considered very English or British to be a non-complainer or somewhat akin to ‘going off-piste” when dining out and demanding special requests.
I generally view myself as simply falling into that category of non-complainers and non challengers who simply accept what is on offer pretty much without question, but I need to get better at that and be less accepting.
This ‘Britishness’ typifies someone who doesn’t rock the proverbial boat or cause stress or consternation to others. It is specifically pertinent when thing don’t make sense or simply aren’t going right. It is something that is stereotyped in the cinema, television and books. Stiff upper lips, queueing and simply getting in line.
To me, it’s not that one doesn’t complain or mutter about unmet expectations. Of course one does, one simply doesn’t complain in a way that makes an immediate difference to the outcome. It’s a kind of stoicism. But, we might be losing out.
We’re too damned passive!
Those with allergies may have got it right – but of course for them, sometimes it is a matter of life and death.
I thought about this today as I muttered to myself about a couple of recent experiences and then lent that thought process to the whole business of how we buy stuff and software and services in particular. It was particularly interesting because I had also just listened to my eldest son complain about crappy automotive break-down services, value-for-money and the whole supply chain challenge that is associated with doing business these days in lean and agile ways. But then he did something innovative and out of character and he succeeded in having a good outcome. He broke the unwritten rules by just being innovative about solving his problem.
Going a la carte – recognising good service
We’re so accustomed to buying stuff on menus for example, that when we want to order something and they say that they have run out or it’s off the menu, we almost seem offended. I know it isn’t just me. I see this every-time we go into a restaurant and there are a group of us and we set our minds on something only to hear that we can’t have it. It’s the same “gaping void” experience you might have when you go in the supermarket on a holiday weekend and find your favourite snack or beverage cannot be found on the shelf. What do you do?
What you should do, is you should ask for assistance or some service action out of course (not wait for the shelf restocking process for example). Now some organizations are not very good at this, or rather their staff are not very good at that elusive thing known as ‘personalized customer service’ but every now and then you find someone who will turn themselves inside out to try and help you.
When you have that kind of experience, be sure to recognize it, acknowledge it and be generous and effusive with your gratitude. We want more of those people!
Finger licking good tactics
A long time friend of mine was very proud of the fact that his father would make a point of confounding “the system” at fast food joints. Think of your favourite fried chicken product, put three letters to it and a splash of red and white colouring and you will know the brand I am thinking of.
If you have ever been to this place and ordered more than just a sandwich or a piece of chicken you will know that they sell by way of a formula – off the menu. The formula I am sure, is part of the employee training and of course the inventory and POS system. I am also sure that it is something where they count every-thing, drumstick, chicken wing and chicken breast – in some stores they even go through the trash at the end of the day, I believe.
When you order chicken here, you don’t just get any old piece of chicken. The ‘meal’ is systematically orchestrated. In recent years the number of off menu purchases seems to have resulted in them producing things like a a la carte menu or something where you get to order just what you want. How do you feel about that ? Have you ever taken advantage of the a la carte option? When and why did they decide to do that?
Long before a la carte was an option this friend’s dad would order a la carte – his own version of it – something you could only do in a fancy restaurant or at an independent place at the time. He never came away muttering that he got the wrong combination of bits. He always got exactly what he wanted. He wasn’t obnoxious about it, he was simply direct and candid. If he was asked to pay a premium for the service or what he wanted, he was ok with that. He simply didn’t want someone else telling him what he could and couldn’t have – after all, he was paying!
A lesson in software purchasing
It is becoming harder and harder as a consumer, to get close to being able to get exactly what you want from a vendor I think. Yes, there are some customizing options but they’re not as readily available as you think. The great facelessness of online retail gives us greater choices but it also kind of indoctrinates us with thinking that if we can’t find the combination of things that we want, then we simply cannot have them. The notion of infinitely configurable products.
I think this will change, infinitely configurable personal preferences will come for all of us in almost all things, we will have to give up a few things along the way, some personal data probably being our first sacrifice. Our buying preferences and habits will be laid bare and we will perhaps feel a little violated. In the end the commercial operator’s goals is to provide us with the most awesome and complete experience that they feel they can reasonably provide. It may be a small price to pay – giving up some personal data.
In commercial software purchasing though, the situation still seems less personalized and less able to be personalized – yet it is often a high touch experience.
Salespeople seem to be bound to their price-lists and product lists but in reality the truth couldn’t be further from the reality. As a buyer of commercial software you actually have quite a lot of leverage and quite a few options in the buy cycle. Communicate the value you see in the product and negotiations flow from there.
Sure, you can go with the one-stop-shop-single-throat-to-choke approach offered by the big vendors like those that sell ERP software but you will lose out on some innovation options. They’ll only sell you what’s in THEIR catalog.
You can rethink what you need and what you are being offered and look to the wider market for choices if you have the gumption, but do we always do that? When your salesperson for your favourite piece of software comes back with a proposal don’t assume that the deal is done. Assume that this is the first point of negotiation. Ask a lot of questions, do some research and propose other options.
Ask about competitors no matter how awkward it may feel. Everyone knows a little about everyone else’s business so what difference does asking this question really make?
Most things have a price point at which either party is prepared to walk away. It is based on the concept of value, it’s simply understood, if you do nothing or don’t invest then you’re losing out on some benefit – if you can’t recognise it then the salesperson needs to educate you on it. If you still can’t see the value, maybe you’re looking at the wrong thing.
Low ball too much as a prospective buyer in negotiations, and the seller will think that you either don’t see the value or that you are a troll – whatever you do though, don’t assume that the price is not negotiable – software is infinitely reproducible at a lower cost than physical goods and services so your tame sales guy can always look at more options than are on the menu.
You can negotiate, by voluntarily explaining how you plan to use something, how you see its value and inquiring as to how you can achieve a better price point. Working on converging on something mutually agreeable rather than assuming that one of you will win and one of you will lose.
When you take this approach you are jointly working toward a better position on understanding the real cost and the real benefit of whatever it is you are trying to buy. Whatever you do, don’t simply suck it up and leave the table with less than you need and want and don’t simply walk away muttering and complaining, unless of course you’re trying to demonstrate some sort of Britishness…
The original version of this article appeared on LinkedIn
About the author
Clinton Jones has experience in international enterprise technology and business process on four continents and has a focus on integrated enterprise business technologies, business change and business transformation. Clinton also serves as a technical consultant on technology and quality management as it relates to data and process management and governance. In past roles, Clinton has worked for Fortune 500 companies and non-profits across the globe.
