I went in to a national retailer the other day, both to do a little shopping and invite the store manager to speak to the Rotary club of which I’m a member. (The store had just moved, and I thought he or she would appreciate the opportunity to promote his business by educating our members.)
I made with an employee walking by me and asked to see the manager. He immediately told me that the manager was in the back. No offer to get the manager, no request as to what I needed. As a matter of fact, he didn’t even answer my request directly. However, it was clear to me that the manager was sequestered and most likely wouldn’t budge.
I then asked if he could ask if the manager could give me 5 minutes of their time. He said, “Sure” and walked about 20 feet and opened a door and spoke to a hidden person for a minute or so. (Longer than I had expected to be talking to the manager) He came back and said that “He’s in a meeting right now, what did you need?” I gave him my card, and asked that the manager contact me about the speaking opportunity. (This was 10 days ago, and I haven’t heard a peep.)
How many opportunities are you missing out on because your managers are “hiding” from customers? I don’t know what the meeting was about. I do know that I could see the employee talking to someone, and that someone didn’t think they I was worth their time. If the employee had engaged me earlier in the conversation, he may have been able to offer an alternative such as an assistant manager, dog groomer, etc.
By the way, I’m going over to their competition today to repeat the same process, I’ll let you know how it goes.
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