Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You deal with your best customer first
Whenever Pat comes in, you know he spends money. You don't want to lose
one of your best customers by risking him going somewhere else. So you tell
him, "Sure Pat, let me just finish this call."
You finish dealing with the owner of that other auto salvage yard and completely
forget about your calls on hold. You give a quick look to the stressed-out
mother and figure she probably doesn't know what she's looking for anyway,
and proceed to help out Pat.
Today, however, Pat only ends up buying a couple air filters at $15 each.
And you missed out on the other two customers on the phone. The mother walks
out, announcing as she goes that she will find a $400 muffler elsewhere. You
worry she will tell others she had bad service at your shop.
Those working out in the yards dismantling cars or doing inventory rarely
have to make this type of critical decision. Tim Donovan says that at the
most, lower-level decisions will be made in these divisions. "The real decisions
start off when you get into supervisory, management and sales," he says.