Continued from March 25 post,

I was once ready to buy a Volvo station wagon – blue with black interior, heated seats and a tape deck. That was it. I was ready to buy.

So I called the local Volvo dealership, got a salesperson on the phone and asked for a price. He said there was a rule that customers have to test-drive a car before getting a price. I explained that I had driven a Volvo for many years, had already test-driven this particular model and just wanted a price. He said, “I am sorry ma’am, but that is the rule”.

After hanging up, I called the dealership in a nearby town and got a price. They had the exact car on the lot so I went and picked it up the next day.

About a month later the salesperson from the first dealership called and said, “Ms. Bolick, are you ready to test-drive that station wagon?”

I said, “Thanks for calling but I already bought a car.”

He said, “A Volvo wagon?”

When I said, “Yes”, there was dead silence on the other end of the phone.

I feel certain that smart people made that rule for a smart reason. But it became very dumb in that situation. Making it too hard to do business. Chasing business away.

What about your business? Does it have any dumb rules?

copyright 2009 – Jan Bolick, Business Class Inc