A friend told me, that the other day, as a Christmas present for his sons and grandsons, he decided to buy 2 sets of those colourful men’s swimming trunks with matching ones for the two babies – adorable! This was a purchase of some £350 – so no small present. However, when he asked if there was a discount, the man in the Vilebrequin shop in the Fulham Road said: ‘Oh we never give a discount – we don’t need to!’ At which point my friend apparently said: ‘Ah, I see you are not given the authority to give a discount – how short sighted of your Senior Managers’. Yes, my friend bought the swimming trunks, but he was disgusted by this attitude. Two things come to mind, that this was a foolish and arrogant statement by that young man in the shop – and maybe Vilebrequin isn’t recession-proof: which the management team and the young shop assistant will find out - if he still has a job in a year’s time.
Each business leader and management team has to ensure their staff is fully briefed about the economic situation, so that they may each and individually use their best judgement to get the maximum out of each sales transaction. This may include giving minor discounts – to those who ask, and why not?? Arrogance is for those Aardvarks who became extinct thousands of years ago because they could not mutate / develop to survive the world they found themselves in. Nothing has changed in that respect.