Seth Godin ranted a bit recently about the "stories" that Jetblue tells compared to the TSA. Seth's looking at this situation from a 30,000 foot level and while I like and appreciate that, I'd like to descend to the 3 foot level for a moment. Yes, the 3 foot level, where you're standing in front of the customer and they're asking you to break or bend a rule, guideline or principle of your company.
Examples abound, from letting someone return something beyond the posted time limit to giving someone a little more time to pay a bill. Do these rules exist for good, logical reasons? Yes. Are they worth breaking or bending to make a customer happy?
It depends.
But, most of the time, I'd lean towards bending the rules for any customer. And here's why.
Because it is an extraordinary form of marketing. It SCREAMS to the customer. YOU ARE SPECIAL!
And that person is guaranteed to tell people about it. Lots of people. Marketing.
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