Every year for the past 12 or 15 years I have taken a Friday off in the middle of December and spent the day with my best friend in Atlanta doing some Christmas shopping. We always have a great time, being silly and having fun, while getting the majority of our shopping done for the season. We always start off the day with a nice breakfast. <\/p>\n
So, we\u2019ve just had breakfast, I go to the bakery counter to buy 6 of the world\u2019s best gingerbread men and to pay for breakfast. I pull out my American Express card to pay for breakfast and the cookies, when the woman behind the counter tells me she\u2019s not supposed to take \u201cthat\u201d card.<\/p>\n
Now I am perplexed. So, I ask her if they take AmEx or not? She comes to the edge of the bakery counter and in a very low voice, almost a whisper, she tells me the owner doesn\u2019t like to take AmEx because it costs him more money to process \u2013 she thinks it\u2019s 10\u00a2. <\/p>\n
Well, I\u2019m standing there with my open wallet in my left hand and my AmEx card in my right hand, so it\u2019s pretty obvious I have other credit cards available to pay this $29.46 bill. The clerk looks to her left, looks to her right, then looks back at me and whispers \u201cput that wallet away.\u201d Wanting to see what she\u2019s going to do, I promptly fold it up and put it back in my pocket. <\/p>\n
She then walks over to the owner, who\u2019s busily cleaning up the full service deli section of the shop, and tells him I\u2019m in from out of town and this is the only credit card I have with me. He looks at me and shakes his head ok. She comes back over, smiles, winks at me and runs my AmEx card through for the sale.<\/p>\n
I sign the sales slip, thank her and walk outside to where my friend is waiting for me. I am laughing and shaking my head as I get outside. My friend asks me what happened and I tell her. <\/p>\n
Now, there are some important lessons in what happened at this little family owned and operated deli. First of all, you know they have good food and service, or I wouldn\u2019t have driven 15 miles and passed numerous other restaurants to have breakfast there. I love their homemade gingerbread men. So, they got the food and service part right.<\/p>\n
But, and this is a big but, if you\u2019re going to take credit cards then take the credit cards. Either take American Express or don\u2019t take it. Does AmEx cost more? Most people would say yes and, if you look at it from the surface, you would be right. My question to you is, what does it cost you not to accept AmEx? Think about that for a minute. <\/p>\n
For a lot of people, AmEx is the first credit card they reach for when making purchases. Will that customer, client or prospect decide not to purchase from you if they can\u2019t use their AmEx to pay? Maybe, maybe not, but why take the chance? Is the 10\u00a2 really worth all that?<\/p>\n
More importantly, if you chose not to take AmEx, or some other type of credit card, then don\u2019t take it at all. Don\u2019t give your employees an opportunity to make you look silly in front of your clients. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s really the other lesson in all this. Do you know what your employees are doing and saying? The lady behind the counter at the deli was trying to be on my side, but in doing so, she said some not nice things about the owner of the establishment and didn\u2019t do any favors for the business.<\/p>\n
The real point of sharing this story with you is to open your mind to a new way of thinking about things. <\/p>\n
For example, my guess is the average sale at the deli is around $10 (there are a lot of bagels and coffees being served). So my $29 sale was above average. In the big picture of things, would it have been worth it for deli to have just taken my credit card and not made a big deal about it? My vote is yes. So it costs a little more to let your customer use AmEx. It\u2019s just the cost of doing business.<\/p>\n
What did it cost him in time (his and the employee) and good will from me? <\/p>\n
Is really is the old \u201ccan\u2019t see the forest for the trees\u201d scenario. In his effort to try to save money, it really cost the business owner more than if they had just taken my credit card and let me leave with my belly full and, more importantly, with my gingerbread men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every year for the past 12 or 15 years I have taken a Friday off in the middle of December and spent the day with my best friend in Atlanta doing some Christmas shopping. We always have a great time, being silly and having fun, while getting the majority of our shopping done for the…<\/p>\n