I was in Miami over the holidays last year. It was gift-buying season. I was in the spirit, so I decided to buy something for myself from the Verizon store. I wanted a 4G modem for my MacBook Air.
I checked the Verizon website and found that neither of the two modems the company carried would “officially” work on the Mac. Further research revealed that one of them would work on the Mac once you made a few settings changes on the laptop (they now “officially” work).
Unfortunately, I also discovered that the new modem had to be activated, for the first time only, on a PC (rather than a Mac). I found a number of reports on the web where Mac customers were successful in getting the Verizon store to activate the modem for them (it’s a 30-second process).
I went to the store to buy the modem and sign up for a contract worth about $1,500 to Verizon.
In making the purchase, I explained that I needed the guy to activate the modem in the store. “Why?” he asked. “Because I’m going to use it on my Mac and I don’t have a PC with me that I can use for activation,” I responded.
“I’m sorry, we can’t let you have one for use on a Mac,” he explained. I told him that I’d researched the issue and knew how to make it work on the Mac.
“Nope,” he responded.
“I’m just kidding,” I said, “I really won’t use it on a Mac. I’ll use it on my PC.” I winked.
He didn’t want to sell me the modem.
We got the manager. She resisted. She said the store didn’t have a PC it could use to activate for me (I could see a PC from where I was standing).
She said it wouldn’t work with my Mac.
Finally, after a great deal of begging, pleading, and cajoling, I got her to sell me the modem and let me sign the contract for service. She activated the modem, and I headed to the car where I set up the modem and had blazingly fast Internet on the Verizon 4G network. Fantastic. I was tempted to walk back in and show them how well it was working, but I was afraid they’d take my modem away.
Why were the Verizon store people so inflexible? Why didn’t they want to take my money?
I’m sure the answer is complicated and involves lots of bureaucracy and corporate gobbledygook.
My overriding sense was that it was easier for the Verizon employees to send me on my way rather than to sell me what I wanted. I noticed a number of other customers being told no while I was waiting. It was like the default answer had become no rather than “let’s figure out how to sell you something.” This was America near Christmas: how was it possible that employees in a retail establishment weren’t hot to ring up sales? It was kind of baffling.
Now, let’s turn to your office.
Is the default response in your firm no, or is it “let’s figure out what we can do for you?”
If it’s the former and not the latter, if it’s a systematic avoidance of revenues rather than turning every interaction into a revenue-producing event, then you’ve got a problem. Your people should be looking for opportunities to be of service. They should do everything possible to find a way to work with prospective clients.
If you’re hearing “She’s crazy, we don’t want to get involved with her,” “That’s not a county we like to go to,” ”That’s a case we’re going to lose,” or the equivalent, you should start thinking about whether no has become the automatic response. It’s easier to say no and send the client on his or her way. It’s the path of least resistance.
It’s shockingly easy to drift toward turning business away. It happens when you aren’t looking. It becomes a habit, and it’s very challenging to turn it around.
It’s time to start paying attention and figure out whether your firm automatically says no. If it does, it’s time to start saying yes.
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Lee Rosen has practiced family law for more than twenty years. With three offices, 