Sales through Service or being RIGHT

I am in the market for a new printer as my trusty (very) old HP Deskjet has stopped duplex printing (double sided). I did some research, looked at some reviews and decided on a Cannon as it satisfied my duplex printing needs and seemed the best balance between quality and cost. Finally I looked at the web to source one - and that's where this month's blog begins.

I found that a number of Cannon printers are out of stock because of the floods in Taiwan however I found a supplier in Portsmouth and ordered the printer via the web. A couple of minutes later I got a confirmation email and to my horror it read that my order was confirmed and they were out of stock!

Quickly I called the company to establish the ETA of stock or cancel my order and spoke to a customer service representative - What was her first response to me? She wanted to be RIGHT - She confirmed that it clearly stated on the web site they were out of stock (she even logged on to their own website just to be RIGHT) however she would check with the distributor when the printer would be back in stock and/or cancel the order if I wanted. The ETA was months away so I cancelled the order.

I'm sure after my call, she sat back in her chair safe in the knowledge that another customer now knew where to spot how much stock was available on their website.

So instead of being RIGHT would could she have done? If you think about the customer (me!) what did I want from this interaction? I wanted a printer that can duplex print and to be confident that I wasn't going to be waiting ages for a printer that I'd paid for. So how would the conversation have gone if the customer service representative had confirmed the printer was out of stock, apologised and asked me what was it about the Cannon printer that I liked. She could of then offered me an alternative with similar specification that they do have in stock. I may well have bought some ink too if she asked!

The change in attitude away from being RIGHT and towards being customer needs focused could have resulted in a sale (up sell and cross sell opportunities were both available.)

So what are the 'golden nuggets' from this story and your challenge? We all have customers, internal and/or external so even if you are not 'in sales' these points still apply -
Firstly, really think about your 'customers' needs, are you sure you are getting it right for them? You could always ask them...
Secondly, give up being RIGHT for a week, in your work and personal lives, it may be more of a challenge than you think.

Sadly, I still have no printer....