Always check the small print

I am a reader and I like to read everything that is put in front of me.  I’m a nightmare for reading notices and labels, but also an advertisers dream because if there are words written, I am drawn to them. 

 

So while out shopping recently I saw a sign on a shop and was amused at what it said.

 

 

If you’re wondering which bit caught my eye, it was the qualification on the price match guarantee.  A qualification which, in my view, makes it no guarantee at all.

 

Now in all fairness to this particular establishment, they are at least prepared to put their small print on the front of their shop for all to see, as opposed to hiding it at the back of a sales agreement in writing so small that requires a magnifying glass and which often can result in a customer buying a product very different from the product they believe they are purchasing. 

 

A number of banks have employed such practices in the past resulting in recent significant costs in the form of compensation for missold payment protection insurance.  But it’s not just the banks, have you ever approached your insurance provider hoping to make a claim, only to find that you weren’t as comprehensively covered as you had perhaps believed?

 

While working for an international conglomerate, I did some work with the Japanese arm of the company and was amazed at the levels of trust upon which business operates in Japan.  I found it fantastic that a gentleman’s word was his bond and that a handshake agreed the terms of a deal without any need for long legal processes.  But more that, the management of the Japanese business would not contemplate reneging on an agreement they had made as it would significantly impede their ability to work in their market in the future.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to just believe what people say, to be confident that you weren’t going to be ripped off and to know that the society in which you operate frowned upon misselling to the point where those guilty of it would be rejected by the market place?

 

So what about your customers?  Would they describe you as a stand up guy, someone who can be relied upon to deliver their promises?  Or is your inclination to look for a get out clause when things get difficult?