Another toy store owner was interviewed recently for a local news story on shopping local. The interview was great. The store looked great. The troubling part was a simple comment made by the anchor after the interview was done.

She said, “The mom and pop stores, sometimes they don’t have flexible return policies should something not work out…”

Wrong!

Or is it?

Perception is reality for most people. If a news anchor feels that this is true enough to actually say it on the air, then enough people must think this is true. The general perception, therefore, is that mom & pop stores have strict, non-flexible return policies.

First, if you do have a strict return policy, go read this blog I posted about why that is a bad idea.

Second, if you have a liberal and customer-friendly return policy (and you should), make sure you have it posted prominently. Don’t leave it up to chance or your customers might think and believe otherwise.

-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com

PS I also cover Return Policies in the free eBook Customer Service: From Weak to WOW.