Real-Life Decision Making
You are an auto parts specialist. Your job is to answer the customers'
questions. You get asked everything from what kind of motor oil to use to
what kinds of sport mufflers, suspension parts, brake parts, headers
and higher-end performance parts are applicable to what cars.
"You have to be well versed in the specifications and the usage of all
of the parts that you stock in your shop," says parts specialist Allan Ho.
"This is the only way you can serve all of your customers' needs."
It is another hectic day. You have been on your feet since the store opened.
The store is having its yearly "blue tag" sale and it has been very busy.
People are screaming, the store is jammed full of customers and you feel a
stress headache coming on.
It is almost 5 o'clock and you are getting ready to go home when you are
interrupted by a customer requiring some advice. He informs you that he is
looking for some ignition wires to replace the worn-out ones in his 1986 Toyota
Tercel.
You look through your book of car parts and find that you have three models
of ignition wire that fit his car. He wants to see all three sets of the ignition
wire. You show him all three sets.
You want to recommend that the cheapest of the three sets will do the job
for his car. Before you can say a word, he informs you that his friend told
him the NGK brand ignition wires are great. You ask him what kind of car his
friend drives and he tells you that he drives a sports car.
The NGK ignition wire costs twice as much as the one that you were going
to recommend, and in your opinion is too much wire for his car. You want to
inform him that those wires will not improve his car's performance enough
to justify the price.
However, he will probably still buy the more expensive ignition wires,
but from another store. So are you going to tell him to buy the cheaper wires
because they will work best for car, or are you going to let him buy the more
expensive set of wires, which his car does not really need?
What do you do?