TOY STORE REVELATION

TOY STORE REVELATION

In the CBS television program "Undercover Boss", the CEO of a nationally known brand disguises him/herself and interacts with employees.  The executive learns first-hand how corporate policies are carried out throughout the organization.  The lesson each week is that good policies are thwarted by bad employees and that bad policies frustrate good employees.  The take-away is that when customers are neglected, business suffers.

A surprising experience yesterday at our local toy store had me wishing I could click my heels together and conjure up a visit from Mads Nipper, CMO at Lego (see image below).  My daughter and I were on our way to her friend's birthday party and we walked into the store to purchase a gift.  An employee named Phil -- his name was written on his ID tag pinned to his corporate polo shirt -- was setting up a display of LEGO kits on a table near the door.  He greeted us as we walked by and engaged me in general conversation.  "I'm in a hurry and don't want to talk," I thought.  But Phil was gently insistent about explaining what he was doing.   He said the store was sponsoring a free LEGO workshop in a few weeks to encourage children and parents to play together.  I could see immediately that I was being 'hooked' by Phil with a proposition that I had to learn more about.  

"Most parents think LEGO is too complicated and that children will give up before completing a project, but that's not true," said Phil.  Well, that is exactly what I thought so Phil made me feel validated.  I waited for Phil's follow-up.  He continued to explain that even though some kits have thousands of separate pieces, the assembly was straight-forward and intuitive.  To prove his point, he pointed to a model that he had already assembled on the table and pointed out the simplicity of the design. "It's easier than I thought," I told myself, "but these kits are expensive!"  As if reading my mind, Phil continued to say that there were several price levels for different kits.  The cost of the item must be weighed against the value of extended play with your child to set goals and work together over a period of time to build and complete a project.

What's more remarkable about this customer interaction is that Phil is not a LEGO employee.  He's a store employee with with sales skills so good that he made a $149 LEGO Millenium Falcom kit seem economical.  I came in to the store for a birthday present.  I left with two reservations for the LEGO workshop. 

Thank you Phil.  And Mads, I'll save you the Undercover Boss effort.  Take a meeting with Phil to expand his program to all your points of sale.  Your products will fly off the shelves faster than the Millenium Falcon in hyper-drive.