The Pajamas, the Lizard Brain, and the Employee Manual

by Jodi

My mom got a PajamaGram for Valentine’s Day yesterday. It was packed in a pretty hatbox with a gauzy bow, bath salts, and a card. Someone clearly put a lot of thought into the packaging.

She not only loved the gift inside, she liked the hatbox so much she wanted to buy another one and use them for pretty storage boxes.

So she called PajamaGram. No luck. No matter how much she tried. They wouldn’t give her one. They wouldn’t sell her one. They said she had to buy something to get another box.

Could have been a chance to make a happy customer even happier. She would have told people. She would have raved.

It would have been thoughtful. A great way to make a connection with a customer, and gain a new fan. But no. Instead, they followed the “rules.” They did what the manual and the lizard brain (don’t stick out, don’t make your own decisions, be afraid) told them to do.

So, instead of a rave, they get a big Bronx cheer.

Manuals are great when they protect you from dangerous mistakes (turn off the electricity before you touch an exposed wire). They’re not so good when they create a barrier between you and your client.