Alright, I knew that I said last week that I would try to get more people to use the kiosk and do more at the register. However, I thought that doing that again for another week would be boring. So, how did I spice things up? By doing the thing that I am learning to do: Seeking rejection!
To be more specific, I asked my manager if I could work in the drive-tru. Since I was semi-new, I really did not expect them to let me work there since it was a bit harder than working at the front counter. Unfortunately I was right about that and I was told that it probably would not be a good idea. However, I learned from Rejection Proof that I should try to offer alternatives or try to get them. So I asked if I could only take money in the drive thru, which is possibly the easiest thing to do. All I had to do, was sit at the first window, repeat orders and take money. It was really easy.
“If I could adjust my request and approach the “ask” from a different angle, something interesting and unexpected might happen–and often it did” (Jiang 99).
So while at the drive thru, I wanted to start small. When people drove up to the window, I repeated their orders and before I told them their totals, I asked them if they wanted to add our annual holiday pies to their orders. It was like a dollar extra, so I thought that it wasn’t a bad idea. Unexpectedly, I ended up adding a lot of holiday pies to many orders! I want to assume that the combination of the limited availability and cheap price of the pie made people want it. If I were to try to ask to add anything else (maybe a whole sandwich?), maybe people would reject me. This is definitely one thing I am going to try next weekend.
Lesson from Rejection Proof:
- “Retreat, Don’t Run: By not giving up after the initial rejection, and instead retreating to a lesser request, one has a much higher chance of landing a yes” (Jiang 108).
- “Offer Alternatives: By offering alternatives to get a yes, or even simple concessions, on can make the other person a fan even in rejection” (Jiang 145).
McRejections at McDonalds 