Is There Really No Such Thing As A Stupid Question?

August 30, 2010

One day when I was out of town, I stopped by McDonald’s to grab a quick breakfast. When asked by the cashier, I ordered a McGriddle, a large coffee, and a hashbrown. The lady immediately asked me if I’d like to make that a meal deal, which, of course, would be cheaper. I told her that I would indeed like her to make it a meal deal. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? We’re all in the business of getting more bang for our buck.

The more I thought about this, I wondered, was that a stupid question? Now, bear with me. I know everyone says that there is no such thing as a stupid question. And I am in no way implying that the lady herself was stupid.

But come on, might that be a stupid question? She’s offering me the same meal for a cheaper price. I am in no way inconvenienced by this change in the transaction. I do not have to wait any longer. My order is not altered in any way, other than how it is rung up and charged to me.

Can you honestly think that there is ANY reason that I would say no? If there is NO reason that a customer should object to our adding value to a transaction, should we even ask? Or is asking a marketing a tool? Is it a way of communicating an increase in value and making the customer aware that we’re looking out for them?

If that’s the case, maybe it wasn’t such a stupid question after all.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Tagged as: Marketing

  • Anonymous

    I’ve found that there are many stupid questions in life. I’ve asked many of them myself. Whether or not those stupid questions can be put to good use is another issue entirely.

    I would have definitely taken the meal deal as well though, so you made the right call.

  • Pingback: Jake LaCaze

  • Pingback: fellowstream

  • http://melissacooley.com/ Melissa

    Your thought about communicating the increase in value is an interesting one.

    It could have also been a subtle upsell for future business. I don’t know how often you frequent McDonald’s, but it could have been the cashier’s intention to gently remind you that the three come as part of a package deal, thus encouraging you to order the meal deal in the future instead of just a McGriddle. More sales for Mickey D’s if it works.

  • http://www.conorneill.com Conor

    Her question led to your blog post which led to me reflecting for a moment on my life and maybe seeing something clearly that I hadn’t seen before. Maybe she is some sort of spiritual guru? On the other hand, maybe she is just a burger flipper… hmmm

Previous post:

Next post: