One of the things that never ceases to amaze me is how some of my tips get all sorts of emails, calls, letters, and responses from magazines that want to reprint them, while with others I wonder if anyone ever saw it. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone because some things work and others don’t. The problem is I can’t always predict the results. You would think after all of these years I would know the winners from the losers. I relate it to my days as a dress buyer for my retail business. As good as I got as a buyer, I could not determine in advance which items were destined to be the super winners or the slower sellers. During the first few years I felt I could easily pick the winners, but as I became a seasoned buyer, I realized that you never know what will catch on and you must leave your mind open and keep on testing.

That’s why testing and checking is such an important part of a business person’s life. We must include as much testing as we can in everything we do. Test merchandise, test ad styles, test various media, test prices, test displays, test colors, and test the quantities we buy.

This topic was motivated by two things. The first is a simple quote from an interview with Bob Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, who’s considered one of the best team owners in all of professional sports. He was asked why he has been so successful in the businesses in which he’s been involved. He used an old, very powerful apparel maker’s expression “Measure 9 times and cut once”. Check, test, and check and test again before you commit. Are you testing and checking enough before you commit?

Having said all of that, sometimes you’ll still be surprised, just as I was shocked with the response from last week’s tip. I never thought that accepting the American Express Card would cause such an outpouring of extremely passionate comments on both sides. I couldn’t answer everyone, so first let me say thanks for sharing your point of view and your opinions. I just can’t believe what a polarizing issue this is.

I received comments ranging from “It’s about time someone came out in favor of the customer. We want our options.” to “Why should I finance someone’s trip to Hawaii?” Others simply said, “It cuts into the bottom line too much” and “Why should I accept it? After all everyone has a MasterCard or Visa.” Another person said that they just didn’t have time to reconcile another credit card.

One of the comments I liked the best was the person who said, “I hate taking Amex. I hate giving them the extra percentage points but the customers that use it really do spend more money. Amex says that but I didn’t believe them until I did my own comparing. It really is true. So it really doesn’t cost me anymore in the long run. Darn it! I wanted to throw them out but I would be cutting off my nose to spite my face.”

There were two other very interesting comments. One was from a furniture store that shared how they made a $20,000 sale furnishing someone’s new vacation home specifically because he accepted Amex. Amex has a card that gives back 5% on all purchases and the customer wanted to take advantage of that for a big purchase. He shopped around until he found a store that would accept it. That’s $1,000 rebate to the customer! (I want to find out about that card.) If you are selling branded merchandise that is sold by competitors, the Amex can certainly be a differentiator.

But the comment that I found most interesting of all was from the retailer who said, “What’s the big deal? I don’t pay anymore for my Amex than I do for MC and Visa. Sure they wanted more but I called and was able to negotiate the fee down.” How many stores even ask for a lower fee? That really made me feel stupid. I preach negotiate everything and I never even asked. Shame on me.

What’s the bottom line? Maybe you all should test it for a period of time and see if it makes sense for you. Are you having larger sales? Is it more work? Can you get a more competitive price? If it passes all of the tests then keep it. If not, throw it out. Just don’t say you don’t like it if you have never tried it. After all, my son hated pizza until he tried it. Now it’s his favorite meal.

Again, thanks for all of the responses. I don’t think this tip will cause as much commotion, but of course I didn’t think last week’s tip would either. You just never know!