One recent weekend, a friend and I walked into a run-of-the-mill Mexican restaurant on New York's west side.
"Two for dinner?" we were asked.
"Yes," our reply.
"It'll be about 15 minutes," the host said.
In front of us, a table was vacant with four seats, so we inquired as to why we couldn't sit there.
"It's used only for four people," we were told. At that, we turned around and left.
This got me thinking: In today's economy, can you afford to turn anyone away, regardless of what they are looking for? If a customer is looking to book a Carnival cruise and you are used to selling higher-end cruises, would you not take that customer's business? Is this the dawn of a new era, which demands a new business model and service paradigm?
Readers, what are your thoughts? Do you have similar experiences where the amount of time put forth isn't worth the money in return? If you sell exclusively luxury products, can you really forego the lower-end market?