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by mikeash 2696 days ago
Measuring percentage would do it. I’m always amazed that companies can be so boneheaded. You’d think I’d stop being amazed at some point, but no.
1 comments

My favorite was when we started focusing heavily on close rate. Close rate was just the number of transactions divided by the number of people who walked in the door, so someone proposed that we start breaking up people's purchases into multiple transactions.

I proposed a counter solution--we just move the laser sensor on the door a bit higher, so that short people wouldn't trigger it.

I worked in an electronics store (regional, not Best Buy, and out of business now) in the mid-2000s that had this exact measure.

In my store, on busy days, the manager would occasionally "greet" customers at the door for 10 minutes at a time. Coincidentally, the spot he would choose to stand would block the sensor, so instead of 20 customers coming in in 10 minutes, it looked like only 1 had come in.

The ingenuity of employees in gaming stupid rules also never ceases to amaze.
Truly, the mind boggles. Did you ever end up doing anything to improve the close rate?