
107LAW #2: TACKLE THE PROBLEM
for the change. She felt the customer goodwill it would create would
offset the costs. Brendan, the head of production, protested, com-
plaining that the time and cost of making the changes would fall on
his department. He also pointed out that this customer, like so many
in their customer base, was a small operator. After hashing it out,
they reached a compromise: Yolanda agreed to give up a portion of
the commission on the sale to offset costs, while the company’s presi-
dent authorized a reduction in product margins for that customer’s
order. On the surface, they seemed to have arrived at a win/win solu-
tion, with Y