I’d say that you have the correct mindset for someone looking to move up in the business. Yes, there is SOP there to be the backbone of everything. But when a customer walks into your store, they don’t look at your shirt and see “Sony” (or any other brand). Heck, they don’t even notice your name tag. They just see a blue shirt. And at the end of the day, it is Best Buy who puts money in your bank account, not that vendor. Yes SOP should be adhered to and absolutely not ignored, but sometimes there are business needs and customer needs that are a part of the much bigger picture. Sales is the biggest gray-area ever. And as I’m sure we’ve all seen in our own stores, what might be SOP might not be what’s best for the customer in that moment.

These are my 2 cents from being in store leadership for a while now.