The customer is not always right
June 13th 2008 10:02
Dojo #6
The customer is not always right
The customer is always right…….Says who? Sometimes they are wrong and in fact you are probably being paid to let them know they are wrong. If they were always right, they would not need you. If you are in personal service business and you tread lightly and not speak the truth…then all you are is yes man. Do you really think that is what is best for a client? I should say not. I do not think the customer is paying you to kiss there ass. I may be wrong…but ever hear the expression: “It is better to be loud and wrong, than quiet and right”?
I am fortunate in that I get to choose whom I want to work with and I choose carefully. I have two secrets of success that I’d like to share: 1- Return 3x the value of what you are paid and 2- guarantee your work.
If I take a client on and I deliver three times the value of what I am paid and I guarantee my work, you better believe that I am very clear that before getting into bed with this person, job or project that is something I want to do. The project /job has to be, for me, as well as the client, fun and adventurous.
Dan Pink in his book The Free Agent Nation, talks about the “My Size Fits Me” School of Business. I work when I want, with whom I want, on the project I want, for the money I want. I look for clients and projects that are going to challenge and inspire me to do better and better work. I do not take on a job because I know I can easily get it done. I play a bigger game. Customer care is giving the client more than they paid, more than they expect.
Customer Service is not just about making him or her right. You have to listen carefully and collaborate but don’t acquiesce because he or she is the customer. This hold true especially if your opinion is different from theirs. A truly enlightened client will always appreciate candor. Each client or project that you get involved with is going to require your absolute best. If you are a Rock Star in business then you also put your ass on the line. If you are not nervous before going on stage, you might want to check the humility meter. Confidence is good but hard work and humility is better. Just please do not confuse giving your client your best, at the expense of “looking good”. Give and do your best but do not be a people pleaser or a brownoser or yes man. It serves no one.
Again I thank you to all those who have read my material. I again urge you to tell a friend, come back again and again, contact me at kiproth@yahoo.com and make no distinction between work and play.
Business is Personal….Make it So
MR
The customer is not always right
The customer is always right…….Says who? Sometimes they are wrong and in fact you are probably being paid to let them know they are wrong. If they were always right, they would not need you. If you are in personal service business and you tread lightly and not speak the truth…then all you are is yes man. Do you really think that is what is best for a client? I should say not. I do not think the customer is paying you to kiss there ass. I may be wrong…but ever hear the expression: “It is better to be loud and wrong, than quiet and right”?
I am fortunate in that I get to choose whom I want to work with and I choose carefully. I have two secrets of success that I’d like to share: 1- Return 3x the value of what you are paid and 2- guarantee your work.
If I take a client on and I deliver three times the value of what I am paid and I guarantee my work, you better believe that I am very clear that before getting into bed with this person, job or project that is something I want to do. The project /job has to be, for me, as well as the client, fun and adventurous.
Dan Pink in his book The Free Agent Nation, talks about the “My Size Fits Me” School of Business. I work when I want, with whom I want, on the project I want, for the money I want. I look for clients and projects that are going to challenge and inspire me to do better and better work. I do not take on a job because I know I can easily get it done. I play a bigger game. Customer care is giving the client more than they paid, more than they expect.
Customer Service is not just about making him or her right. You have to listen carefully and collaborate but don’t acquiesce because he or she is the customer. This hold true especially if your opinion is different from theirs. A truly enlightened client will always appreciate candor. Each client or project that you get involved with is going to require your absolute best. If you are a Rock Star in business then you also put your ass on the line. If you are not nervous before going on stage, you might want to check the humility meter. Confidence is good but hard work and humility is better. Just please do not confuse giving your client your best, at the expense of “looking good”. Give and do your best but do not be a people pleaser or a brownoser or yes man. It serves no one.
Again I thank you to all those who have read my material. I again urge you to tell a friend, come back again and again, contact me at kiproth@yahoo.com and make no distinction between work and play.
Business is Personal….Make it So
MR
| 63 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by Mike Landfair
Market Bugle
At Seth Godin’s Blog, Seth writes:
If the customer is wrong, they're not your customer any more. In other words, if it's not worth making the customer right, fire her.
Fire them?
Fire them. Politely decline to do business with them. Refer them to your arch competitors. Take them off the mailing list. Don't make promises you can't keep, don't be rude, just move on.
If you've got something worth paying for, you gain power when you refuse to offer it to every single person who is willing to pay you.
Successful organizations (and I include churches and political parties on the list) fire the 1% of their constituents that cause 95% of the pain.
I've always hated firing a client. When I was a stockbroker, I overheard one particularly cruel broker, when pitching a stock and meeting resistance from his client, rip the client's account sheet from his book and loudly begin tearing it up. Now that's firing a client. I still hate it.