Is the customer king … or a drama queen?
I truly believe the customer is KING. The customer is the most important element of your business. They pay your salary. They are the justification of your business. Without a customer, you have NO business. All facts!
When starting a business, one of the very first things to decide on is your target market – that group of people that will be interested in your business offering. Whether it is male or female, whether they stay in Gauteng or Western Cape, whether they are married or single, whether they are between 30-40 years or pensioners…. This target market will determine everything you do – what the product should be, how much it should be priced at, where to advertise, what other services should be offered, etc. Businesses that are truly customer centered, have an above average chance to succeed. Always treat your customers with the utmost respect.
Get rid of your drama queen customers, NOW.
But it is also true that you get customers AND customers. The first group of customers are mostly reasonable, descent, pay on time, and is generally a pleasure to work with. The second group of customers are not from Venus, not even from Mars. No, they come directly from Hellsville. They have been sent (I really do not know by whom) to make your life an utter hell. They keep on demanding more – lower prices, more personal service, all these whilst refusing to pay their accounts in full or on time.
To make matter worse, everything also always go wrong when dealing with them. A normal delivery will be late, or be delivered to the wrong address. Their queries will be handled by the youngster with PMS, the finance department will incorrectly charge them for the wrong item, etc. etc. Now if you want a sign – then these customers will ensure that you get many of them. Listen to these signs and act upon them. These customers are drama queens! They are NOT worthy of your time, effort or products. Do yourself a favour and get rid of them immediately! Your business do NOT need them. You will spend so much time on trying to please these “unpleasables” that you will neglect your REAL customers.
With apologies to the original quote: “You will have customers for a reason, a season or a lifetime”